An Indulgent Escape at Columbia Beach Resort, Cyprus

This month I was lucky enough to work with Jet2 Holidays and experience one of their luxurious package holidays, otherwise known as an Indulgent Escape. I was excited to plan a holiday that we could enjoy as a family, including my son who is now 3. Before the trip took shape, I did some research into the best places to go for winter sun in March. With average March temperatures between 19 and 20 degrees, Cyprus came up trumps.

Disclaimer; this holiday was provided complimentary by Jet2Holidays in exchange for a Columbia Beach Resort review. All views are my own.

As well as staying at a top rated 5 star hotel, an Indulgent Escapes holiday comes with lots of extra benefits; ones that we really did appreciate. These included;

• Return flights to Cyprus with Jet2
• 25kg baggage allowance per person
• Private transfers to and from your hotel
• Priority lane passes through security
• A round of complimentary drinks on board your flight (including beer and wine)
• A luxurious gift on arrival at the airport (ours was a beautiful leather travel wallet)

All of these little extras really added up to make our journey so much easier and more enjoyable, especially the priority lane pass at Leeds Bradford Airport and the private transfers on arrival at Paphos airport. The driver even had a toddler car seat so we didn’t need to worry about bringing one along with us. I was really impressed.

Why I chose this hotel

All the holidays we’ve done since becoming a family so far have been self catered. I wanted this holiday to be different. I wanted it to be about enjoying family time with as much convenience as possible. No grocery shopping, no cooking, no cleaning, just family fun. As busy working parents, the thought of this was complete bliss!

The Indulgent Escapes packages have a great selection of family holidays, as well as adult-only options. I opted for the Columbia Beach Resort because it had a perfect balance of a great beach-front location, amazing restaurants, beautiful aesthetics and fantastic family-friendly facilities. From reading lots of Trip Advisor reviews, it seemed to have excellent service too. In terms of what is available to kids, there is a children’s pool (inflatables welcome), Columbia Cubs kids club for ages 4 to 12 (inclusive), a baby club for babies to up to 3 years (additional costs apply), a babysitting service and a small playground and swings.

General facilities include 5 bars, 3 a la carte restaurants (although in March only Apollo restaurant and Bacchus restaurant were open due to it being low season), 2 outdoor pools and the Hebe spa complete with indoor spa pool. Children are also able to use the indoor spa pool up until 2pm.

The hotel is also included in Jet2holidays free child places offer, so it seemed like a no brainer.

Checking In

After a smooth 30 minute private transfer from Paphos Airport, we arrived at the Columbia Beach Resort in Pissouri. We drove through some small villages close by, but they all seemed to be closed - we were visiting in Cyprus’ low season after all.

We were given a warm welcome by the receptionist who invited us to take a seat in the lobby bar for a complimentary drink whilst we checked in. This was such a nice, above-and-beyond touch and it definitely set the tone of the service that they deliver at this hotel.

After we finished our drinks and received our room keys we were driven to our room via a golf cart, which circulate around the pathways of the resort. Despite the golf carts, everything is very much in easy walking distance.

A Junior Suite with Garden View

Our Junior Suite was a very unique dome-like space, with windows all around and an incredibly high ceiling. It felt spacious and luxurious. The sofa bed converted into a sprung double bed, so the room could have comfortably slept two adults and two children. My only wish would have been for our son’s bed to be in a space that could have been separated by a door or a curtain so that we were less likely to disturb in the evenings.

The room had all the extras you would expect of a 5 star hotel including robes, slippers, a Nespresso coffee machine, complimentary fruits and water. The Molton Brown toiletries were definitely appreciated too.

Beachfront Bliss

One of the best things about this hotel is its scenic beachfront location which is framed by striking cliffs to the right. Picture perfect! The beach is a shingle beach (not sand) and is a great place for little ones to play. There was a lot of sea weed debris between the sea and the shingles which I assume would be cleared away at some point before the high season begins.

Whilst it was too cold to swim in March, just simply being by the sea and breathing in the air instantly made me feel better. I can imagine in summer the beach is lined with sun beds and is a really beautiful place to be.

The Food

During our time at the Columbia Beach Resort we ate at the breakfast buffet in Bacchus restaurant, Appolo restaurant and we also ordered room service for dinner one night. The food is of an incredible standard and features twists on all the Cypriot classics. The chicken souvlaki and the Pissouri salad with halloumi were both excellent. You can expect to receive fresh and flavoursome local food, cooked to the highest standard.

Our Indulgent Escapes package was bed and breakfast only, so we paid extra for the meals as we went along, but the hotel also has half board and full board options that would be worth considering in low season as there aren't many other restaurants open in the immediate area.

The Farewells

We continued to receive amazing service from the staff at Columbia Beach Resort right up until check out, when we were offered a complimentary drink as we waited for our transfer. We were also sent off with plenty of bottled water for our journey. Thoughtful gestures like this really do go a long way.

The Verdict

The Columbia Beach resort is a real gem and one which I would love to return to. However, if you are travelling with young children, I would advise visiting in high season / the warmer months, to really make the most of all the facilities. In March the pools were too cold for our son to swim in and the kids club had less going on. There were also less restaurants open than we had expected. That all said, we were very impressed by the hotel as a whole and the service was excellent. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this hotel to my family, friends and of course to you, my blog readers.

Looking for more hotel inspiration? Check out more of my hotel reviews.

• Browse Indulgent Escapes holidays to Cyprus
• Browse Winter Sun Holidays with Jet2

Disclaimer; this holiday was provided complimentary by Jet2Holidays in exchange for a Columbia Beach Resort review. All views are my own.

What did you think of my Columbia Beach Resort Review? If you have any further questions about the hotel, or simply enjoyed this post, please leave me a comment in the box below. Jess x