This hotel may claim to be 4 star plus, but don't think for one minute that you're getting 4 star UK standards.

The website shows very creative work with a wide angle lens. The hotel is actually crammed in on all sides, and the "Sea View" offered from the South facing rooms consists of glimpses over the rooftops and between the "work in progress" constructions beside the hotel.

The Roof Terrace is very spacious, with reasonable views, but when it comes to the pool, the wide angle lens comes into play again. The pool is about 3 strokes long, and would be crowded with more than half a dozen people in it.

The rooms are spacious and well furnished, but we found the beds were only made up on alternate days. Lack of a simple shower curtain means you can't have a shower without soaking the bathroom floor, and although the bathroom has a floor drain, your feet are in a pool of water when you use the loo!

The hotel reception is pleasant enough, and the staff are friendly and helpful, all in keeping with a 4 star claim. The breakfast however, served next door in the plastic, soulless and generally inadequate surroundings of the Myrthis leaves a lot to be desired. It is a mystery why someone would offer 4 star B&B accomodation, with no catering facility other than a bar in the building.

For those opting for Half Board, dinner is served in the Kri Kri tavern on the seafront 100 metres or so away. As Kri Kri is one of many very reasonably priced tavernas on the seafront, but certainly not the best, there would seem to be no merit in booking half board.

The surrounding area has stunning scenery and it is easy to find a patch of beach, or out of season a whole beach, to yourself. In terms of other hotels in Plakias, Porto Plakias may well be the best of a bad bunch, but it could so easily have been so much better.