Almyra, Paphos

We stayed recently and first impressions were great, with obviously well trained, courteous and friendly (without being too familiar) staff at the reception. Trendy cafe del mar type music throughout, and welcome cypriot-candies and drinks helped create this impression. We booked a sea view 'veranda' room in the main building and the room did indeed have a wonderful sea view, but the 'veranda' was in fact a fairly small balcony. Although the room was indeed minimalist trendy, the quality of the fittings and furniture was actually rather poor - It was obvious that many parts of the original hotel had simply been painted over. We commented to the staff that the rack-rate which we were charged was rather too much for this sort of room and the reply was simply that that was the price and there was no flexibility. We must say however that the enormous bed and the sound of the waves crashing on the sea wall outside resulted in a fabulous sleep, and, despite our initial fears due to the lack of any insulating items in the room, we could not hear any noise from the room next door. The main disappointment however was the town itself. There is no beach to speak of and the coast in town itself is in fact quite ugly when compared to other spots on the Med (or even within Cyprus). The main tourist area behind the hotel has lamentably gone the same way as so many other bucket and spade 'all day english breakfast' Med spots. Great place for a party, but not exactly classy (unless you find where the Cypriots hang out). The 'old town' doesn't exactly charm either. Once you get away from the city though, things improve remarkably, but the local beaches still won't win any prizes. Overall, top marks for the staff; the swimming pool set up (incl live band on Sundays); and the attempt to create a 'design' hotel. Unfortuntely though, it could be summed up as overpriced style over substance, although we still enjoyed ourselves. One tip - you can use the facilities at the superb sister hotel Anassa in Polis, just over the hill. Don't be surprised if you end up wishing you'd spent that extra for real quality...