Hotels and accommodation in Cyprus

If you are going to relax in Cyprus, then it will not be superfluous to know something about the features of accommodation. This is very important both for independent travelers and for tourists on tour packages, because the success of your holiday will depend on the living conditions.

Since traditionally tourists choose resorts on the territory of the Republic of Cyprus for accommodation, and Northern Cyprus is visited mainly in the form of short trips on excursions, the information in this article is applicable to the Republic of Cyprus, and prices are accordingly given in euros. And about the features of accommodation in the northern part of Cyprus, read in a separate paragraph.

Features of accommodation

To get started, check out some common features of hotel accommodation in Cyprus:

• Hotel kitchens. Most accommodation options have kitchens. This applies not only to accommodation with Airbnb, but also hotels and hostels. This is a very good thing as you can save on nutrition by buying groceries and cooking yourself. You can find out about the availability of the kitchen and its condition by description and reviews.
• Prohibition of alcohol consumption. In many facilities, especially in hostels, it is forbidden to consume alcoholic beverages. For violations, the administration announces a fine.
• Free parking. Most accommodation options offer free parking, and this is very convenient if you are traveling with a rented car (see all about car rental in Cyprus. But note that some accommodation facilities under parking simply mean a place along the road within walking distance, where parking is not prohibited. Of course, you will have to put a car at night at your own risk, the hotel will not be responsible for it. If this is fundamentally important, do not rely on the description, but read reviews so that there is an internal closed parking.
• Complex settlement schemes. If you book accommodation or apartments, cheap guest houses or hostels, be prepared for a kind of "Quest" when checking in. Such facilities operate on a semi-legal basis, often without signage, and send the exact address and instructions for settling in the mail or in a personal message, and sometimes even just a phone number by which you will need to contact the owner already on the spot. Therefore, always carefully read all messages that come from the booking object to the mail, and check their receipt at the first opportunity (availability of the internet), since in our experience detailed instructions came even a couple of hours before the time of entry. And of course, just in case, write down all possible host numbers for communication and contacts of the booking system support service.
• Price of hotels. Carefully check the price and description, because some objects do not display the final full price in the search, but the cost without taxes and fees. Sometimes they even provide an additional fee for the use of air conditioning, electricity and water meters. At the same time, these taxes and fees can significantly increase the final cost of accommodation, which will be an unpleasant surprise when leaving.

  

How to save on living in Cyprus

Since the cost of living in Cyprus by Russian standards is very high, it makes sense to use one of the tips below to save money:

• Book private accommodation for the long term. If you book accommodation through Airbnb or apartments through hotel search and booking systems, you can get a good discount for accommodation for a week or more.
• Book in advance. The earlier you pick up and book accommodation for the high season (from May to October), the more likely you will be to get a good option at a good price. We recommend doing this at least a month in advance, and preferably even earlier before the start of the season.
• Carefully read the descriptions and policies of the accommodation to avoid unforeseen expenses such as electricity charges, taxes and other charges.
• Rest at the beginning or end of the season (May and October-November) then prices are lower.
• Use tents and campsites. This is the most radical way, but also the most effective. It is especially convenient to rent a car, and stay in equipped campsites with your own or rented tent. There are equipped campsites here, a place for a headscarf in them costs from 2 euros, plus you will have to pay extra for all services. But you can camp outside the campsite, but make sure that it is not the territory of a national park, military base, or private land.

How and where to search and book accommodation in Cyprus, prices

Since there are requirements for the availability of reservations for the entire period of stay, we do not even consider the option of finding accommodation on the spot. Yes, this does not make sense, because in most cases, searching through the Internet is Cheaper. It is better to book in high season (from May to October) in advance, ideally a month or more in advance. Outside of the high season, you can easily pick up accommodation a few days before the trip.

Search and book accommodation of any kind is best on the following sites:

• 🛌 Search for hotels in Cyprus on Yandex.travel (we recommend the most options)
• 🛌 Search for hotels in Cyprus on Booking.com
• 🛌 Search for hotels in Cyprus on Trip.com
• 🛌 Search hotels on Ostrovok.ru
• 🛌 Search for affordable housing in Cuba on Sutochno.ru

There is no fundamental difference which search engine to choose – it does not matter, the prices are the same everywhere. Therefore, choose what is more convenient and familiar to you, and, of course, use Bonus systems. So, Booking.com offers a status system, and gives a discount for a higher status. In Agoda.com there is a system of cumulative bonuses for reservations, which can then be used for subsequent payment. We (the authors of the site) to search for accommodation in Cyprus prefer to use Booking.com.

• Budget accommodation, guest houses and hostels

  Unfortunately, this category in Cyprus is not all right. There are very few inexpensive options for accommodation, and hostels for the whole country can be counted on your fingers. Prices by the standards of Europe here may not seem very high, but compared to Russian resorts or Asia, they are simply off scale.

  So, for a bed in a hostel at the height of the season you will have to pay from 15 euros (1245 rubles, see about the money of Cyprus and the exchange rate) per day per person, and the Cheapest Double Room at beach resorts will cost from 35 euros per day (2904 USD), in villages and mountainous areas even more expensive. A little situation is saved by the opportunity to rent an apartment (apartment or room in private housing), but the savings will only be when renting for a long time from a week.

  By the way, hostels here are not always convenient and not very well equipped for recreation, and your neighbors may be guest workers (including from the countries of the former USSR), students, and even refugees.

• Hotels and all-inclusive options

  There are much more hotels and apartments of the average category here than budget ones, and if you are ready to pay from 50 euros per day (4149 USD), then problems in order to find the right option for you will not arise.

  Rest on the "all inclusive" system in Cyprus is not common, but such hotels can be found. The price for self-booking will be from 90 euros per day (7468 USD).

  However, in fact, in this case it is better to buy a ready-made tour for all inclusive than to organize a trip yourself.

  • Cyprus tours on Travelata.ru (🎁 тут промокоды на скидку при покупке)
  • Cyprus tours on Level.Travel
  • Cyprus tours on Onlinetours.ru
  Найти туры на Кипр

• Accommodation with children

  Accommodation with children in Cyprus is represented by family rooms in hotels and apartments. It is most convenient for family holidays to rent apartments. You can find them both through the Boking or Agoda systems, and on the Airbnb website. Interestingly, many objects rent rooms for 2 and 2+2 at the same price, so that a holiday with children can be in some sense even profitable.

Is it necessary to book accommodation in advance

Theoretically, you should enter the country with an already booked (not necessarily paid) reservation, and at the request of the border control inspector, present a printout of the voucher of any World booking system (in practice, the document is also allowed in electronic form on a smartphone). In this case, the reservation must contain the names of everyone who follows You and will live in this room. In practice, fortunately, this confirmation is very rarely requested, since border guards simply do not have time for this. But if you seem suspicious or you have a bunch of stamps on entry and exit, which may indicate illegal work in the country, you can work more closely.

This requirement raises some questions:

• What if I don't have a reservation for the entire stay?

  If it turns out that you are subjected to a thorough check, and you do not have proof of residence, then you can use the airport WiFi and make a reservation on the spot, again stand in line for passport control and present confirmation from the smartphone screen.

• Will a reservation with Airbnb or other accommodation and apartment booking systems be suitable for checking at the border?

  Yes, such reservations are easily accepted at the border when passing through passport control.

• What should I do if I plan to live with relatives or friends in Cyprus?

  Usually there are no problems with this, it is enough to explain this situation to the border guard verbally and back it up with a real address and phone number of relatives/friends. In extreme cases, you can act according to the workaround scheme as mentioned above: book accommodation with free cancellation right at the airport, and after passing the control, cancel it.

• I'm going to rest on the territory of Northern Cyprus, such a reservation will do?

  No, it won't do. And in general, in any case, do not present a booking confirmation on the north side, and do not even talk about it, otherwise you may simply not be allowed into the country (see why I may not be allowed into Cyprus even with a visa). How to get around this limitation, read on.

Accommodation in Northern Cyprus, features

We remind you that the northern part of the island (the Republic of Cyprus) is considered temporarily occupied by Turkey by the official authorities of Cyprus and most of the world community, and its visit is not recommended. Theoretically, there is an official rule that you should not stay overnight in the Northern Territory, because in this case you will be accommodated in illegally seized properties. Therefore, in no case, when entering the country at passport control at the airport, do not report that you plan to relax in the northern part.

If, despite the ban, you still want to relax in the northern part, it is best to stock up on a printout of the reservation of any hotel in the Republic of Cyprus for its presentation at the control at the airport. You can do it yourself with the possession of graphic editors, or by making a reservation with a free cancellation, and after printing the voucher, cancel it. The probability that the border control will check the validity of the canceled or fake reservation presented by you by calling the hotel tends to zero. Alternatively, you can enter without a reservation, and if you are suddenly asked at the airport (which is extremely rare), immediately make it using the free airport WiFi, and re-pass the control by presenting the voucher electronically.

So, if you need to book a hotel or accommodation in a frequent accommodation in Northern Cyprus, you can also do it through popular booking systems. But there is one peculiarity: some objects intentionally or mistakenly indicate the wrong position on the map. This is especially true of the border areas of Famagusta/Ayia Napa. ie, you can often see that on the map the hotel is located in the Republic of Cyprus, and in the description and in fact it is located in the Northern Territory.

You can pay for the hotel on the north side in euros, but the official and preferred currency is Turkish lira (see about Turkish lira and their exchange rate here...). You can not pay for accommodation with a bank card in all places, cash is preferred here.