I honeymooned at faultless Greek resort – we got an upgrade & staff were amazing – I’ve already booked next year’s trip

JUST days after our first dance to Boney M song Sunny at our wedding, it felt like fate that we were watching a tribute band performing the very same tune on the first evening of our honeymoon.

Before our big day, our four-year-old son Alex had spent weeks dancing enthusiastically around our kitchen to the Seventies hit and he was just as giddy when he heard it at our hotel.

We were staying at the modern, minimalist Gennadi Grand Resort on the island of Rhodes, and because we had told easyJet Holidays that it was our honeymoon, hotel staff had left petals on our bed, and champagne on ice, and had upgraded us to a room with its very own swimming pool.

We had arrived during last month’s heat-wave, before the fires broke out, and it was still 30C at 9pm.

So, after the band had done their stuff, we put Alex to bed, popped the cork and tried out the cooling pool.

It was the perfect start to our honeymoon on the largest of Greece’s Dodecanese islands.

While the fires saw the popular Greek isle hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, just a month on things are very much back to normal.

Our hotel was in Gennadi, a small, quiet village on the south-east of the island near to Lindos and its grand acropolis.

Neither were damaged by the fires.

Our base was perfect for the relaxing honeymoon we’d dreamed of and after sleep-ing like babies in our gigantic bed we were ready to explore.

There are 266 rooms at the hotel — many with pools like ours.

We were in a suite with a large terrace.

A bathroom separated our bedroom from the lounge, where a sofa was converted for Alex.

This too was modern, with sunken lights hidden in wooden walls, flat-screen TV and a Nespresso machine.

The bathroom had marble, opaque glass, Korres products and fluffy dressing gowns.

We kicked off the day with breakfast in the light and airy main restaurant.

We’d booked half-board, but some guests were on all- inclusive — although you’d never have known as there wasn’t a wristband in sight.

A welcoming host called Michaela greeted us, keyed our room number into an iPad and discovered what plan we were on.

Then, after giving Alex a high five, we were taken to a table.

I’d vowed not to overeat but the amazing buffet — served until 11am — was too tempting and my biggest weakness was the pastries, especially a warm feta-and-tomato layered delight called a tiropita.

The hotel had five pools, with gigantic, squidgy loungers but we stayed by our mini one and watched as, day by day, Alex was able to privately build his confidence until he lept — unaided and thrilled — into the water.

During the day I left the pool only to go to the gym, attend yoga and meditation classes or take Alex to the kids’ club where he painted stones, played Lego and made friends under the supervision of qualified staff.

Everyone genuinely seemed to adore kids.

Our room cleaner Ella cuddled Alex every morning, made animal shapes from towels on his bed and gave him a friendship bracelet.

Outside the hotel, it was no different.

Gennadi is a 20-minute walk or 13 euros for a taxi.

At the centre is a cobbled street with a handful of restaurants, one bar, a supermarket and a bakery filled with count-less types of the filo pastry dessert baklava.

Our favourite restaurant was Zorba’s Greek taverna, with pretty blue-and-white chairs, friendly cats and decent wine by the carafe.

My husband had local fish with grilled veg, I had a fava bean dip with mountains of pitta bread and Alex had chicken nuggets.

With a complimentary shot of Ouzo — and apple juice for Alex — the bill was 37 euros.

Being able to use our half-board for lunch at the hotel meant we could explore and eat out without losing out financially.

We also had some fantastic dinners in the hotel, both in the main and a-la-carte restaurants.

At the upmarket Greek taverna, over-looking the sea, we tucked into a memor-able mezze of cheese balls, ceviche and beef souvlaki and discovered a very fine Sauvig-non Blanc wine from the Mega Spileo Estate on the mainland.

Our hotel was situated on a pebble beach and Alex was desperate to make sandcastles so, armed with a bucket and spade, we went to Pefkos — a 20-minute, 30-euro taxi ride away.

As he built his towers, we enjoyed a stunning sunset.

The town has lots of tourist restaurants but we found a gem called Kerasma with a great local menu.

Mussels in Ouzo

It also sold fig jams, olive oil and honeys, as well as melekouni — small squares of nuts, cinnamon, seeds and honey that are given as wedding favours.

As we each had a generous 23kg of lug-gage included in our holiday, I stocked up on Christmas presents.

On our final evening we’d planned to take a bus from the hotel to Lindos, costing 2.80 euros each way, to see the acropolis but it was so hot they’d shut it for safety reasons.

Instead, we blew the budget on a fancy meal at Stefano in Kiatora, just 15 minutes from the hotel.

We were told by Yannis at reception that it was pricey, but had amazing views and some of the best fish on the island.

He wasn’t wrong. Within minutes of our arrival, the restaurant staff whisked my gobsmacked and delighted son into the kitchen and showed him all of the fresh fish that had been caught that day.

It did cost us nearly 100 euros but we devoured starters, an entire fish, mussels in Ouzo, freshly battered fish with chips, ice cream and wine.

It was a wonderful night, to remember for ever.

But the next morning I opened the doors of our room and smelt smoke.

Fires had broken out in the centre of the island and the hotel staff had gone to try and help stop them.

Sadly, as we all now know, their efforts failed. Just hours after we had left for home, our hotel, together with many of the places we had visited, were evacuated as fires ripped across the island.

It was awful to think of all those warm- hearted people terrified for their lives, homes and livelihoods.

Now, thankfully, I am told by those I am still in touch with in Gennadi that it’s back to business as usual and they are again welcoming tourists.

One of those tourists will be me, because I have already put a deposit down with easyJet Holidays to return to Gennadi next year — and am paying for that private pool paradise again in instalments.

The holiday was faultless, the staff were amazing and the locals — who rely on tourists like you and me — need us all to visit this island more than ever before.