Hi all,
Here is a trip report from a recent stay there.


Background information
Stay from 17 to 24 April (second week of Easter Holidays)
2 adults and 2 kids (12 and 10)
Purpose of stay was to relax (with kids playing on their own)
We rented a small car (see reason below in "tips" section)
Booked on points
Status: Plat


Reservation
Booked 7 days on points in September 2010 for stay in Easter 2011 through concierge as no family room was available on line (+ I needed to use the 25% reduction award).
Concierge contacted the property and confirmed the possibility of upgrade to family room.
I sent in Sept a nice email to reservation manager (Anna Zintila) of the hotel to get upgraded. Immediate email received confirming upgrade to Leisure suite (68 m2) in the main building. The reservation showed this till 3 days before check-in when it was moved to Royal Spa suite (77m2).


Hotel localisation
60 kms from Larnaca (around 55 EUR taxi) and 15 kms from Limassol in a sandy strech of beach. Environnement is quiet. Public bus in front of the hotel (1.5 EUR) to go to town. Shuttle to town available as well (once a day each way) but we did not use it. Good location to go the Troodos mountains.


Check-in
Nice welcome drink. Quick and efficient. I was upgraded to an Enalia suite (suite M3) facing the sea (93 m2). This suite seems a good candidate for plat upgrade as I am not the first one to get this suite following an upgrade.
Were brought with golf cart with our luggage to our room.
Plat amenity is an automatic 500 points credited to account (no instant award possible nor other welcome amenties available).


Room
The Enalia suite is a duplex suite in a small house with a private terrace facing the sea (closest room to the beach) in the "no kids area" fo the complex. It has the parental room on the 1st floor with direct view to the sea from the bed (reaalllly nice in the morning when waking-up). Jacuzzi near the bed overlooking the gardens. Big flat TV screen with a range of international channels. Bathroom with Italian shower and toilets. Good bath products (Elemis).
2 good quality rollaway beds were installed for the kids in the living room.
Downstairs living room and bathroom (shower and toilets) with also a big flat TV screen.
Wifi Internet connection of poor quality (but free for plat). Adequate for limited surfing but not for streaming video. 2 computers with printers and Internet available in the lobby.
Sunloungers available in terrace. Plenty of storage space.
Daily complimentary water and delicacies were part of the stay as well.
The hotel has 330 rooms and around 70 suites of all kinds (up to 3 bedrooms): Citrus gardens, Palm court (around a pool reserved for them – not heated) scattered in the gardens. The only suites with a sea view are the Enalia, Royal Spa suite (except the lowest level one!!), Leisure suite, Imperial suite and Presidential suites for those with a bottomless wallet.


Breakfast
I was told at check-in that breakfast was not included in my room rate (price 17 EUR and 9 EUR for kids)
The buffet breakfast was good (without being exceptional), indoor and terrace over the pool. As all rates normally include breakfast in the room rate and due to the sheer number of persons to install their procedures are not geared towards checking the full details of rates of everyone.


Kids club
Kids club is a real kids club with animator and daily activities program .Enough to keep them busy all day ^.
Be careful of extra's there (water, ice creams,..). It adds up quickly.
For teens and adults, there is Leisureland with 4 tennis courts, basketball, mini golf, 5 a side football pitch with daily matches organised (7-9, 9-13 and adults).
A very good quality 4 lane bowling is available with 3 times weekly happy hour at 17:00 (otherwise 7 EUR per adult and 4 per kid).
You can hire bikes at Leisureland (we did not do that however).


Restaurants
We preferred to have lunch outside although restaurants inside are correct although over priced for captive residents. Chesters is a good option 2 min per car but slightly too far away on foot.


Gardens and pools
Certainly an asset to the hotel, well maintained with 7 pools (the main big one heated year long 28 degrees (not including the indoor one). Plenty of sunloungers available everywhere so no morning races to "book" them. Gardens are big enough not to feel cramped. Ample space is available for the ones who want to hide a bit. The beach is nice (black sand) without being exceptional. It is perfectly adequate for young childrens.


Hotel residents
While we were there mainly Britons with kids together with Russians. The occasional French families were present. All of them well behaved.


Conclusions
If you are looking for a real palace where every detail is top luxury, this is not the place (even if 5 stars). But if you are looking for relaxing holidays with tons of activities for all, this is definitely the place. You can stay a week there without the need to move. It can accommodate singles, couples and families with equal happiness. Even more so if you get an upgrade to the Enalia by the reservation manager (Anna Zintila).


Tips
Here are a few tips:

• There is a free water fountain in the indoor pool area
• Hire a small car for the duration of the stay (it is marginally higher than two taxi rides from the airport
• Use the free bowling session 3 times a week at 17:00. Go to leisureland and ask to get your name on the list for free session
• It does not for plats to request an upgrade beforehand to Anna Zintila (Reservation supervisor)
• Try the Chesters restaurant (around 2.5 kms from the hotel towards the city). With rented car, it is easier
• Use the small supermarket 200m on the left when going out of the hotel (enough to stock basic snacks, juices and water).
• Use the lobby Internet connexion to print boarding card (there is a dedicated web check-in counter at the Larnaca airport – at least for Cyprus Airways).

Here are a few pictures from there
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=enal...ien%20limassol