Four Seasons Hotel

This huge resort is housed in a seven-story beige building dating to 1993. Its lined with dark-glass windows and rows of balconies covered with greenery. A large fountain resembling the head of a seeded dandelion sits at the front entryway. Guests enter into a spacious, chic lobby with marble floors and huge chandeliers comprising leaf-like forms of suspended glass. A huge marble column with bas-relief sculptures of Greek myths sits at the center and soars up to the second-floor mezzanine level, where a couple of dining outlets and a meeting room are located. A corridor leads to some of the meeting spaces and is lined with shops selling high-end products. At the back of the lobby is a lounge bar with an outdoor deck, and stairs lead down to a lower level with a koi pond and access out to the pool area and the beach. The hotel was most recently renovated in 2016, though upgrades take place on an ongoing basis.  

Overall the vibe is chic but not pretentious, and about three quarters of guests here are tourists (the rest are business travelers). However, there are a lot of Cypriot guests here and thus a lot of cigarette smoking (which doesn't seem as taboo on the island as it is in Western Europe), so guests may find themselves downwind from cigarette smoke a bit more than they'd like to be. There are also a lot of families here and the main pool area can get rowdy, but there is a second adult-only wing (accessible from the lobby via an art-lined indoor corridor) with its own quiet pool. 

A caveat: don't let the hotel's name confuse you. Cyprus's one and only Four Seasons Hotel has nothing to do with the well-known Canadian luxury brand; they simply share a name, but apparently the Cyprus hotel group that owns this property had it first and thus Four Seasons Hotels Ltd. are not allowed to operate on the island, at least not under the Four Seasons monicker.

The Four Seasons is located in an eastern suburb of Limassol, the second-largest city in Cyprus (after the capital of Nicosia, about an hour's drive away). The hotel is right on the beach, with direct access to the sand from the pool area, and there are a few shops and restaurants in the immediate vicinity. However, the location is a bit too far from the city center to make it a good option for travelers without rental cars, as the journey into town takes 10 to 15 minutes behind the wheel to reach. It's a 20-minute drive to Limassol Castle, the Old Harbour, and other Old Town attractions. It's under a one-hour drive from the hotel to both Larnaca and Paphos, each of which has an international airport. 

The Four Seasons offers a huge variety of room types, ranging from entry-level Superior Inland View units up to a variety of suites, some of which have up to two bedrooms and many of which are adult-only. Rooms were renovated in 2016 and have contemporary decor in neutral hues of gray, charcoal, rich brown, and cream, plus either plush carpeting or tile floors. All rooms with sea views and many of the rooms with inland views feature balconies. All units come with flat-screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, minibars, kettles, Nespresso coffeemakers, and free safes. Suites and adult-only rooms add full-size bottles of liquor to the minibars. 

Many of the in-room functions are controlled electronically using Samsung tablets, including lighting, air-conditioning, and the curtains. Bathrooms are big and modern, with large walk-in showers with optional chromotherapy lighting, allowing guests to choose what color of lighting they want during their showers. Many units also have deep soaking tubs. Molton Brown toiletries are provided. 

While most of the rooms are situated in the main hotel building or in its attached adult-only wing, there are also a few Garden Studios and Suites in their own outbuilding closer to the sea. These come with separate perks such as free sparkling wine on arrival, a daily aperitif service, and private check-in. There are also four rooms with disabled access, including roll-in showers and accessible light switches. 

This hotel offers a ton of amenities designed for both vacationers who want everything in one place and business travelers who need solid conference facilities. Much of the hotel’s activity takes place in and around the two pools or down at the beach, where lots of wooden lounge chairs shaded by palapa-style parasols are set up. The main pool is a huge, sprawling lagoon-style affair with fountain features and a bridge. There’s also a waterslide with a landing splash pool at one end of the main pool deck. For those seeking rest, a second adult-only pool is located at the westernmost end of the resort.

Wellness facilities include a gorgeous spa using Shiseido products and Aromatherapy Associates rituals. Spa features include a heated indoor pool, a sauna, and a steam room. Next to it is a modern fitness center with two rooms: one room is for stretching and the other is filled with cardio and weight-training equipment. There are also two floodlit tennis courts and an on-site PADI school offering diving certification. For families, the hotel offers a year-round kindergarten, which is really more of a supervised playroom for ages three to eight. Kids ages seven to 13 can go to the Kids' Club, though it’s only open during school holidays. Babysitting is available on request. 

The hotel hosts a ton of meetings and conferences and has a ballroom for up to 600 people reception-style. A smaller meeting room is set up for up to 180 and there are three boardrooms, one of which is entirely self-contained with its own bathroom and kitchen along with panoramic views. Wi-Fi is free for all guests and delegates. There’s also a chapel for civil and Anglican (Church of England) destination weddings. There’s a fair amount of parking both aboveground and in a small basement lot, though parking can fill up quickly during events. 

Dining package options include breakfast-only, half-board, and full-board and there are enough different restaurant options on site to keep guests from getting bored. Restaurants include Vivaldi Mediterranean (dinner only), a gorgeous fine-dining spot with indoor and outdoor seating and a great wine list. There’s also a Chinese restaurant, Seasons Oriental, that draws in plenty of locals with its Cantonese menu. Next to Seasons is Cafe Tropical, the main hotel restaurant, which serves buffets for all three meals along with a la carte options during the day. The selection is good and there are special items available for gluten-free guests. Barbecues (included for half- and full-board guests) are staged every Friday in the summertime. Other dining options include Colors Cafe, serving pastries and ice cream, along with a Seafood Bar for sushi and oysters.   

There are also five bars. The main lobby lounge, Vista Bar and Terrace, has indoor and outdoor seating and a sectioned-off smoking area. A second atrium-level lounge, Garden Court, is open in the evenings and all day during cooler winter months. The poolside Splash Bar serves snacks and drinks directly to guests’ lounge chairs, as does the Garden Pool Bar, next to the adult-only pool. There’s also a beach bar following a similar concept.