My relationship with Cyprus is a little conflicted.
When I was a kid, I used to go to Cyprus almost every year. This was largely down to my greek-cypriot heritage, visiting family, and because the UK is not exactly blessed with beach weather.
As such, my childhood was full of lountza (greek ham) and halloumi sandwiches on the beach, sweltering heat, and triantafillo (rose) ice cream.
It was bliss.
Another huge reason we came to Cyprus so often was the Four Seasons in Limassol.
My mum used to work in travel – as a result she used to get these super sweet deals on trips that me and my brother would inevitably take slightly for granted.
I have countless memories of eating to excess in the legendary buffet, exceeding the land speed record on the pool slide, and just having the time of my little life.
In fact, I’ve been lucky enough to stay in the Four Seasons 7 or 8 times, by far the most I’ve stayed in one hotel!
The perks of my mum’s job in travel and having the greek-cypriot hook-up 😁
Sun-kissed memories of the Four Seasons
We partly kept coming back to the Four Seasons because we got decent rates for an unbelievably beautiful hotel.
More importantly however, we were always made to feel part of the family at the Four Seasons. The staff remembered us and welcomed us with open arms. Nothing was too much trouble.
My mum would tell me these surreal stories.
One time when my brother was very young he was feeling ill. And what he really wanted was some auko lemoni greek soup. My mum repeatedly told him the hotel didn’t have it, but he didn’t want anything else.
So what did the hotel do? Well, the chef took the pains to make it especially and served it to him personally.
That’s some pretty awesome commitment.
Another time my mum was carrying me (yes, I was also much younger at this point) as she explored the ample breakfast options.
Next thing she knows, the chef making the omelets is offering to hold and take care of me so my mum can enjoy her breakfast in peace.
The Four Seasons became our idyllic getaway from the often miserable weather in the UK.
And I bloody loved it.
A homecoming… of sorts
Gradually as time went on, the trips to Cyprus dried up.
My mum left her travel job, and my family agreed that visiting new and distant shores was more interesting.
12 years went by and the Four Seasons became a distant memory…
That is until a cousin’s wedding was scheduled in Larnaca this year!
My whole family would be going, and can you guess where we were going to stay?
I was intrigued to find out – would experiencing the Four Seasons as an adult hold up to the nostalgic and rose-tinted images of my childhood holidays?
Would Cyprus prove me right or wrong for ignoring it for 12 years?
Either way, just getting away with my family again after so long left me bursting with excitement.
I couldn’t wait.
Review of the Four Seasons, Limassol:
The lobby, hotel grounds and rooms
Your first view of the four seasons is an abundance of greenery hanging from balconies, and the trademark multicoloured fountain.
The plant/skyrise combo reminded me a lot of Singapore, and was in welcome contrast to the grey surroundings in Limassol.
Walking into the hotel lobby then escalated my excitement – the hotel was just as beautiful as I remembered!
Sparkling marble floors and pillars, luxurious seating and greenery everywhere astounded me.
My childhood memories hadn’t lied, and as an adult I appreciated the splendor even more.
Next up, the room.
This was a much more underwhelming experience.
A delay in our booking meant the hotel had filled up, and we were the only ones in our party to not be upgraded.
Don’t get me wrong, the room was quite nice. However, the lack of natural light and view out towards Limassol did disappoint us.
Win some, lose some.
This was almost all forgotten though as we explored the hotel grounds.
I’ve been to the Four Seasons in Limassol almost 10 times. That’s maybe 8 times more than any other hotel I’ve stayed at.
This time though was the first time I actually thought:
“This is the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever seen.”
When you walk out of the revolving doors of the lobby, you’ll think you’ve got lost and landed in some luxurious tropical rainforest.
Plants and trees above and around bless you with shade and colour.
Then you have my favourite part of the whole hotel – the pond and seating area.
Like something out of a majestic Japanese garden, koi fish swim delightfully under bridges and tables.
A water fountain in the middle of the pond shaped like a bonsai tree completes the experience spectacularly.
When I found out this was where we’d be having breakfast, I almost inadvertently let out a childish squeal.
The beach and pools
Moving onto the pool area, the main pool was just as huge and impressive as I remembered.
That green slide was still there rising mischievously next to the bridge. The times we had on that bad boy, equal parts fun and chaos.
This time the view from the pool also caught my eye, providing an amazing view of the private beach and sea.
The beach area was our next stop.
In all my years at the Four Seasons, I don’t think I’d been down to the beach once. You were never going to top the pool with it’s slide and waterfall jets.
There was a moment of reflection when you see your young self in all the kids enjoying the slide and pool area… and then want to get as far away as possible from the squeals of delight so you can chill in peace!
So when we walked the path through grass and sunbeds to the front of the private beach, I loved what I saw.
The first sunbeds sit on a hill full of grass, surrounded by palm trees. The path gradually winds its way down the hill, and towards the beach.
On the beach you have plenty of comfortable sunbeds, and even shaded booths.
I also finally felt I was seeing something new – it was delightful.
Another area I had never seen was the private pool, and the setting blew me away.
You feel pretty smug when you find stuff that only adults can experience – like you are a VIP just because you made it this far in life.
Oh and at the adults-only pool we get treated to the occasional free snack or smoothie? Don’t mind if I do.
Naturally the adults-only pool is a perfect option for peace and quiet, but the view isn’t anywhere near as good.
For those rainier days (we went in November so we can’t be too sore about this), there is the indoor pool.
Jacuzzi jets, steam baths, saunas and ice rooms will keep your body temperature guessing until your body just gives up.
That’s real relaxation.
The best breakfast ever?
One of the clearest things I remembered about the Four Seasons was the breakfast was the best IN THE WORLD.
And I wasn’t really skinny as I kid, so I had some experience.
I was almost scared to go as an adult, and tarnish one of the most beautiful parts of my childhood travels.
Turns out, I didn’t need to worry.
Whatever floats your boat when it comes to breakfast, the Four Seasons has you covered.
Cooked meats, cold cheeses, omelet counter, fruit, pastries, a honeycomb to delightful pick at – you won’t go hungry here.
Then when you are too full to move, you can sink into your seat and just appreciate the water trickling and koi swimming.
What a wonderfully perfect way to start a day.
M Fusion Restaurant
The last asian fusion restaurant we tried in a Greek hotel was one of the worst meals we’ve ever had.
So we were a little tense to eat at this uber-popular place that needed to be booked months in advance.
However, the food was absolutely delicious!
We particularly focused on the sushi, and really enjoyed the soft shell crab and prawn tempura rolls. The black cod dish was also super tasty.
The downside was naturally the price, costing us £200 for 5 to eat. Not devastating, but still far from a value meal.
The black cod dish was also labelled as a sharing platter, which was pretty misleading…
Tropical Restaurant and Colors Café
As a rule, we try our best not to eat in the hotel when we travel.
It’s usually very expensive, and we’d much rather eat somewhere local.
However if your priority is convenience, the tropical restaurant is quite nice.
You can sit in the same wonderful seating as breakfast, and have a sandwich or some pasta.
We had a club sandwich which was quite tasty, and we were told the pasta was also quite nice. Both of these were about 15 euros though, just a heads-up.
For an ice cream fix, the Colors café right next to the adults-only pool is actually lovely. It’s 5 euros for 2 scoops, but the ice cream is very good and nice for a snack.
They also have many pastries and cakes which we didn’t try, but looked very tempting.
The faultless service of the staff
As I mentioned, the homely connection to the staff was one of the biggest reasons my family kept coming back here.
While I can’t say that we felt that exactly on this visit, the service was still some of the best I’ve ever experienced.
Everything was done with a smile, and as a guest you could really relax and let the hotel make your stay stress-free.
Even just finding a sun-bed and setting up your towel was something that the staff were only too happy to help with (sometimes this was so welcome, as people can get ruthlessly defensive over sunbeds).
Also the hotel was absolutely rammed when we went. I expect if the hotel were less busy, a personal touch from the hotel would have been easier.
Restaurant recommendations in Limassol
It’s inevitable that at some point you will want to grab a bite somewhere nearby, or maybe do a bit of exploring.
In this respect, the Four Seasons does lack options nearby and finding a cheap bite for lunch was quite frustrating.
The Croseria Lounge across the road was especially awful.
Our suggestion here is actually to sign up to the food delivery app Foody and order something about 30 minutes before lunch-time.
We got a large souvlakia delivered from Pit Stop by Katerina, and it was quite nice.
Alternatively, there are some tavernas very close-by, but the prices left us scratching our heads.
15 euros for souvlakia? Really?
We ate the fish meze at Nama Restaurant which was quite nice, and that cost 23 euros. It certainly wasn’t the best meal we had on our trip, but it filled us up.
If you are prepared to go a bit further to find some food, our top recommendation is Forsos Tavern. It’s a 5 minute drive, and the meat meze is a carnivore’s wet dream.
My memory of this night is a haze surrounded by meat sweats, but I think it went something like this:
Greek salad – lountza (ham) and halloumi, with mushroom – pastourma (sausage) – keftedes (meatballs) – ravioles (ravioli with cheese) – chicken and pork souvlakia (the main event) – pork chop/bacon – livers – pastries for dessert.
Salivating yet?
And whatever you don’t eat, the cats will be only too happy to take off your hands.
The setting also does a brilliant job of hiding the gray of Limassol, and letting you really enjoy the atmosphere.
Closer to the Marina you have Terry’s place. We were almost ashamed when Terry kept treating us to complimentary wine, nibbles and dessert, all to go along with the lovely food he served. The pork chop was particularly good.
For a restaurant in the center, The Local Fish and Meat sits right next to Limassol Castle.
The highlight here is an unbelievably reasonable and delicious fish meze for 17 Euros.
Octopus, calamari, white fish, and sardines were all fantastic. Cats again appreciate most leftovers, although they are noticeably more picky than with the meat meze…
Gelatofabio is a 2 minute walk and has you fully covered for dessert – we’d really recommend the Bacio flavour for a nutella x chocolate chip combo dream.
Summary: Is the Four Seasons worth it?
I wasn’t sure that the Four Seasons could match up to the immortal memories created as a child.
However, it’s almost impossible to fault the hotel itself. The staff really seem like they care for their guests, the facilities are spectacular in their beauty, and the breakfast fully deserves its legendary status.
We paid £1000 for 5 nights including breakfast, and by the end of our stay it felt well worth it.
The only negative we found was the location. The Marina and castle nearby just didn’t offer that much of a diversion, and finding a quick and reasonably-priced lunch bite was very difficult.
However if you are not looking to leave the hotel grounds from the start of your stay to the end, you’ll struggle to find a better hotel to escape to!
- The Four Seasons Hotel, Limassol: 5 Nights Back in Paradise? - November 14, 2021
