If you're looking for a beach holiday with some local taverns and Cypriot restaurants, don't come here. But if you're looking for a cheap week of lounging around the pool and drinking in the local bars at night, then this is a place.

The location is not that great. We went to the beach which was down the road but found it badly kept and the water a bit murky. There is a collection of restaurants and bars in the area. There are a couple of Brit pubs, The Nags Head which offers Sunday roasts (how can someone eat a beef Sunday lunch with gravy and Yorkshire pudding during a hot day in Cyprus is beyond me) is not bad and the Touch Wood pub down the road, which is (had an atmosphere and clientèle of a bog-standard boozer in a council estate). But on the plus side, the Sports Bar on the corner was very nice.

The food on the whole was good. Breakfast had a very good selection of pastries,pancakes,cereals, healthy and cooked. Thinking they had to feed at least 500 guests, the food was good. They had selection of nice dishes including some nice local dishes. They didn't allow anyone to wear beachwear or shorts during dinner, which was a good idea I thought in keeping standards.

The customer service was pretty good although slightly rushed at times during dinner time.

The pool area was nice with plenty going on around the pool, there were some trees to provide shade for some who didn't want sit in the direct sun light. Getting up at around 8am and nipping out to allocate yourself a sunbed with your beach towels is a good idea though. They had staff who organised pool games for children and adults. There is pool and play area for children and an adults-only pool where children are prohibited from using.

Positives:

The room and bathroom was nice and with space. It had air conditioning, television and fridge with a seizable balcony overlooking the pool area. You also had complimentary shower gels,shampoos and soap and beach towels (on request).

The adult pool are is very nice, tucked in a quiet corner outside the bar area with a jacuzzis.

Negatives:

The double bed we had was small (there was a gap on one side between the bed and the bedside table) and we had difficulty having a good night sleep on it.

The television wasn't tuned in properly so you had to play around with the settings to watch the channels.

The pool could have done with a clean and a few more sunbeds.

The lift could have been bigger, only 4 people could fit it (and that was a tight fit)

If you are looking for a week of lounging around the pool, and not enthusiastic about sampling the local scenery,culture and food then you can't do much better than this.

We arrived at our hotel after a 45 minute transfer from Paphos. Speedy check-in, which included welcome drinks, fruit and friendly staff. We were across the road in the Atlantica Gardens which was not a problem at all if not better than the main building as it was quieter. The females had their bags taken by a member of staff over the road which was much appreciated and we were in a 3rd floor room. The room was very big for just two of us and because we were on the end we had a very large balcony, howver it is worth mentioning the other balconies were half the size. A few minutes after we arrived we had a free welcome bottle of water delivered. Our bathroom had everything we wanted with 6 towels between us. We even had a spare bed in our room! Only downside was the self catering facilities, which consisted of two hobs, a toaster and kettle. However, in this area of Cyprus you do not need to use these except for breakfast time. Maid service was 6 days a week, no service on a Sunday, when towels and bed sheets were changed; however if you want an lie in remember to use the 'Do Not Disturb' door hanger provided. Rooms have good air conditioning but the timer did not seem to work so it does have to be operated manually. Although building work does appear to have finished onsite there is building work at a nearby site which can cause some unwanted morning noise. The hotel have three very good services; Firstly, a key drop off box in receptioon which meant you do not have to take your key out with you and reception is 24 hour; Secondly, a pool bar tab which allows you to charge drinnks to your room when you are by the pool and not have to take money down with you; Thirdly, free pool towels are avaliable from the llfeguard, these do go fast and remember to give your card in when you check out otherwise you will be charged for the towels.

The outdoor pool is lovely and it does have activities in one section but plenty of room for personnel swimming. The indoor pool was much quieter, but you do have to pay for use of the sauna and steam room. The spa is yet to be completed.

With regards to eating out; The Nags Head is great for breakfast (3 - 4 euros per head) it is also great for drinking at night showing all major sport and casino night on a Sunday. Toscana restaurant, located on the main road, is a 3 minute walk away. Staff are very friendly and food is very tasty. I recommend the meat meze if you are very very hungry! Normally you can get free drinks if you get a card from the man at the entrance. Next door is Shades where the food is nice but the service was forgettable and nothing special. If you carry on up the main road you will reach another set of restaurants by KFC and Starbucks. The Brewery is very expensive and not really worth the cost. Over the road is Charade and Dejeuner. Both of which were very nice but the latter was very expensive. In the same section of restaurants there is Adonis which unfortunately is not as good, the food was cold and rather expensive for what you got. Across the road is the Step Inn Irish bar which gets very busy at night with karoke but is quite expensive.Back closer to the hotel is Cantone, located right on the corner of the main road. This is a good place to go for a quiet meal and it is reasonably priced and serves tasty food. On the opposite side of the main road is Kyanh Akth, unfortunately this restaurant has a lovely view of the sea but the food was nothing to shout about.

We mainly went shopping in FAN KAT supermarket next to the Nags Head, the staff were friendly and had the majority of what you needed.

In terms of going out in the day I can reccomend a trip to Fassouri Waterpark, Amatheus ruins and Kykkos VIP tour (offered by Thomson). There is a shuttle bus to the waterpark and the number 30 bus runs every 20 minutes to Limmassol and the other way to the ruins. It costs 1 euro 35 cents each way whereas the shuttle bus is 1 euro 50 cents each way. In Limmassol centre you can stroll along the seafront, which some days has little stalls on it, or you can go to the medieval castle where there are great views from the top! It is surrounded by little bars and I recommend Caballeros. You can also go on the free trip around the Keo brewery at 10AM Tuesday - Friday and includes a free tasting session (just stay on the number 30 past the town and ask the driver to tell you when to get off). In Limmasol we found a lovely restaurant called the Meze Taverna located on St Andrews Street. It was a bit off the beaten track but if you take the road off the main street near Salamis Tours and a wedding dress shop you will find it on the next road behind the main road. The Kykkos VIP trip takes you up the Troodos mountains and includes breakfast and lunch, well worth 61 euros per person.

One thing I must tell you not to do is go on the PAL blanket tour, this is offered by the reps as a free tour which gives you free time in 4 different resorts. This is not the case. You visit Aphropdite's birth rock and then you get taken to a hotel, given an orange squash and then a 1 1/2 hour sales pitch trying to sell you bed sets. After that you go to a winery where you don't get to see any of the workings just a quick taste. It was a waste of a day.

Our holiday in Cyprus was very enjoyable and I am glad we were self catering as we were able to vary what we ate and really enjoyed tasting differents dishes of Cyprus.

I must say I was a bit nervous of what we might find after reading conflicting reviews on this site, but we were pleasantly surpised. We were staying in the Atlantica Gardens, and while I do agree the decor in the rooms is a bit 70's I can find no other fault with it. They were cleaned every day, bar Sunday. The rooms were very spacious. There was a nice quiet outdoor area by the bar where the kids could run about. And the amenities in the main hotel were superb. We all loved the pool. especially my 3 year old.

I have to agree about the Nags Head. It was very friendly and one of the most affordable places to eat (a bit too much TV/football in there for us though). We went self-catering as we like to eat out at night in diferent places but there was a not huge choice of restaurants so it might have been worth upgrading to all inclusive for a few days
.
The resort itself is a bit ropey though. Although there is a nice quiet beach 5 mins away opposite MacDonalds. In summary, if the hotel were located in Paphos then I would love to go back.

We booked this holiday with First Choice and asked if we could be put in the main hotel as we were all inclusive and wanted to be in the main hotel and not the gardens. (stayed at this hotel before 7-8yrs ago). When we arrived we were put in the gardens room 22 a block on its own the apartment was clean but 2* in my eyes. I booked a 4* hotel! I asked to be moved into the main hotel and was moved the next morning again the room was very dated but much better than the gardens apartment and i had a pool view. This hotel has changed alot since my last visit and it does look lovely but the rooms are in urgent need of updating. I was told by a rep that they had now run out of money so i am not 100% sure if all rooms will be updated this year. Our 2 children wanted to use the kids club which was run by Thomsons who are now part of First Choice but we had to pay 3 Euro's a session & 5 Euros per child in the evening so we was not happy that they are part of the same company but charging First Choice customers. As we were all inclusive you are able to get pool towels but i found that i had to que for them only to find that they had run out most days. In the end i went to a local shop & brought some. Despite these minor grumbles we did have a lovely holiday the food was fantastic, the staff are friendly and the entertainment team tried there best to entertain the English guests they had. A large percentage of guests are Russian. We would come back to this hotel providing the rooms were decorated. This seemed to be biggest complaint whilst we stayed at the Atlatica Oasis.