Mark Warner Holidays レビュー 388

From start to finish this was a brilliant holiday. The whole MW team were great. The kids loved kids club and made lots of friends, as did we!
The chance to try windsurfing and sailing was also fun and the tennis/padel and fitness team helped keep the pounds off with multiple opportunities for exercise.
All in all we loved it and will be back!

This was our fifth visit to Mark Warner Lemnos. We’ve always loved the location, the food and the wonderful team led by the brilliant Sue Thomas — thank you to everyone who helped make previous trips such fun and so memorable.

This year, though, a lack of flexibility and empathy from the Kids Club head, Zoe, turned what should have been another five-star holiday into a two-star struggle.

Mark Warner sensibly assigns children to Kids Clubs' groups based on age, which generally works well — you wouldn’t want a nine-year-old mixed in with toddlers, nor would it be appropriate for an 11-year-old to be placed with the Indys (ages 15–17).

However, the 11/12–13/14 age range is certainly a grey area. At this stage, some children are more mature and prefer to socialise with older peers, while others feel more comfortable with kids their own age.

My daughter, aged 12 years and nine months, has always enjoyed the company of girls slightly older than her. When we arrived this year, the Surfers group (ages 11–12) consisted of only five boys and no girls (other girls had been assigned to the group but hadn’t turned up on that first morning).

Given this, and the fact that we saw there were only two girls in the next group up (Bondi, where no boys had turned up), my daughter decided to join them (she had moved up in previous years without any issue – and still remains in contact with many of the friends she made there).

Only a few months younger (five in one case; 11 in the other) than the other two girls, my daughter got on very well with them and was thrilled to tell me at lunch how much fun she’d had. So I was shocked when she returned to our room later, near tears, saying she had been asked to leave the group. She found the situation both embarrassing and humiliating.

It was especially disappointing that this was addressed directly with my daughter by the Bondi team leader rather than involving me in the discussion. The handling lacked sensitivity and fell well short of the standards I'd expect from anyone working with children.

When I approached Zoe, the head of childcare, I was shocked to be met not with understanding but with dismissiveness. She was brusque and insistent that there was no flexibility whatsoever. Her explanation was that the Bondi group was ‘full’ (as I understand it, 12 kids had signed up) and could not accommodate any more members. If she wanted to be in Kids Club, my daughter would have to return to the Surfers group, which she was very reluctant to do.

The result was a frustrating and totally avoidable situation. My daughter remained friendly with the two girls from Bondi outside of Kids’ Club, yet was barred from joining them during daily activities. This really upset our whole holiday, meaning my daughter had no close ‘buddies’ to hang around with during the day, no waterfront activities to participate in and spent most of her time on the sun lounger by the pool feeling excluded.

To make matters worse, I was later informed that the Bondi group mostly only had those two girls attending – sometimes there were three and, on a one or two occasions, at most five had turned up – with some days seeing no attendance at all at certain times and the team leader having to join an older group (I witnessed this first hand) —so space clearly wasn’t the issue.

It was even more disappointing that Zoe made no effort to follow up, show empathy or monitor the situation throughout the week. In the past, the Kids Club staff have been very happy to accommodate children moving between groups based on their friendships and maturity. This year, it was a rigid, impersonal approach that seriously undermined our holiday.

I'm writing this review with genuine disappointment about Mark Warner's poor customer service and lack of support for loyal customers, which has left me feeling very let down. While we ultimately made the best of our trip, the company's handling of several issues was unacceptable:
1. Price Reduction After Booking - No Consideration for Early Bookers
The most frustrating aspect was discovering that our holiday price was reduced by £370. I understand that prices fluctuate and certainly didn't expect a full refund of the differential, but when I contacted customer services to express my disappointment, I suggested reasonable alternatives such as a partial refund or discounted/complimentary water sports lessons to help offset this substantial amount. Instead, I was told they would provide a room upgrade to a sea view as compensation. This upgrade never materialised.
What made this worse was meeting other guests who openly admitted they always wait until the last minute to book Mark Warner holidays because the company consistently discounts prices closer to departure. This seems to be a well-known practice that penalises loyal customers who book early and plan ahead.

2. Damaged Luggage - No Support from Mark Warner
My suitcase wheel was completely ripped off during the outbound journey with Enter Air. Despite providing extensive evidence including photos of the obvious damage and various claim forms, Enter Air only offered £60 compensation because I couldn't provide proof of purchase of my bag - yet I provided proof of how much it will cost to replace, which surely is more relevant! This has left me £100 out of pocket through absolutely no fault of my own, as a like for like replacement bag costs £160.
When I contacted Mark Warner for support, they simply stated that "flights were outside the scope of the contract" and completely washed their hands of the situation. A simple £100 gesture of goodwill from Mark Warner would have covered my shortfall and demonstrated they actually care about their customers' - but clearly customer service isn't a priority for them. More reputable airlines like British Airways and even budget carriers like EasyJet handle these situations far better and actually support their customers.

3. Resort Experience
There were several other minor issues during our stay, including the air conditioning not working in our room. To his credit, the resort manager Alistair did try to help and offered us a complimentary sailing lesson as compensation. However, this was only one hour for two people when they could fit it in on our final day, and the instructor informed us we really needed at least three hours to gain anything meaningful from it - making it more of a token gesture than genuine compensation.

*Overall Assessment*
We're not the type to let problems ruin a holiday, and we did manage to enjoy ourselves despite these issues. However, my overall impression of Mark Warner is one of disappointment and feeling completely unsupported as a customer.
A simple gesture of goodwill - perhaps contributing towards my damaged luggage replacement - would have gone a long way.

*Advice to Others*
Based on this experience, I would recommend:
- Book with Neilson or Club Med instead - having holidayed with both companies, they genuinely care about their customers, much more than Mark Warner.
- If you must book Mark Warner, don't book in advance - wait until the last minute to get better deals.
- Set your expectations low and don't expect any support if things go wrong with flights or other issues.

*Final Thoughts*
What makes this experience particularly disappointing is how easily Mark Warner could have rectified these issues at minimal cost to them. I genuinely wanted them to make things right, but they deliberately chose not to. In today's competitive market, gaining loyal customers is incredibly challenging, and recommendations and trust are vital to any company's success. It's baffling that Mark Warner wouldn't invest such a small amount in customer goodwill when the long-term value of satisfied customers far exceeds the short-term cost.

I'm left with a bitter taste and the certainty that I won't be recommending them to friends and family.

Lovely resort that’s only a short ride from the airport.
Rooms are a good size with nice, quiet air-conditioning.
My only disappointment was the tennis. This is one of the main reasons we go on Mark Warner holidays.
It was badly organised, with no attempts made to put players of similar standards together in social tennis. I appreciate that Padel was more popular, but I can see why…
Padel was VERY well organised with a very thorough introduction to the sport and then very well run social times, with regular advice given by Phil (the coach) on how to play/improve your game.
Overall a lovely holiday in a very pretty location with nice eateries only a short cycle/walk away if you fancied something different.

We had a wonderful holiday to Paleros!! Kids aged 9 and 11. The resort is clean and spacious enough for the number of guests at the time. The food is lovely. Watersports great. Staff charming. Well organised. Transfer short.
There is something for everyone!
A couple of small things would be the possibility of booking spa treatments before arrival and bikes for kids - but I wonder if this is an insurance/liability issue.
Priveza is a small airport and we queued a lot but it was worth it for the great holiday we all thoroughly enjoyed! We'll be back!!!

The centre was nice. As was the food. I thought local service g and waiting staff were great.
There were some issues. You get pressured into pre paying for wateraki seasions, but then don’t have priority over booking the sessions, on site. So we didn’t even get to use all the sessions that we had pre booked for. Also the ski boat was not up to much, an outboard…? Which is just a whole world less safe.
The site manager did not even get back to us about the water ski sessions, about whether we could get a refund. That was really dissapointing.

Staff were excellent, always helpful. Hotel Staff were also excellent and obliging. Hotel was very clean and food was very good. Paddle/Tennis courts and equipment were very good. Adult only pool was very good to have. Bicycles were excellent and Boats and Windsurf equipment were older but well maintained.

The hotel was well laid out with 3 pools to choose from. My room in the main hotel was comfortable and clean with an excellent shower (but the shower tray was quite slippery and I used with care). However the food wasn't nearly as good a quality as I've had at other Mark Warner Greek resorts. The Mark Warner staff were excellent - friendly and helpful with the usual variety of sports and activities to choose from. George, the resort manager, was always visible and available and was very helpful and supportive when I became ill with a stomach bug. As a solo traveler I needed some help as I was incapable of leaving my room. He brought me electrolytes and water and checked on my progress.

Activities. Food. Staff. Location. All brilliant.
You need new bikes. The Tennis courts need resurfacing. All other equipment seemed fine (Lemnos)

The local Turkish staff were great- restaurant staff all fab. Cleaning staff great. Sedu (I think that is how it was spelt) in Tiki bar such an asset to the hotel. Beach staff were great - they worked really hard but to be honest I think they needed a few extra pairs of hands - they were so busy. Particular thanks to Jonny and Ella on the beach. Hotel was spotless and one of the nicest we've stayed in.
Drinks in hotel need to be cheaper as they were ridiculously expensive.

Loved the holiday and location. Resort was good. Mainly played tennis and padel. Was a real shame about the coaching staff

Friendly staff, especially Sue, the Resort Manager, when my girlfriend lost her passport, and Dimitry (I think it was) who off his own initiative phoned the restaurant where she'd left it in Moudros !

The team at the resort were fantastic but the company's chosen charter airline, Enter Air, provides the poorest flying service I've ever encountered - late flights, poor pilot updates, inadequate food and equipment supplie as well as cabin crew who tend to shrug it all off without apologies.

Great place to holiday, must say it was disappointing the lack of equipment. New equipment arrived for the send week, but why was this not in place prior to the season starting? No driver for the ski boat, again until partway through the second week. Drinks at the resort are shockingly high. Would be interested in hearing back on the lack of equipment from MW and why I should be paying top dollar for a substandard experience?

Good quality hotel with lovely position. Our family had three adjacent garden rooms that had a great location and easy access for the child buggy. The rooms were well serviced and kept very clean. Friendly and helpful MW staff, especially the MW Manager. The hotel staff too were friendly and welcoming. Good range of activities and equipment although the windsurfing equipment was a little limited and tired

The resort itself was great in terms of staff, facilities and activities. The pool areas especially were perfect and both the MW and local staff were super friendly. Our kids seemed to enjoy the childcare provision. Our only criticisms of the resort were the lack of wind for watersports (quite significant when you are going predominantly for sailing and windsurfing) and we did find the food pretty average. Very heavy on the pork! Even with these criticisms we would still have definitely given the resort a solid 4/5 stars. However…

Whilst the booking process was good, our experience was let down by the UK based customer services / strange company policies and fluctuating prices. This would probably put us off using MW again in future

Another successful MW holiday at Phokaia. We had the advantage of being there for Charlie’s regatta week when even the most experienced sailor is likely to learn something new from Charlie’s tips and demonstrations. With so many additional races during the week, every sailor had the opportunity to race in different crafts and weather conditions.
The tennis 🎾 sessions were also a very worthwhile experience.
As I said before, the staff are MW’s most valuable assets.

The whole experience was excellent! Friendly staff, excellent food, the waterfront staff in particular were amazing; nothing was too much trouble for them. The resort general manager was superb too! It would be difficult to top this holiday!

We keep on going on Mark Warner active beach holidays. I can leave my comfortable bed in our spacious room and within five minutes be doing any of these activities:
Eating healthy and tasty Greek food in the generously stocked buffet restaurant,
Taking a mountain bike out on the mountain tracks, Taking a road bike on the quiet roads,
Snorkeling among the fishes in the clear Agean sea water,
Zooming along in a variety of dingies or a cat,
Getting excited windsurfing in the strong afternoon wind,
Playing tennis, or padel, joining in exercise classes.

All this in a hotel in beautiful gardens, staffed by lovely local staff and patient, skilled and fun Mark Warner activity specialists, on a very relaxed rural agricultural island with friendly local people, colourful flowers and insects and cute baby swifts.

I haven't even mentioned the gym, paddle boards, kayaks, wing surfing and foiling!

Beautiful location, clear water, sandy beach and magnificent sunsets!! We will return!!