Lesante Blu Exclusive Beach Resort

We had a great room (double suite sea view), good size with a fabulous sea view. The balcony was spacious with a couch as well. We weren't too keen on how they had designed the bathroom area. The toilet and shower were basically adjoining cubicles at the entrance of the room, which meant limited privacy if you were in the toilet (if you know what I mean!). The shower wasn't as bad - although did on occasion leak under the glass partition. There was an awesome view of the sea when you stepped out of the shower as they designed the wall separating the sleeping area with a cut out part so you could see straight out. That was a nice touch. The tap on our sink would spray water everywhere so the counter was always wet - we went through a lot of towels mopping this up. Instead of the hanging 'do not disturb' and 'please clean my room' signs, they have red and green buttons to press from the inside. Much better than the door hangers which always fall off the handle! The hotel isn't really walkable to places, so you do need to get a taxi. (Don't use Zante taxis where you can order online - they don't turn up, and the bookings are constantly showing as pending). The hotel uses a good taxi company and they're more reliable. Breakfast was a good buffet selection (although not as good as other hotels we've stayed), and there was a made to order egg menu as well. Lovely fresh juice served to your table, tea or coffee, and stunning views while you eat. Staff in all the restaurants were fabulous, friendly and courteous. You can get towels for the pool and beach from the pool or beach bars. Our housekeeping lady was lovely. So friendly and smiley and truly wanted to make you feel like a special guest. There is a fair amount of seating around the pool area. Even though it is a luxury hotel people still come down early to claim their beds and then not actually use them for hours. There is a notice saying they will remove items on beds if the beds aren't used for an hour but I don't think it's actually enforced. There are also plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas along the beach front. Our favourite place was the decking above the beach - you can enjoy the sound of the waves, and the stunning view, without getting sand everywhere! It's quieter than by the pool where there is constant hotel music, and it is more shaded, (which I prefer) but not so good if you want full sun. You can still get drink and meal service from the waiters at the beach and deck areas. Our biggest complaint was regarding their communication and lack of apology for their mistake. Long story short, we arranged a boat hire with reception. It was cancelled the night before, but we never received the message (no email or phone call), but they said they left a note, which we hadn't received. We had left the do not disturb light on but later did find a note in our room hidden amongst our clutter, only because we were looking for it. Housekeeping had left a previous note tucked in the front of our door when we had the do not disturb light on, which was much more obvious. We never received an apology from the hotel for entering our room without our permission, even though we raised this with them. We were very surprised that a hotel of this calibre had no regard for the privacy of their guests, and this event put a dampener on the rest of the day, and to a certain extent our entire vacation.

This is a gorgeous hotel with fantastic views and beautiful bars and restaurants. The stand out restaurants for us was Ostria. The perfect setting, wonderful food and wines and the service is outstanding. More on that later. I honestly think this is now one of my favourite restaurants in the world! We didn't even make it to Melia (the fine dining restaurant) because we enjoyed it so much. The room was lovely and cool (the property itself is very chic). Sunbeds by the pool can be hard to get at peak times, but we found plenty of space at or over the beach or by the bar. The real standout feature for us though was the staff. I don't think I have ever stayed anywhere where the staff who looked after us have made such an impression. From the concierge to the barman who mixed our evening cocktail. The managers who were ALWAYS there and the waiters and waitresses serving us breakfast, lunch and dinner. We miss them all!