This is the 2nd time we have returned to this place within a year, and we found it to be just as relaxing and value for money.

Although the prices on some websites can be off-putting, until you go there you cannot appreciate the quality and variety of the food and drink, and entertainment. The hotel is worth every penny. The theme nights in the restaurant whilst we were there were Chinese, Mexican, Greek etc, and it's hard to describe the quality of the Italian restaurant until you have tried their pizza!

This year, we managed to catch the Mamma Mia show and it was one of the best things we have ever seen- professional and entertaining, with amazing singing, acting and dancing- it was fabulous.

We went for 2 weeks this year, as opposed to the 11 nights last time, and I will say this: if you are looking for a hotel based holiday, this is definitely the place to be. There is a huge entertainment base catering for the kids day and night, and we barely saw our daughter most days. For adults, bingo, water polo, aqua aerobics, pilates, volleyball and quizzes take place through the day, and the beach provides water-sports like the pedalos (some of them are not free though, e.g. the speedboat raft, and jet-skis), but if you're the type who likes to venture outside the hotel then this is not the place to come.

Nea Moudania is extremely run-down an there is truthfully nothing at all to see in the town. We had a couple of days rain whilst we were there, so because the pool area was closed off we took advantage of the free mountain bikes from the hotel.... We biked to the supermarket and then went the other way down the beach path- it is literally a ghost-town. We were back within an hour-and-half. Excursions are available; water parks, cruises etc, but if you were to take advantage of all these just to pass the time then it would end up costing a bomb. In fairness, the lazy-pool holiday is my type of holiday, and this hotel provides me with everything I need. It's relaxing and friendly, but a word of warning: Last year, we came in late June, but this year we arrived on 24th May which was a lovely quiet week; no queues, no sun-bed rush, no shoving in the dinner hall... Then the following week was Britain's school half-term week and the chaos began. The hotel was jam-packed and I have never seen it so busy. There was huge queues at all the bars (it took me 20 mins to be served one time), and the queues for the dining hall were horrendous between half past 7 and 8pm. Also, last year when we made our reservations for the 3 a-la-carte restaurants, we were in and out and signed up within a couple of minutes. This year, you had to queue up from 9.00am for it, and I swear some people must have camped outside the door- and people were still waiting to be signed up an hour later. For this reason, we only booked into the Italian on the first week we were there, which we were very disappointed about.

Then there came the sun-bed chaos. Bear in mind we came here last year, and were there for a week before the half-term deluge, and I have never experienced a hotel where people are laying on sunbeds at 7.15am, no word of a lie. Last year, we strolled down to the pool about 10.30 and always got a bed- this year, we had to get down there before 9am to try and squeeze in somewhere! Please don't let this put you off though. My only advice would be not to go in the school holidays! We will go back again for sure, just not during half-term! And it wasn't the children who were the problem either, it was some adults who I found to be ignorant this year, pushing past kids who were waiting patiently at the bars etc.

Anyway, on a final note, we requested the same block as last year and they catered for us too, so any requests you might have, do drop them an email in advance because they will bend over backwards to accommodate them.

Me & my new husband went to the oceania club for our honeymoon & the place was absolutly fantastic! So clean & professional.

The food was also fantastic with a range of different things for different tastes & the dining staff could not do enough for us & always had a smile on thier faces (particulary Valentina & Endijus who we noticed were always so efficiant) We only dined in 1 of the al a carte restaurants & we went for the itailian, which was again fantastic, we never had to call for a waiter they kept coming to see if you needed anything but not too much that you got annoyed, we were that impressed that we generously tipped.

The rooms were clean & comfortable, with a mini bar/fridge that was stocked up everyday with wine & lager.

I think I would have to say the only thing that let the oceania club down was it's location, we walked into Nea Moundania one day for the market & other than the market there wasn't much to see, so if your into chilling, relaxing holidays & not doing much else then this is the place to go.

Overall a fantastic honeymoon - thank you Oceania club, it was fantastic.

Cheryl & Dan Stubbs

Local Area
The local town is called Nea Moudania. It is a working commercial port with both cargo and fishing boats using the facilities. The town is small, noisy and grubby. With the Greek economy in such a poor state, everyday items are relatively expensive.

Weather
Perfect. Some hot days and some rainy days. Temps around the 25 degrees on average.

Arriving and getting there
Good speedy airport facilities ensured a slick passage through. Transfer time to the hotel was about forty minutes and by the time we'd finished our welcome drink and found our room, the cases were there.

Hotel general
The hotel is set into the side of a steep hill with reception being at the top and the pool area being six floors below almost at sea level. To access reception from the lift you need floor six. Going down, the pool will be found at floor zero. All the accommodation is annexed in blocks away from the main building. All parts of the hotel are kept absolutely spotless and sparkling, including the rooms. There is a "hole in the wall", situated in the reception area opposite the jewellery shop. All the normal debit cards are accepted. There are three pool areas with one of these being reserved for the exclusive use of the guests in block five.

The hotel was full and the public areas had lots of young children screaming around. It often resembled a scene from Butlins. Don't get me wrong. I have eleven grandchildren and am used to pandemonium and enjoy children but having it forced fed during my holiday was unpleasant. “Ah but it was half term”, I hear you say, but ninety percent of the children I saw were of pre-school age. Tearing around the bars, some on two feet and some on all fours until one in the morning just spoilt it for those people who came looking for an adult holiday. If the hotel wishes to target guests from both camps they need to provide facilities and entertainment for both types of guest. Alienating half the guests will cause them to go elsewhere (in my opinion).

Food
Excellent and varied. Apart from the main restaurant there are three themed restaurants. All are non buffet style and all are excellent. The themed restaurants need to be booked three days in advance as they are popular. Book outside the main restaurant at breakfast time.

Drinks
Any thing you want. A decent lager and branded spirits if you ask. Waiter service in all bars with not enough waiters to cope with a full hotel.

Entertainment
A hard working animation team provided day long activities which included Gymnastics, Volley Ball, Aqua-robics, Darts, Bingo and more. The Beach was well stocked with sun beds, shelters, water sports and bar with toilets and showers. Didn't enjoy the Animation team getting the children to play water polo next to the pool bar when there was a perfectly good childrens pool up on the next level. I didn't enjoy the children being encouraged to take over the pool bar by the Animation supervisors after games.

At first I thought that the evening show was charmingly naive but as the evenings passed, I realised that the animation teams' ambitions exceeded their ability. The shows were just not professional.

Beach
The beach was great. Never a shortage of sun beds. Still many children but all I could hear was the lapping of the waves. There was an excellent beach bar with toilet and shower facilities. Powered and non powered water sports were available.

Excursions
Costly. Approx forty pounds each. Complaints from people who went on the “Sunshine Cruise”. We went on a coach sightseeing trip with a knowledgeable guide. Interesting trip. Weekly market in town. You can go into town (and back) every day by hotel shuttle bus. Leaves every thirty minutes.

Animals and insects
Cats. I counted one, around this hotel complex. I did not feed it. It looked in good health and I suspect, kept the cockroaches away. I saw one (dead) cockroach in two weeks. There were mosquitoes and other biting insects.

Sickness
Caught nothing. Brushed my teeth using tap water. Had ice in my drinks, ate salads but drank bottled water and copious amounts of booze.

Top Tips
The bath towels provided in the room are not quite big enough. Use the large pool towel provided free and change as required.

Do not place the green label on the room door telling the maid to make up the room. It also tells passers by that you are out.

When you go to the beach or town, there is no need to flash expensive rings or watches. Loads of pickpockets in the market area. Leave them locked in the safe.


Flight Booking & Thomson Reps
The flight was full and I was cramped. To pre-empt this situation I had logged on to the Thomsons web site and selected isle seats (C and D) for both myself and my wife. I checked that the seats were still selected two days before departure and on boarding discovered that we had been allocated seats “A” and “B”. The very seats I did not want. It was a very cramped journey. I am over six foot and weigh seventeen stone so I was aching to get off after three hours. After the arrival meeting I quietly explained to the Thompson rep (Julie) the problems with their booking and allocation system. She promised to report it back and ensure that we had the seats I had previously booked for the return. She promised to “do it” that week. The next week, unprompted, she said that she would get us the seats we wanted going home (we didn't care by then). Two days before we flew she caught us in the foyer and said that she would be making sure that we had the seats we wanted on the return trip! We boarded the aircraft with ticket stubs for seats “A” and “B” !*&$@*! Thomson please note.

Nothing much to say really. She didn't do what she said she would. Smiling and courteous, at her desk during the day and early evenings. Ready to offer help and advice.

Would I go back
No

Would I recommend to others
If you want Butlins you can have it, there was no escape. If you want to be energetic, you can. If you want to lay quietly around the pool you can't.

Having been to the hotel before I made the mistake of having expectations. For me it was the pitts but if you want a great “All Inclusive” hotel and you have small children then this would fit the bill.

It's what suits you that counts.

My husband and I stayed at the oceania, middle of may 2010. The hotel is really nice, rooms, can't complain. But the food wasn't up to much, it was more what I would of expected from a 3 star hotel. Nothing greek about it though. We went to the main bar on the night time, and my husband went to the bar, there was only 1 bar staff serving, there were loads of waitresses, he ordered our drinks and was told, he was so busy to go back to our seats and a waitress would come and take our orders for the drinks. After about 15 minutes I finally flagged down a flustered waitress, and she took our orders but didnt come with the drinks, after 20 minutes I asked another waitress and she came after about 10 minutes with our drinks. This happened nearly every night. So when my husband went to the bar and if he did get served, he got us 2 drinks each. The same thing happened at breakfast, it was a buffet breakfast, and the waiters were supposed to come with flasks of coffee or tea, but no one ever came, you could never find anybody, all you saw was people walking about looking for the waiters, to get a drink. It wasnt' there fault they were short staffed but they did the best they could.
Don't get me wrong the hotel is really nice, but there is just not enough staff around. The beach was ok, but with the port being so close, it is quite dirty and you can see some of the oil in the water.
Would I stay there again, no, for the price I paid I would expect something a bit better. I would put that hotel at a 3 star plus. I have previously stayed at afitos, which is about 20 minutes further down and it is a really nice little place, so will stay there when I next go to halkidiki. Hope this has helped.