My wife and I have just returned from a week's all-inclusive stay at the Caravel. For all those worried people who've read the previous reports, I have to say that we found the hotel complex and the food to be very good. I must admit that my heart sank a little when we first arrived to find the E from the illuminated CARAVEL sign outside was missing...memories of Fawlty Towers came flooding back! But when we stepped inside the bright polished marble reception area with its deep leather seats, our spirits picked up.

Apparently the hotel has had a multi-million euro makeover during the winter months. Our room overlooked the pool and was very spacious and furnished/decorated to a high standard with fridge, hair dryer, satellite TV, balcony, aircon etc. Likewise the lobby and dining rooms are light and spacious.

As we've found with all the inclusive holiday's we've been on, the food get's a bit samey after a few days. But it's all freshly prepared, healthy and nutritious. On the fifth night we went for a Chinese meal to get our MSG fix and spice up the jaded palette!

A few minor gripes stopped us from giving the Ravel a 5 star rating:
- With a couple of notable exceptions, staff are a bit surly, but I guess, in their defence, they do work very long hours
- Apart from the weekly Greek night there is no evening entertainment worth mentioning and the daytime activities are only really of interest to the children
- For such a big hotel complex there should be a larger pool and sunbathing area. There is a limited supply of beds and parasols and they've normally all been taken by 8.30am. It's right on the beach but it's only a skinny stretch of stony sand and you have to pay for beds on the beach. The sea is shallow for a long way out and safe for bathing.

All in all we really enjoyed our stay at the Ravel helped by the fantastic weather. It's an ideal location - just a ten-minute stroll from restaurants, bars and cafes of Tsilivi and just a 30-minute airport transfer. Zante (or Zakinthos as it is known in Greek) is a pretty island, which is green and lush with some lovely bays and coves. We'd recommend the turtle spotting/swimming trip and the trip across to the mainland to see Olympia, home of the Games.

We have just returned from staying at Caravel Hotel Zante after spending one weeks honeymoon / family holiday there. It was just my husband, 8 year old son and myself who went, and unfortunately, I haven't really got anything positive to say about the hotel or staff, only that we met some really nice people who were staying at the resort the same time as us.

The three of us were put in the smallest room imaginable. This was situated at the rear of the hotel which overlooked a dog pound where two of the hotels' security dogs were kept. The first night wasn't too bad, they only barked for around an hour or so. Towards the end of the week, the barking got progressively worse. All three of us has experienced serious sleep deprivation,
through the dogs' constant barking and keeping us awake. It isn't the dogs' fault, as they were simply barking out of boredom.

The food wasn't very good either. There were a hot and cold buffet, with practically the same dishes every night. If anyone does decide to stay at this resort, I wouldn't advise going All Inclusive - we only went Half Board, but by the last three nights, we just had to eat out, as it was getting a bit repetitive having the same food every night.

Thinking back, I should have said something to the hotel manager, but another guest went and complained and was fobbed off with a cheap bottle of wine and the excuse that it was coming towards the end of the season, which I think this is no excuse.

Think very carefully before booking this resort. The website only shows you their 4* rooms, which in my opinion are no where near 4*, plus they are photos are taken around 6 years ago.

like a previous group we went to celebrate a wedding (28 people including 3 children), but our problems started before we even got there! We had originally wanted another hotel but as it did not accept single occupancy our travel agent suggested The Caravel as an alternative 4*, and then managed to [--] most of the holiday anyway even though it had been booked well in advance!
SO, after reading some of the reviews (after booking) it was with some trepidation that i set off at all, but here i must say that the staff on arrival where very helpful (even though we did end up having to pay extra to upgrade to the room/s we thought we had booked through the travel agent!).
The rooms are basic but they where cleaned daily and sheets changed. After two days though we had to suddenly start paying for the air conditioning (1st Sep onwards).
The hotel as a whole could do with being refurbished as I wouldn't say it came up to 4* standard now (maybe when it was first built!), some of the seating in the top reception area does look rather grim (stained clothe from wet cosies is very off putting!).
There was also a problem on one occasion with finding somebody had been sick in the ladies bar/reception toilets, it had been covered with a sheet and apparently left all day and when we asked if it could be cleaned up we received some verbal abuse from a member of staff!
Like a lot of your reviewers we had gone 'all inclusive', never again, the food was boring and predictable and often cold and looked under cooked, on the second week we mainly ate out as the meal times just didn't fit in with what we wanted and we where sick of the same stuff every day!
One reviewer commented about the pool side leaving a lot to be desired however we found it to be clean, but as stated a lot of people 'saved' the sunbeds with towels (and often didn't use them all day!). The pool side staff where also often miserable and unhelpful!
The entertainment suddenly changed on the 1st Sept and what entertainment there was of an evening was a little hit and miss, however the two staff charged with trying to keep everyone happy did the best they could considering it was the start of 'low season'.
I would like to say at this point that the two bar staff, George and Yanis, more than made up for the lack of civility and helpfulness from some of the other staff.
Would i go again - possibly (but only if nothing else was available). Would i go all inclusive - definitely not!

We booked and travelled with Thomas Cook staying at the Caravel Hotel in May / June 2006 on the 3rd floor over looking the entrance of the complex with a sea view if you leaned out far enough from your balcony!

The hotel is very pleasant with helpful staff, which was a concern when we read the reports on Trip Advisor prior to leaving. It is airy, clean and smart though the rooms are on the slightly basic side, with a double bed, dressing table/chair, comfy chairs, table with colour TV, bedside tables, shower/bath but you do get air con and it is worth the extra cost.

The dining room is large, with a vast array of breakfast options ranging from cereals to fry ups catering for many different nationalities in the process, likewise with the Lunch and Dinner options too. The complex has a large pool surrounded by deck chairs and parasols with more on the grass area all free of charge, beware you have to pay for are the ones on the sandy beach further along as the beach directly outside is shingle. The hotel is situated in large grounds with many different activities available on site; just outside the entrance are many bars, shops and a supermarket. Further up the road, turning left will take you into the main drag of shops, bars, restaurants and all other types of places to spend your money.

We took 2 optional excursions booked through Thomas Cook representative being the Island Tour and Try Dive (the latter being very expensive and not worth it). We were advised that the Island Tour included a visit to the well known wreck and we could pay a local fisherman to take us on to the beach, when in reality we visited a small village with a vineyard and hung around for an hour for no apparent reason, before going by boat to the caves, one with an image of Christ in the rock face (you have to use your imagination for this one). This is where we found we could not go to the ship wreck via boat on this tour! Back on board the coach you are taken to an advantage point above the cliff face where you look down and to your left on a small platform, time is very limited as only a couple of people can be on the platform at one time and therefore with a coach load of people waiting it is a very rushed affair. We stopped off for lunch at a very nice restaurant but do check the prices and what you are charged as there is a very high overcharge in your bill, politely point out there error and all is well. We had a look around some fort ruins whilst there. From there we then went to Callinico vineyard for a tour before returning back to the hotel.

The Try dive experience with Euro Divers was an utter disgrace, I am a Advanced Plus Medic 1st Aid diver with over 14 years experience but my wife wanted to have a Try Dive so I booked us both with Thomas Cook as Try Divers (they had no knowledge of my status). We were told to walk down to the dive shop, where we found that they had already left to pick us up from the hotel?! Once we were collected we were driven to their dive shop/site and with several other people having Try Dives too filled in the PADI disclaimer forms to say we were all fit and healthy. The couple opposite us, the lady put that she used to suffer from sinuses many years ago and was told by the staff that if she wanted to dive she would need to change her answer to NO. Anyway, we eventually board the boat after our safety and skills briefing to find there is a mixed bunch, ranging from Try, Open Water, to Advance divers. All the Try Divers had to carry out their skills in the sea, unfortunately we were the last couple to be called and they were in a rush to complete to get the boat out. I at that point made the instructor aware that I was an Advanced Diver and therefore he could spend a little more time with my wife who was having problems with her equipment (mask floods etc), Oh No-they weren’t interested and promptly after 5 minutes said she could come on to the boat but she could not dive. Strangely enough the lady with the sinus problems from many years ago had to disembark when her ears started to play up (no refund given). I buddied a Open Water diver for my first dive, a pleasant easy going dive and when the second dive came up I asked that since my wife was unable to dive could I have a second dive? The answer was strange as he told me that there was no extra equipment (tanks) to be able to take my wife’s dive experience, I pointed out the fact that her tank had not been used and therefore it was possible, now that I got his back up the answer was still a no!

Thomas Cook was an absolute waste of time to raise my concerns re. Island Tour and not being able to take the boat trip to the shipwreck for an additional fee to the fisherman and the Euro Divers “Take the money and run” attitude if you are unable to dive. The tour rep acted all apologetic asking us to fill in the complaint form with many additional pages added but did not tell us that she would be unable to assist as it will take several (4?) months to come to an end. Thomas Cook finally refunded the Island Tour (£40?) but did not refund anything of the Try Dive package (£70?) as the complaint has to be done directly with them and they disputed all of my comments…which then begs the question of why pay extra to use a travel agents rep since you have no back up for the privilege!

Would we go to Zante and stay at the Caravel hotel again? Yes, without any hesitation but we would no longer use travel agent reps to book any excursions ever again, booking directly with the tour company concerned instead.