Ah, what a lovely morning! It’s my friend’s special day today and so we treated her to a birthday breakfast at Aphrodite Hills.

Aphrodite Hills is a 5-star hotel in Kouklia, just outside of Paphos. I have never actually stayed there but, since I’m local, I’ve spent many a happy hour there – either having my hair done, attending craft markets and the Christmas market, or chatting with mum-friends while our children play in its excellent playground.

Opinion seems to be divided about whether Aphrodite Hills or the Columbia in Pissouri is better. Here’s my two-pennies worth: I much prefer Aphrodite Hills. While the Columbia is a very beautiful hotel, Aphrodite Hills is much more welcoming and the staff are really friendly. I’ve found the Columbia to have an aloof atmosphere and, on a couple of occasions, the staff have seemed rude. In my opinion, no amount of poshness compensates for this.

This morning’s breakfast re-affirmed how much I like Aphrodite Hills. When we went in, every member of staff we passed said hello.  When we sat down, our waitress quickly twigged that it was my friend’s birthday and wished her a happy birthday. A few of the waitresses made a fuss of my other friend’s baby.

Breakfast was in the Fig and Olive restaurant, decorated for the Christmas season. We ditched our bags and went into the adjoining Eleonas restaurant where there was a MASSIVE buffet. There was everything you could possibly want. A ‘Healthy Corner’ full of healthy stuff, a section devoted to Cypriot food, pancakes, waffles, pastries, breads, cold meats, cheeses – and of course, the cooked breakfast section. We piled our plates up with sausages, eggs, beans, hash browns, a potato/bacon/onion combo, omelettes – you name it, we ate it. There were teas, coffees, juices and smoothies. And all this for just €15. I have also had breakfast at the Columbia – the setting is nicer, but it costs more and you don’t get such a big choice of food.

Apparently, during the summer you can also have champagne/sparkling wine included in the €15. However, as it’s off-peak (there are only 60 guests in the hotel at the moment), that offer isn’t available. We bought a bottle of champers anyway for €32 between the seven of us.

The cooked breakfast buffet is open until 10am, the cold buffet until 11am. We stayed at Aphrodite Hills for a happy few hours; eating until we felt fit to burst, drinking, chatting, laughing. Eventually a waitress ever-so-politely informed us that they really needed to start setting up the restaurant for lunch. We’d been eating breakfast all morning. Ha!

For anyone living locally, I really recommend popping into Aphrodite Hills for breakfast. It’s a great place to meet up with friends after school drop-off or to take guests visiting Cyprus. And for just €15, me and my friends are planning to make this a monthly treat!