Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: libra holidays - June 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : vern and sue 51 49 just
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
we stayed with anna and family for two weeks early in june 07.we had a fantastic time,the rooms are spacious,and well equiped with a good sized balcony who could ask for more.we had e mailed anna to arrange for a taxi from the airport,we just could not face the 2 to 3 hour journey by coach,theo picked us up,and 45 minuets later we were introducing our selves too anna,the taxi cost 45 euros.
we allways buget for aircon,and at 80 euros for two weeks was not to bad.prices for drinks and food,are the same at annas as in the town,food is of good standard everywhere we tried,and we tried a few.a special mention to the restaurant gratsella,down the hill face the sea turn left,its the last but one on your right,we would have liked to have tried the last one,i think it was called sea breese,but to get by mr gratsella you would have needed a side step of a rugby legend like barry john,seriously the food is very good set menus 9 euros fresh fish a speciality,take a camera the sunset is spectacular.we did not do any trips as we have done them before 14 years ago when we stopped in sidari,trips havent changed,but im sure we have,we went back to sidari on a boat from san steano harbour,thats up the hill turn left at kostas supermarket,a nice walk down hill brings you into the town,stop and have a drink with glen,he runs the bar at the first set of appartments on your right,he is a spurs fan,but apart from that we spent a couple of hours in his enjoyable company,his partner does beauty treatments further into the town,
anyway back to the trip you can buy tickets from san stefano travel agents on your left hand side 9 euros,it leaves at 9 am and takes 25 30 minuets much better than a coach.14 years ago sidari had a few hotels and appartments and restaurants,our best memories are eating chicken curry,i know not very greek,but every now and then the cook would burstinto song and either serenade us or his family,he has long gone,now the main road is full of english bars that sell the best british breakfasts and best british roast beef dinners with real beef,you can see big brother holyoaks corrie,we could not wait for the boat back.on the way back from san stefano up to the junction where you take a right to annas you find the super market kostas,this man sells everything even rain capes and his prices are very good,try saying please and thankyou in greek it does go a long way.on the way down to annas you will be greeted by some great views over arrilas,also annas pool area,that pool was the warmest ive ever been in,and ive been in a few.
best tips
buy loo rolls you are selfcatering,also buy as much mosquito deterrent as you can,we sprayed each other every night before going out for our meal,to much information.wear long clothes at night to cover as much flesh as possible,we ended up buying trousers just to keep the bite count down,try not to use perfume/aftershave it attracts them ,we also took antihistameen tablets a week before our holiday it does help.finally always make sure you take off the plastic guards on the travel razors you have bought him,because he will stand there trying to shave,declaring these are absolute rubbish.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: first choice - sept 2006
Opinion submitted in December 2006 by : linda stone - manchester
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Stayed for a week and anna's family was great although didnt spend much time eatin or drinking in there bar we were always made welcome at the end of the night. would recommend anna's studios but need to warn people about eating & drinking too much in the village then having to walk up that very steep hill back to anna's!
Rooms where clean and spacious. got a good deal when we hired a car for the day, from there family run car hire company in the town.
very resonably priced in all the bars,and places to eat are priced around the same. thanks to anna and her family for great time had by both of us!
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: First Choice - August 21st - 28th 2006
Opinion submitted in September 2006 by : Julie & Judith - Pembs. 49,53
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Would reccomend this holiday to all those looking for a well deserved break. "Annas" is a family run complex and is an ideal base for relaxing and unwinding. With only 18 apts it was never too busy and very clean. It was only a short stroll to the beach, (uphill on the way back, but good for walking off all that food!) fantastic bars and restaurants, which catered for all tastes, some of which had free pool access as well, which was great.
Arilas has a small, but big enough, sea front with supermarkets and souvenir shops. Ideal for families and friends, and very safe!
Anyone looking for nightlife other than eating and drinking and greek dancing or families looking for kids clubs, this is not the place.
Book tours near the beach, not with reps.
Money exchange but no card machines, nearest one Sidari, scooter, car and quad hire.
Weather fantastic, nice breeze on the long beach. Definately going back.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: First Choice - Aug 2006
Opinion submitted in August 2006 by : Melissa, Dave & John (35, 48, 15)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Opinion:
We spent a great week at the Anna Studios in Arilas. Arilas is a small, quiet resort and has a good Blue Flag beach and some nice bars and restaurants.
The Anna Studios has 18 apartments which were clean and modern with a cooker and fridge. We had to pay extra for the aircon but it was so hot when we were there we thought it was worth it. We had studio 12 which has wonderful views all round. There is a good size swimming pool and there are usually enough sunbeds to go around. Near the pool is a well stocked bar which also serves food and snacks. I would recommend "Anna's Breakfast", a huge delicious cooked breakfast for 4 and a half Euros. The bar and food prices are reasonable and beer is served in an iced glass. Anna and her family were very welcoming, friendly and helpful. The First Choice rep, Gemma, was also brilliant and helpful.
We went on 3 trips and the best of these was a day trip to Albania where we visited the ruins at Butrinti. There is a lot of walking on this trip but it was well worth it if you're into that sort of thing. I think if we went back to Corfu, we would definitely stay at Anna Studios again.
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Anna Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: first choice - june 06
Opinion submitted in June 2006 by : charlene and chris 19,21
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just got back from a great relaxing two weeks at annas apartments. the weather was fantastic the resort was great and the family were great. anna tasos kostos and theo are a lovely family and very helpful. annas cooking is great and prices not bad either. no complaints and would definatley go back.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: first choice
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : Martyn, England
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
If you have booked to go to anna's then you have made the right choice Anna,Tasos,Kosta,Theo are a great family and made us feel welcome for the whole 2 weeks the rooms are spacious and clean, the food was great(try the tuna salad and special chips)mmmmm the prices not bad either we had breakfast and lunch their most days as it was alot easier than making your own food (remember you are on holiday)The pool was a good tempreature but the sea a little cold but refreshing
EATING OUT:
we ate out all but once when we had a meal on the balcony and found the best restaurants were Brouklis(spit roast lamb) Arilla Inn,and for a 3 course meal for 9 euros were the two at the end of the beach which had special's menu's each nite I WOULDNT GO TO KOSTAS ON THE BEECH as you wait far to long for each course and why the ENGLISH WAITRESS i prefer the greek service as you feel more like your on holiday....
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra - October 2005
Opinion submitted in Dec 2005 by : Marsha and Tom ( 58, 59 )
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We found Anna Studios to be much better than most Greek accommodation. They were very spacious and exceptionally clean. Both Anna and Kostas were very friendly and helpful. The young sons who also helped with the business were polite and pleasant. All in all we had a great holiday - very good value for money. The only down side was that the water was not always warm. You had to time your shower. Apart from that these apartments were hard to fault.
We liked the resort as it was quiet and unspoilt.
Best eating places were Gratsela at end of the beach and Brouklis (near T junction at foot of hill.) Instead of heading Right for beach take a left. Both were good value and food was excellent.
Car hire proved to be expensive. Probably better to book on internet prior to departure and pick up a car at the airport.
Overall opinion - would definitely go back.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra May 2005
Opinion submitted in May 2005 by : Anne and Jack (61,58)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Recently back from a lovely relaxing week at Anna's Studios in Arilas. Although we arrived on the very first day of the Corfu summer season, Anna's was fully up and running - studios immaculate as was the pool. We had studio 5 which has a beautiful view to the sea. One or two of the little super markets and restaurants in Arilas weren't fully stocked or open but this didn't prove to be any sort of problem - everyone was so helpful and friendly it added to the fun - at the Horizon we had the entire menu read to us and each dish described by the charming waiter (the printed menu wasn't quite ready!) But this only added to our enjoyment of a delicious meal. We ate at a different restaurant every night and can thoroughly recommend them all, very reasonable, very flexible, very friendly and lovely food. We didn't try the Thalassa or the Mirage as they only opened towards the end of our week.
We took the coach trip to Corfu town and made the mistake of going with the one sold by the Libra rep - this, at 18 euros, was double the price of one we could have bought in the village and for our extra 9 euros all we got was a miserable Libra rep called Keith who was obviously bored with the whole thing. During the journey there he didn't speak except to tell everybody to put their seat belts on and not drink alcohol, this was after we'd been on the coach for nearly an hour! He unenthusiastically gave us a few bits of information about Corfu town just before we arrived and that was it for the whole trip. We would have appreciated a little more information whilst driving across this lovely island (and a lot more enthusiasm!)
Just across the road from Anna's is a white house where I had a wonderful Indian Head massage with a very nice young English lady called Lorna. Fellow guests also ad manicures/pedicures with her friend (sorry can't remember her name) at the same place - "Just B" Angela Studio, Arilas Tel. 6944 928 434 - Anna will point you in the right direction.
We found Anna to be friendly and helpful and as we were leaving she came to wave us all off with good wishes and a joke for everyone - including a joke with my husband and I about our unusual surname, which she had remembered, even though we hardly spent any money at the bar simply because we prefer to be out and about most of the time and we found the evenings too chilly to sit outside.
We were lucky with the weather as it can be unpredictable at the beginning of May. During the week it was hot and sunny except for a day and a half of rain and a day of high winds - which meant that horse riding and sea trips were cancelled on both days. But everybody from Anna Studios - ages ranging from early 20's to early 70's - thoroughly enjoyed their stay and left with great sun tans!
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra, Sept 2004
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : Steve and Barbara Lilley (44,46)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Great resort and the best greek apartments I have ever stopped in. Couldn't fault any of it. The kitchen had a mini cooker (never had an oven in greece before!!) full size electric kettle and a toaster. Anna was very friendly, but I am afraid I can't say the same for her husband, Kosta. I don't think he realised we were stopping at the apartments and was very rude when I asked a question. Still perhaps he had had a bad day!!
By far the best restaurant was Thalassa on the beach road. After trying a few others and contantly being disappointed we went to Thalassa and never went anywhere else for the rest of the holiday.
If you don't mind walking there are some great walks. Try Afionas and go all the way to the square and then keep going to the view point for the best view and sunset you will ever see, its well signposted. Another nice walk is to Avliotes. Great views from the church, but also walk down into the village and on the right is a cafe (Illes?) which serves the best coffee on corfu, cappachino and frappe both excellent. Have fun
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra - September 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : Steve Cass - Cheshire (53-50)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We have been back 10 days now and wish we were still at Anna's.
Kostas, Anna and Tasos were so helpful and cheerful even with our awkward requests upon arrival. Nothing was too much trouble. The studio's were cleaned and clean towels were also renewed every second day, beding every week. They were spacious private and well furnished. Their was ample equipment for self-catering if you wanted to eat in and do your own thing, but the food in the village taverna's was so good and cheap we didn't feel it necessary. The best market was up the hill from Anna's (another Kostas owned it) it was the cheapest in Arilas he was helpful and the store was clean. We heard a report from one guest that the market down the hill had sold them out of date food so we gave that market a wide berth. If you eat at Anna's which we did only three or four times try Anna's special chips they are delicious.
Tours we went on four with Libra which we found we could have got in the village cheaper, but the one I would recommend was the Island tour Angela the guide was so knowlageable and told you everything several times in many different ways that you learnt and noticed so much more than if you went on your own.
Walks if you like walking try going to the two bays on each side of Arilas both quite steep walks but wonderful views Don't forget the water though.
The beach is narrow but a gentle slope and is sandy.
If we go back to Corfu (which we do intend to do )we will be going to Anna's. Everyone guests and staff alike were brilliant.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra - Sept 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : vicky 33 -35
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Opinion:
got back from arillas on monday the 6 of sept, we have been depressed since. Me and my hubby had a great time, just want to be back there. The place is beautifull, the people are so friendly. It was perfect. we stayed at anna studios and i would like to say what a lovely lady she is, as well as her family, the accomadation was well presented,clean,and i would recommened it to any one.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra - August 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : Rick Johansen - Bristol (47,38,10,6)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Our flight with the eccentric 'Islandsflug' airline was almost on time, something that has been an unusual occurrence this summer.
The most disappointing aspect was that the transfer from the airport to Arillas took longer than the flight from Bristol to Corfu. Luckily, the coach was air-conditioned but a three-and-a-half hour journey criss-crossing the island several times was not mentioned in the Libra brochure. I was not amused.
However, my displeasure was tempered somewhat by the good news that we were not staying at Sidari as we passed through this tacky, charmless 'resort' on the way to Arillas.
We reached Anna's Studio at around tea time and we loved what we saw. A wonderfully clean and good-sized pool, a well-stocked bar and plenty of sunbeds.
Luckily for us, the Anna referred to in another report must have left because the one we encountered was friendly, helpful and very good company. There were one or two British holidaymakers at the studios who ignored everyone, not just Anna but everyone else, during the time we were there but to be honest most of the people we met were tops.
The studios were quite simply the best I have ever come across in several decades of visiting Greece in general and Corfu in particular. Ours was spotlessly clean, comfortable and spacious - two storeys for families. We were amazed at the excellent quality.
The bar is very good with plenty of variety, meals are good (my eldest loved Anna's special breakfast) and there is a nice ambience about the place.
Treat people right and they usually treat you right is my motto and it paid dividends at Annas. The bar prices were no more than they were in town, the food was the same, fan hire was about the same. Why not support them from time-to-time? After all, the accommodation was superb, Anna and her husband are running a business and they had a good product to sell. I don't know: some people are never happy - but I was.
The nice Anna was great fun. She dressed my son's knee when he managed to cut it open down by the beach, she played pool with all the children and was generally a genial hostess.
There are a number of supermarkets in the resort. We felt the best one was at the end of the road by the beach - can't remember what it's called - which also sells newspapers. Near Annas, use the one up the hill, not down. The uphill one is well-stocked, the downhill one is damp, dark and not terribly clean.
You walk down to the beach and it's a steep road for much of the way. Arillas still has plenty of green space and by and large the place remains unspoiled. But they need to be careful. There are a few ghastly bars like Whispers, Malibu and Coconut which pierce the night air with awful 80s English music - and a frigging Karaoke.
Some good restaurants like Thalassa (except for the night when they failed to cook a Chicken Souvlaki properly: it was almost raw) and Puerto Fino but the easy winner in Arillas is the excellent Brouklas, just along from Whispers. Marvellous Greek food in a very friendly taverna owned by the genial Dimitris. Not to be missed.
The beach is narrow but the water is shallow for a fair way out and safe for kids. Some water sports but nothing too noisy.
We hired a car thru Anna's other business, Arillas rent a car. A perfectly functional Suzuki Something.
We didn't do any trips because we have done most of them before. We drove to Aqualand which is far busier than it used to be with a brand new holiday complex literally next door. I can't help thinking it will soon be like many other water parks where you queue for literally hours to go on rides.
Arillas is a resort at the crossroads.
Either it will retain its quiet charm and keep new building to a minimum or it will follow the grisly example of so many other places in Corfu and recklessly turn itself into another anonymous concrete jungle catering for loud-mouthed British binge-drinkers. I know what I'd prefer.
A wonderful holiday resort in the nicest part of Corfu.
We'll be back.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra-AUGUST 2004
Opinion submitted in Sept 2004 by : Butters-Nottingham
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Very good accomodation, brochure description does not do it justice, we had studio for 4, with higher floor for 2 beds. The BBQ seemed expensive 15euros for adults, 10 euros for children, our youngest is 3 an does not eat a lot, so 50 euros seemed a lot when we could eat out for a lot less (30 euros incl drinks). So we snubbed the BBQ then we seemed to get the cold shoulder because we walked away when told the price of the BBQ. We did not spend a lot of time at the pool, and hardly spent any money at the bar.
The beach is nice but quite narrow, which means when the waves are high there is not much room to sit on the beach. The Arilla Inn on the front we found to be the best place to eat, every meal we had there was nice, even our children ate all theirs.
Would recommend this resort to families, who like quieter more peaceful resorts.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: Sky - August 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : Rod Law, Tunbridge Wells
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Below Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
Hate is probably too strong a word, but havig just got back from 2 weeks at the Anna Studios my partner and I feel we should offer our comments.
To cut a very long story short, we arrived at 3 in the morning our rep letting us in to the room. In the morning we went to the nearest shop to get some supplies, and while we were there we picked up a fan.
Later on that day we were informed that we should have rented one from the studios, and that we would have to pay for electricity. Not something I expected, but we didn't have a problem with that.
We went to speak to Anna (who is supposed to be lovely, according to most reviews of the place) and we were very nice about it, saying we didn't mind paying. While I went back to get the 20 euro (a bit steep if you ask me....), Anna had a go at my partner, saying we should have rented a fan from her. My partner explained that we didn't know that was the case as we had come in early in the morning. Apparently tho, we should have asked Anna before going to a supermarket. The fact was, as we pointed out, there were no signs to tell us we should rent from them (in fact, there was one, but i didn't even notice it until the last day when we checked leaving times !!), and we'd arrived at 3 in the morning so hadn't met anyone who would have told us. She was also very miffed at the fact we had gone to the supermarket we went to. Apparently he overcharges, which is a fair enough reason, but then we also realised it was because the one she suggested was owned by her husband !
We didn't kick up a stink, in fact my girlfriend was very nice about it all. But she wasn't very pleased with having this woman tell her off about 2 hours in to our holiday.
We left it at that, and tried to be friendly. But after about 2 days of them giving us the cold shoulder, we gave up bothering. I don't think I saw her smile once in the whole 2 weeks.
After this we basically ignored them for the rest of the holiday. We never used to bar or the pool, as we found one next to the beach that was miles better. It was called the Marinki, turn right when you reach the beach. The biggest pool in corfu, fresh water, and hardly ever anyone there. The young guy that runs it is SO friendly, we went back that nearly every day. Cheap drink and food, and they've even got some appartments there, although you would have to book direct.
Anyway. Back to the nightmare. I got the feeling that she gave us the cold shoulder because we weren't lining her pockets with cash. The fact I'd spent over £800 getting there didn't seem to count for much !
We went to a bbq they did to try and be nice and show we had no problems with them. for 15 euro each we got some pretty nice food, a free drink, and some fruit salad. Not too back, but they waited to give you the rest in the hope you'd spend money at the bar. And in the whole 2 weeks we didn't once spend that amount of money at an actual restaraunt. That's a proper meal, much more wine, and bread etc.
So to some it up. If your a family, and plan to spend quite a bit of time at the place you stay, then Anna will probably be very nice to you. If your a couple who prefer to explore, then don't expect a very friendly service.
A word of warning. We had one toilet roll for the WHOLE 2 weeks, not even one a week ! And our toilet broke after a week, and they still hadn't (on purpose I suspect) fixed it by the time we left.
We didn't even say goodbye when we left, and they made no effort to be nice. All this because we rented a fan elsewhere !!! Imo they are only in it for the money, and will be as nice as pie if you spend money which goes in to their pocket. We went elsewhere, had a much better service, and spent a lot less in the process.
I would like to point out, Arilas is a beautiful place and well worth visiting. Just please avoid this studio. And for those that go back each year, I'd highly recommend you go down to the Marinaki and check it out. I assure you you will start returning to that place instead of Annas. The guy there couldn't have been any nicer. And your 10 seconds away from the beach.
Never before have I been so pleased to leave the place we have stayed on holiday !!
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra - July 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : Taylor family - Somerset (35,30,9 and 5)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Very quite and peaceful resort with extremely friendly people and excellent restaurants.
Anna Studios is a small family run appartments which are very clean and spacious. Anna and Tassos are always there to help and entertain especially if you need to learn the greek rules of pool. Although the holiday was self-catering, we rarely ate in as it is really cheap to eat out every night (about £5 for a main meal - even cheaper for the children). Try the "meze", which is a mixture of various greek starters - absolutely delicious and very filling.
Arillas beach is only 10 mns walk (downhill) from the apartments, and is very clean and shallow, so appropriate if you have small children.
As well, try to go on the "Castaway Cruise", organised by Libra. It takes you to unspoiled parts of the island by boat, where you swim in crystal clear sea. (Don't forget your snorkel gear). The only thing we would not do next time would be to book excursion through the tour company (ie to go to Aqualand or Corfu Town). You can get it cheaper in town and you don't have to spend 2 hours+ picking up other people (Arilas is the first and last pick-up point for any tours).
We would definitely recommend Anna's Studio and Arillas for an excellent family holiday and would consider going back there again.
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Anna Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra - June 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : Elaine & Barry, Newcastle (33,34)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We stayed at Anna's in June, we had a studio for 4 which was one of the nicest we've had in Greece, they are nice and bright and have good self catering facilities (brand new kettle, toaster & mini oven) The pool is lovely and there were plenty of sunbeds.
I have read another review on these studios which was negative towards Anna, Kostas & Family and felt I had to give my experience. They were brilliant hosts, they all work very long hours so maybe the reviewer caught them on a bad day! Anyway to prove a point, whilst we were there another guest hurt her back, Anna or one of the family took this lady to Corfu Town (and waited for her) while she received Physio everyday, how many other owners would do that??
Anna & Kosta also have a car hire firm in the village which we also used without any problems. The nearest supermarket down the hill should be avioded, we used that the first day but then we were short changed and after discussing with other guests it seems it was a regular occurence! After that we used the one up the hill called Kosta's (which is NOT Owned by Anna's husband, but another friendly chap of the same name)
We ate out everynight and always ended back at Anna's bar for a few drinks and good company.
As for the toilet roll situation there was one when we arrived but as we were self catering I expected to buy further supplies as you would if you self catered in the UK!!!
The resort is lovely, plenty of places to eat and drink but not too busy, all of the locals were very friendly. The beach is narrow but you can find a quiet stretch to yourself if you are prepared to walk a bit further (there is a nudist beach, so stay away if offended!)
We are going back to Anna's next year, which is something we NEVER do, we like to try different places. As mentioned previously, everyone is entitled to their opinion and mine couldn't be more positive about Anna's, yes we did spend money in the bar but some people sat by the pool all day and never bought a drink/meal/snack which I think is a little unfair, considering if you went to the beach you'd be expected to pay for sunbeds/parasols.
Anna & Kosta are trying to develop their business and I personally can't blame them for wanting guests to spend their money in their bar BUT I never felt obliged I had too.
See you next year Anna!
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Arilas Bay Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: Manos - June 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : Sam Thompson - Huddersfield (32, 34, 6, 1)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Below Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
The Arillas Bay apartments are in a fantastic location just near to the beach and tavernas.
We stayed in one of the two bedroomed apartments which we could not fault for size but Im afraid that is where our praise of the accomadation ends.
We have visited Greece every year for the last 15 years and although the accomodation is basic (which is fine) it has always been clean - this was not the case this year.
Throughout the 14 nights of our stay we only had one change of towels and one change of sheets. In my opinion this is nowhere near enough especially for a family including a baby of 10 months. The bins were only emptied every few days which is not acceptable considering that this included the toilet bin. The bathroom or kitchen was not cleaned throughout our stay, the cleaner only moped the floor but despite this it still felt dirty. I asked for a brush so I could sweep and mop the floor myself and to keep the sheets half decent I shook them daily outside.
We also had a light above the bed hanging off the wall and the heavy dressing table was also hanging off the wall. Not very safe!!! I reported these to the rep who said she would get them sorted but this didnt happen during our stay.
We spoke to several other families staying at the resort in accomodation where the towels and sheets were changed regularly and the room cleaned often and bins emptied every day so there are plenty of other choices to look at.
We will be returning to Arillas as we love the resort (despite the horrendous airport!!) but we will not return to Arillas Bay apartments - they need to buck up their ideas and get new cleaners in and update and maintain their accomodation!! Beware anyone staying there!!
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Arilas Bay Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Manos Direct) Manos 2006
Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : Tommy 44 Debbie 34 Mandy 48 Michael 49 Tony 46 Christine45 Ryan 24 Charleen 24
Resort Rating: No rating
Accommodation Rating: Poor
My/Our Holiday Review:
went for breakfast there was empty beer glasses from the night before on the tables and while having breakfast a puupy came and sh*t under the pool table I have nothing else to say. Only that I won't go to Corfu again.
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Arilas Bay Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Manos Direct) Manos - August 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : Stuart & Carole - Glasgow (41 & 41)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Have just returned from two fantastic weeks in Arillas. This resort is perfect for unwinding and relaxing. We stayed at the Arillas Bay Apartments practically right on the beach. The apartments were basic but clean. Can't really comment on the self catering facilities as we only used the fridge! The apartment pool was great being in the sun all day and there were always plenty of beds available. Nico and Yianni who run the Sea Breeze Taverna adjoining the apartments were great hosts.
There are plenty of places to eat and we eventually decided that Thalassa and Brouklis were our favourites.
All in all, we had a lovely time and were very sorry to be leaving. Will certainly be returning in future.
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Arillas Bay Apartments - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Manos Discounts) Manos October 2004
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : Viv & Pete Middleton 55&56
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Large but basic apartments, Kitchen well supplied, balconey went right round so you could be in sun or shade, lovely sea view. Good tervena,s Good Food recomend Broklies. Local people welcoming. Quite relaxing place wouldn,t be good for teenagers that want to club the night away, but if you just want to relax and soak up the ray,s this is the place to do it.
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Atki Arillas Hotel - Arillas in Corfu
Operator and Date: (Thomas Cook Direct) Thomas Cook July 2006
Opinion submitted in August 2006 by : Emma n Claire - Northumberland (31, 31)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
On entering the Hotel (at stupid o'clock in the morning - 3am)we were greeted by the Hotel owner and his son, Stamatis and Spiros. What a lovely friendly welcome they gave us...... sorted out air-con (which is payable at the hotel and well worth getting) and fridge (another necessity(35 euros for them both for the week. We were shown to or room, which was simply furnished yet very clean, this family cannot do enough for you, very friendly indeed.
The resort its self is small, yet very friendly. Water sports available to those who fancy swooshing round the sea on a rubber ring or banana Walking to the neighbouring town is possible, not something we did but heard of others who had.
In the brochure it stated that free use of the Marvel Hotels pool was allowed but that was a little bit away, everyone from our hotel used the Mirage, beautiful pool and you over look the sea..... the food served here was quite nice and resonably priced.... although you do get a little badgered to buy drinks from them.
On the food front there are a handful of very nice tavernas and restuarants serving mainy corfu and Greek dishes..... the food was very nice and could get a starter and main course with a carafe of wine for under 15 euros...bargain.
There is only 2 pubs, through the day they show films and sport and in the evening they may have entertainment in the form of karaoke or magic shows. The owners are very friendly and so are the staff. the pubs are actually right next door to each other and are directly opposite the hotel.... so there may be some noise if at the front of the hotel but it usually stops around 2am.
oh..highly recommeded is the Greek night in the hotel...25 euros and you get a 3 course meal with as much wine as you can drink.... it was an absolute scream.... worth doing if only to see the Greek men in skirts.....
on the whole, in my opinion it is the ideal place to go to 'get away' and just chill by the pool or beach.. they do offer excursions but they are at least an hours transfer and for those who are not good at travelling the roads are a nightmare...all winding and turning.
I will return again to this hotel and this resort but a word of warning..... make sure you take as much mossie repellant as you possible can as the little beggers are particularly vicious... every night we had to arm ourselves with our flip flops and kill mossies before bedtime.... but dont let that put you off the charm and allure this area of corfu has.
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Bakery Apartments - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Manos Direct) Manos july 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : christne glasgow(77 49 48 17 12 10 4)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Returned to Arillas after 18years and fell in love with it again.
Our 2 bedroom apt was large and airy basic but very clean situated in a large garden ,we were allowed to pick veg and fruit from the garden.The resort itself was bigger than when we first visited but is still a very small place and still retains its village feel.All of the resturants were very good value for money a three course meal with wine was ten pounds tops,the food was of a good standard and the portions large.The people were very friendly and kind nothing seemed to much trouble.
We used the RAINBOW bar pool during the day this is a very well run bar and resturant owned and operated by two brothers SPIROS and DIMITRI .There is no wild nightlife in the resort no lagerlouts,just people relaxing and chilling out.Two of the bars show all the latest movies on big screens these are shown at one three and pm free of charge,an excellent way of getting the kids out of the sun at the really hot part of the day.All in all we had a fabulous holiday,the kids and adults really enjoyed it,so much so when we arrived home we booked for next year.PS two top eateries to try THE MARINA and the ARILLAS INN the MARINA has an excellent Greek and Corfiot dance show on Saturday nights.
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Bardis Sun Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: corfuescape -july 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : julie &paul -barnsley(44,18)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
its my first time to corfu but i would recomend the resort and the accomodation the bardis sun is clean basic comfortable to stay in with a clean swimming pool ,you will recive a warm welcome from spiros,popy,and their sons bobby and george .they do english breakfast for 4 euro also they do bar snacks .
arillas is a lovely place not too loud but not too quiet, the beach is clean and you can hire pedlos etc .on your visit you must go watch the sunset its beautiful to see.i reccomend arillas inn for eating out also for a cheap good meal try sea breeze thy have a specials board from about 7 euro each for 3 course meal . corfu is a loverly place to visit .ps nancy the rep for corfuescape gives you a warm wellcome a loverly lady, will book again with corfuescape as great value for money.
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Bardis Sun Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- September 2005
Opinion submitted in Oct 2005 by : Chris Cassley - London (27 +28)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just returned from 10 days in Arilas and canot recommend the resort or indeed the accomodation highly enough.
Having never been to this part of Corfu before, we went with our eyes open and will definetly return to the resort in the near future. The Bardis Sun itself is clean and basic and comfortable to stay in, for 2 star accomodation I can never understand why some people expect to be staying in a Hilton - you get what you pay for.
Everyone in the hotel itself are friendly and welcoming, with Spiros,
Poppy and their sons Bobby and George being excellent and welcoming
hosts. My only criticism of the place itself is the odd way they deal
with checkouts on your final day - we got a room extension on the
Friday, meaning that your out of the room by 7 that night. Fine, execept
you have to still surrender your luggage by 12pm for it to be taken down
to the Marina Hotel (no more than 10 mins walk away) where all luggage
for the Thomson Holidays
hotels are stored on changeover day. Firstly, this was
never explained to you and rather negates the point of having a late
checkout if you can't get to your luggage. We still kept the room on,
but its something to bear in mind. We were allowed access to luggage 15
mins before the coach was due to go that night form the pick up point,
great but when the coach arrives 20 mins early, not much help!
That though is a small critism and shouldn't put anyone off, apparently 50% of the Bardis' business is repeat and I can see why. Eating out in the resort is a joy, if your into genuine fresh and local food, you will love it - special mentions go to Kostas on the Beach, the Arilla Inn and (apologies for the no doubt wrong spelling) Bourkleman - a taverna on the main strip next to a pizzeria - all 3 provided excellent food and priced very well indeed. Go to Corfu town as well if you get the chance, I can recommend the Aegli taverna on Liston - best restaurant going there, the cheese and spinach pie is superb.
All in all, great place for a holiday, greta accomodation and wwe will definetly be going back.
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Bardis Sun Hotel - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- June 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Kevin,50,Christine 47.
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just returned from a fabulous week at the Bardis sun hotel. This is a smallish place,but is big in rest and relaxation.Rooms were clean and cool at night. No noise to keep you awake,and the breakfasts were as good as anything you'll get in half board hotel.The only gripe really was that the shower had no hook,so you have to hold the showerhead while washing your hair,body etc.
Nice pool, a little cold at first but very refreshing on hot days.
Arillas resort is a real gem. Not too loud,but far from quiet,plenty of tavernas serving delicious food. We liked the Horizon restaraunt,from where you could sit and watch some spectacular sunsets.They always played some moody music,just as the sun sizzled into the sea.Perfect romance for couples young and old !!
We will definitely return to Arillas,the people are fantastic.If you are going anytime soon,then you're very very lucky.
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Bardis Sun Hotel - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- September 2004
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : Michael & Lynne Sharp - Coventry (50,49)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We stayed at the Bardis Sun Hotel on a bed & breakfast basis. The breakfasts were very good, not your normal greek yoghurt with honey but orange juice, tea or coffee toast and jam and then a hot breakfast of egg bacon beans or beans on toast or egg on toast dpending on the day.
Hotel was very clean, towels were soft and changed often. Nice big pool with plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas all free. Dorita the owner and her team of ladies were very friendly and helpful. Room was a good size with a full size fridge, a kettle and two mugs and a tea spoon. Even the bathroom had a proper shower tray and curtain and there was always a plentiful supply of hot water.
Arilas is a small resort with enough good tavernas to satisfy our needs for a fortnight. The only shops were small supermarkets so not much browsing to do. Long beach combinations of sand and shingle sections. Sea water very clear and shallow.
We went for a holiday from the small and friendly brochure and it lived up to its descriotion perfectly. For a relaxing holiday with no razamataz, then this is the place to go
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Bardis Sun Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- September 2004
Opinion submitted in Oct 2004 by : Libby and John (31, 39)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We recently returned from a lovely holiday in Arillas. Having read some poor reviews of the Bardis Sun Studios, we almost cancelled our booking. However, I am glad we didn't. The studios are well located, and the owners friendly (although we didn't spend much money in their bar). Although the studios are small, they were pretty clean and sufficiently equipped, and had lovely large balconies with good views. Ask for a top floor room though or you may get one of the three alongside the bar, with no views.
The resort is generally peaceful, apart from a couple of bars which play either loud music or football - these are easy to avoid. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, our favourite was the fish restaurant about 10 minutes walk from the beach. Lots of good walks, a nice beach, and good swimming pools made for a relaxing holiday with no hassle from anyone else.
Would recommend this resort to anyone who likes a bit of peace and quiet in a pretty location. Let's hope it doesn't become too developed.
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Bardis Sun Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
July 2004
Opinion submitted in July 2004 by : 16; 33; 34; 44
Resort Rating: Poor
Accommodation Rating: Poor
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just back from Arillas, Corfu, stayed at Bardis Sun Studio. I thought it was disgusting.
There is so much litter laying around arillas and corfu, you would think they didn't care about the tourist. Also there is a bad smell in certain places, it smells of sewage.
As for Bardis Sun studio, it was suppose to be quiet and relaxing, but the bar played really loud music till 1.00 am every morning. It was not very nice, the beds were uncomfortable and the sheets had been there since the dawn of time. The worst thing was the shower, the water went every where and even flooded out onto the corridor. There were mops along the corriders, supposedly for us to dry it up after. However the mops were sitting in disgusting water that had never been changed, which meant you were drying your floor with those dirty, germ ridden things. I didn't find the staff friendly, they were at the start, but I think when they realised we weren't spending money in their bar, it was a different story. Every day the pool was cleaned, but even after that insects and even bird droppings were in it.
Don't go here, its cheap and dirty. I wish I had of spent the extra and went somewhere else!!!
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Christos Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Olympic Direct) Olympic - July 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : Ian Punton - Hamilton (59,52)):
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
A great place to just chill out, the resort is fairly small in terms of accommodation and tavernas (15?) with a nice sweep of beach. Good walks both North and South if it's not too hot. We ate in 7 different restaurants including our apartment and enjoyed very tasty local dishes each time. As with most Greek Islands shellfish and fish in abundance. Only two bars with music playing so the resort caters for those who like the music and those who don't. In addition to our apartments would recommend Broukilis, Sea Breeze, Kostas and Arilas Inn also a very good coctail and coffee bar next to Arilas Inn.
Christos is run by Phillipos who is a great host and cannot do enough for you and will keep you up late with his cocktails and shots. Small development with just 8 studios/apartments and a reasonable size pool with free sunbeds-sufficient for all, serves snacks/drinks all day.
Apartments cleaned on a regular basis with change of bedlinen/towels twice a week. Rooms adequate and usual Greek fittings although did not use the cooking equipment appeared to be sufficient with fridge,small cooker,two hotplates, kettle etc. Up a hill (quiet) 12 minutes to beach and tavernas - 15 minutes back.Not nuch more to say other than a great relaxing holiday the only problem for some may be the travel time from airport of 2.5hours due to dropping people off at other resorts first but it was worth it
However you could arrange your own transport or arrange for a taxi form Arilas see the arilas website which is very useful.
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Dionysos 1 Studios - Arilas
Operator and Date: manos holidays june 2007
Opinion submitted in June 2007 by : Leon and Pat-Leamington Spa(57, 52
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
Dionysos 1 studios are the basis Greece.
Excellent view over the pool, we stayed in room 5 over the restaurant.Linen changed once a week, towels changed twice.
Nice veranda outside all studios looking out out over the Arillas village and surrounding countryside.Food at the Rainbow complex, very, very good, it met every need required, I am a very fussy eater.Pool excellent, plenty of sunbeds, always available throughout the day.The bar very reasonably priced. Jimmy and Spiros were very helpful.Only 5 minutes from beach, gently shelving and lovely for children and adults alike.Two sunbeds and a parasol were 7 euros all day.We used the Mirage,and ate there,had a few drinks, (very good prices, no charges for use of the sunbeds, excellent.If you feel like it have a walk around the bay to San Stefanos, and come back over the cliffs as we did about 7-8 miles in total.We booked a trip with Olga's Travel in Arillas and went on the island tour,total cost 60 euros far cheaper than My Travel. well worth it, an excellent day out. 8am- 6.00pm.
All in all if you want a quiet chill out holiday as we did, then Arillas is the place for you. Excellent restaurants, a few good bars, a really good round walk into the village of Arillas, and an exceptional bakery. The Corfiot people were lovely, really friendly. and always helpful.
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Elena Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Manos Discounts) Manos - Date Not Specified
Opinion submitted in Mar 2004 by : nigel robinson 36, 35, 10, 8.
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
the elena apartments was situated about a fifteen minutes walk from the town itself, but it was nice to walk down and back at night, we never had a pool but could use any one we tended to use the nikos most of the time.
we never got to the beach only because my son doesn,t like sea water, we also tried the aqua park which was a brilliant day out (only problem was the bus journey to it). we went on a trip to paleocastritsa going round the caves which were spectacular, we would definetly be going back to this apartment well worth every penny,
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The Galini - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomas Cook Direct) Thomas Cook - June 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : Mike & Sue 56, 53
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We were really looking forward to visiting Arillas and staying at the Galini after reading good reviews and we werent disappointed.
The Galini was a small complex of about 12 studios and 4x 2 bed apartments, large pool and childrens pool separated by a railing. Lovely bar with umbrellas and decking which sold snacks and drinks from 9 a.m. - 1.a.m. Costa (who didnt speak much english and rambled on in Greek and pigeon english) and Jagorda (Blackberry) looked after this. The studios were a good size and were the usual Greek standard, very clean and good views from the verandahs. They were situated about 10-15 mins walk from the beach along the main stretch to the shops. It was a bit of a trek when it was hot returning from the beach but in the evening after a meal was a welcome bit of exercise. A bakery and small supermarket within a stones thrown, great for fresh rolls etc.
There are a number of very good restaurants, one being the fish restaurant Vasillas, also the Captains was one of our favourites which was good value for money two courses = 6.90 euros. Full english breakfast better cooked than some cooked in the UK = 4.50 euros. The Thassalo was lovely for a special meal and also the Sea Breeze at the end - the meal would have fed 4 people. Everyone was saying how good the food was everywhere and so much of it too. The people are so friendly and are very helpful. We loved the beach, I even learnt to float and swim a bit - even though my technique would not have been good enough for the Olympics. There is a nudist beach at the end on the right. Good walks across the cliffs to San Stefanos which is challenging but worth doing.
We couldnt find fault with anything. All in all a fantastic holiday and would definately go back!
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Horizon Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: Libra - June 2007
Opinion submitted in June 2007 by : Susan Butler - London (53,56)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just got back from Horizon in Arillas, cant believe that this is the only review on here for the place as we met some people that have been going for the five years its been open!
We were very lucky to get in as I booked last minute and think it was a cancellation. People book before they leave for the year after and I can understand why.
All the studios overlook the sea from the balcony, the sun shone on it until 8.30 in the evening and even then you could watch the sun go down, its the best view of the sunset on the whole island, the webcam which you'll find on the the arillas.com website is situated on the roof of this hotel, take a look for yourself, its real time!
Mary and Marinos are a brother and sister team that run the place and are very friendly and helpful.
The cleaner, who cant speak english is very friendly also. There is a towel and linen change just once during a week but the beds are made every day and the bins emptied. The studio is basic with a fridge, a two ring hob and oven which doubles as a grill, there is no kettle however so either take a travel kettle or use the pan to boil water for a drink. There was always hot water in the shower and we never had a problem with the electrics.
Arillas itself has a lovely sandy beach which is unusual in Corfu, also you can walk to San Stefanos via the mountain road or the main road but dont go in the midday sun as there is no shelter and take water to drink along the way.
The beach at San Stefano is also sandy and longer than Arillas but the resort itself is quieter.
Arillas has lots of lovely restaurants, our favourites were Thassas, Marvellus and Horizon, lots of people rate Portofino but it was the worst meal we had.
Two lively bars, Coconut Bar and the one next door where you'll pay more for drinks for the privilege of karaoke and 80's music until 2am.Most of the bars have nice background music and some have greek nights or live music during the week.
You can hire cars, cycles, quad bikes, bug buggys and pedaloes in Arillas at reasonable rates, we went to Sidari in the buggy and drove through lots of nice villages along the way, a lovely place to stop is Logos beach, its stepping into paradise and the view from the cliff edge is amazing. Dont book trips through the rep, go to Olga's Travel in Arillas for the best rates for all the trips, she's a lovely lady. tell her Sue sent you.
Will definately go back to Arillas and hopefully the Horizon.
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: Oct 2006
Opinion submitted in October 2006 by : Sarah , Yorkshire (35, 34)
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We have recently returned from Kaloudis Village.
We stayed in a studio apartment which was basic but clean and tidy. The bar and pool area was very clean and tidy and the food (snacks at lunchtime)was good. Billy said hello occasionally even though we spent virtually no money in the bar, but as I don't go on holiday to be best mates with the hotel owner I didn't really care.
The only fault we found with this accommodation was the music around the pool. It was on full blast most of the day which put us off staying round there.
The resort is quite low-key and perfect for a relaxing holiday. It has great walks to the neighbouring resorts and a nice beach.
Arilla Inn and Thalassa were by far the best places to go for great food.
For me, the only real problem with this resort (and Corfu in general) is the mozzies. I always get bitten regardless of the fact that I whiff of DEET day and night!!
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
May 2006
Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : Kevin Bibby Darlington 66,60
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We have just returned from the best holiday that we have had in Greece,this was our sixth time all at different islands/mainland.
Arilas was a very clean and relaxing resort with a good beach,plenty of excellent tavernas and some great walks.We hired a car for 7 days and covered most of the island finding some great places.One tip if you drive dont rely on road signs for directions particularly around the North West and the roads are not for the faint hearted!!
I approached the Kaloudis Village with some mixed feelings having read of previous guests comments on this site,I am pleased to say that I have only the highest praise for Billy and his family in the way that they present and maintain the village everything was spotless,we stayed in a studio that was spacious,well furnished and very clean.The dogs were present but no problem whatsoever.Food was slightly more expensive than average but was of a higher quality,the supermarket on site was a pleasure and very good pricewise.The gardens are very well presented,and reflect the overall attetion that is paid in making Kaloudis somewhere you can go and not need to leave for anything if so desired. Of course Billy tries to make sure that he obtains at least a fair share of your holiday spend,thats what he is in business for, but we only ate and spent what WE wanted to when WE wanted to and were treated superbly.
As a last comment Thomson Holidays
s do themselves no favours with their in
resort service,nothing replaces the friendly face of a resort rep,
certainly not a 24 hour telephone service.Be prepared for Excess Baggage
Charge on your return flight I dont know whether it is Thomson Holidays
s or Corfu
Airport that is behind it but we were 3 kilos over,and were charged
£18,and were lighter than on the outward flight!!
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- May 2006
Opinion submitted in May 2006 by :
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
I have just returned from Arillas with my son and my mother. We stayed at Kaloudis. I have to say that the grounds and the accomdation were on the whole very clean but i back up comments made by a previous reviewer about the dogs being allowed to roam around and foul the area around the pool. the owner was notified of this but didn't clean up. On a couple of occasions, we got wafts of uncleared up dog waste and had to move to another area of the pool. The dogs were also seen in the kitchen area! I would also agree with the previous comments about the owner, particularly to the people who weren't spending all their money in his bar (which was a lot more expensive that local tavernas but the food was very good)At times he was definately not very welcoming.
The rooms were beautifully clean and the rose gardens very pretty. Arillas itself is a very pretty place with some lovely walks. We didn;t find the people as friendly generally as we had in other parts of Greece and definately won't be going back!If this had been my first Greek experience i would have been put off for life!! Watch out also for being short changed. this happened to me at least 4 times in a week in various places, including the Kaloudis. once it was just over 10 euros!!
We booked the holiday through Thomson Holidays
and we didn't see a rep from
the time we left the airport until the time we returned there. No
welcome meeting either. There was no support at all unless you wanted to
ring a call centre number.
Will be returning to Crete next year where we know we will get a warm welcome and also its cheaper when you are there.
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- 2006
Opinion submitted in August 2006 by : florence - cumbria
Resort Rating: Poor
Accommodation Rating: Poor
My/Our Holiday Review:
when we arrived we were met by the cleaner she showed us to our room inside there was a table four chairs and a cooker if thats what you would call it,it one cooking plate and a grill oven, which you couldnt cook a family meal on, two bed rooms single beds! and a bath room the one thing i did notice was the large mug on the top waiting for us with "tips" wrote on
the shower was awful the curtain didnt fit right so the water went all over the floor we had to put toilet paper into a bin. the cleaners didnt come every day so the toilet bin wasnt changed the towels were old not good enough to dry a dog on! the towels werent changed for four days!
as for dogs there was dog mess beside the pool and chairs the dogs were allowed in the pool and walked in and out of the kitchen when ever they felt like it which made my stomach turn the owners didnt speak and the guy who runs the slish slash bar wouldnt let my children in as they had a bottle of water he told them if they wanted water they would have to buy it off him but if you were buying in his bar all day he treated you with respect,
it costs 5 euros a day for air condition the Thomson Holidays
day trips cost a
furtune there are two local operaters who were much cheaper and easier
to talk to than our rep! who seemed only interested when you were
booking trips with him! they would cut grass, water plants early in the
morning about 4 or 5am and the cleaners were so loud you couldnt sleep
with all the noise
i would not recomend this place to anyone it was just a rotten place to be two weeks we were there
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Skytours- August 2005
Opinion submitted in Sept 2005 by : Della and Faye Allen - Hampshire (40,12)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
This was the first time I had been brave enough to travel alone with my daughter due to the fact that my husband had work commitments, however all my worries were unfounded. We arrived at the apartments later than expected after a flight delay but was met by the owner in the early hours of the morning who kindly helped us carry our suitcases up to our first floor apartment. On awaking the first morning, we found the apartment to be spotlessly clean and were equally pleased with the views from both the front and back of our apartment.
The grounds were extremely well kept and the pool was fantastic with
the water lapping over the edges. On our first outing I was concerned at
how quiet the resort appeared to be however there was not a shortage of
super restaurants to choose from, in fact we did not have a bad meal
throughout the two weeks we were away. Faye particularly liked the
chinese restaurant and the shop next door which had some really good
quality products of a wide variety. We enjoyed several trips whilst we
were in Corfu which we booked through a Arkokal travel, where the lady
was most helpful and were a lot cheaper than booking through Thomson Holidays
.
The only disappointment was a beach barbeque trip to Paradise Beach, the food was not of our liking and although the drinks were unlimited, the wasps that were around the containers were a bit off putting plus there were several other boatfuls of people and space was limited on the beach. The boat trip to and from the beach was very nice though which left from Paleokastritsa(?) which was a very pretty place.
The most memorable thing though was the friendliness of all the staff at the Kaloudis Village Apartments, Billy, his wife Hellene and daughter were wonderful and were only too happy to cook whatever my daughter requested every morning for breakfast and payment for meals was only expected after they had been eaten which I forgot to do on numerous occasions, only remembering a few hours later! Billy's brother and sister- in-law who ran the shop were extremely helpful (especially where mosquitoes were concerned, selling a variety of preventions and treatments) in the widely stocked supermarket.
We met many people who had returned for several years, in fact one lady was on her 6th visit and had been there for an entire month. We shall definitely return, hopefully taking more of the family next time.
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
Skytours - August 2005
Opinion submitted in Sept 2005 by : Julie, Paul, Becca & Emma (44,46,12,12)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
This is the best family holiday we have ever had - we returned home last night and have immediately booked again for next year!!
The apartments were exceptionally clean and the maid service excellent with regular linen changes throughout our stay.
The apartments were spacious, although bathrooms were small, but this
was a very minor detail. The air conditioning was excellent and cost 4
Euros per unit per day, booked locally at the supermarket with Christos.
Late chackout cost 20 Euro - also booked with Christos and was cheaper
than booking with Thomson Holidays
s before we left the UK.
The view from our balcony was wonderful - over beautiful landscaped gardens with the sea in sight just beyond - truly magical and a haven of peace.
The pool was fantastic as was the splish splash pool bar run by Billy, Helen and their daughter Christiana - thanks Christiana for your lovely smile and warm welcome every day. There were always plenty of sunbeds and the kids played endlessly with the variety of inflatables that everyone shared in the pool.
The food at Splish Splash was great during the day, but Helen's cuisine came into its own at night - the stifado and red mullet was to die for and beat anything else we had tried at our other favourites in the village - Arillas Inn, Costas on the Beach and Thalassa - thanks Helen for looking after us so well!! The drinks were just as brilliant - thanks Billy and Christiana for your faboulous range of cocktails and excellent service!!
Entertainment at Kaloudis was great - the Greek night was excellent,
as was the hilarious bingo, quiz and night swimming. The Thomson Holidays
excursions were also good - the Variety show they put on for the
Macmillan Foundation was superb and took a tremendous amount of work to
put on. The Sundowner trip to Corfu Town was great as was the Corfu by
night trip that enabled us to get some more shopping done - leather and
jewellery the best buys. WE went on the mega day which combined the
glass bottomed boat trip with Aqualand - the first part was okay but I
don't rate Aqualand and we wouldn't repeat that one again, but Theo's
boat trip was brilliant and a real must if you enjoy swimming, good food
and a great laugh!! A few people we spoke to did the Sea plane and
catamaran trips and they raved about them so we will do them next year.
I have read the other reviews and the comments about the owner were not our experience - he and his family work very hard (18-20 hours a day)to help make holidays good for the people that stay there and many return year after year as we are now doing - but there are some whose behaviour needs to be brought into line and Billy does not shy away from doing this to ensure the majority have a great time - this saved going to the rep as he nipped unreasonable behaviour in the bud and ensured the mood remained relaxed and good humoured. The two small dogs are not a problem either - we did not experience a problem at all.
We chilled out within a day and had a wonderful time - the Thomson Holidays
rep, Leigh, was great fun and excellent at her job and nothing was too
much trouble no matter how busy she was.
All in all Kaloudis Village is a special place that attracts wonderful people who get on together well. The facilities on site were wonderful and Billy made a special effort for us when celebrating our Wedding Anniversary there, with flowers, wine and a special meal laid on -they even bought us a card too - we couldn't have wished for a better time!!
Arilas is a quiet resort with just enough bars and tavernas to give a range of choice without attracting the unruly to upset the family atmosphere - I hope it stays as it is and does not change like Kavos did.
I have no hesitation in recommending Kaloudis Village in Arilas to anyone looking for a quiet family holiday in lovely surroundings with great facilities and the beach on your doorstep - don't hesitate - book it now!!
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Skytours - July 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : David and Tracy - Blackpool (51,45,16,16)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
This is our second visit to Corfu, the last one being to the adjacent village of San Stefanos.The transfer by coach takes just over an hour and with all the coaches having air conditioning this was not a bad journey even though the temperature was around 90 degrees.
Arilas is a lovely village, it has scores of restuarants, most of which are directly opposite the beach and sea shore line across a narrow road. This road is the only way in and out of the village.There is a road leading up from the beach which has a couple of loud bars called Coconut and Malibu which serve cocktails, further up on this road there is a Chinese restaurant and a Pizza restuarant.We found that most of the restuarants serve good quality food, our favourites being Costa's on the beach and Thalassa, my wife said she felt like Shirley Valentine with the sound of the sea just feet away and the beautiful sunset each evening.
The Amos bar serves excellent Calypso coffee and is a very pleasant place to spend an hour in the evening watching the world go by. The two 16 year olds in our party prefered the pizza restuarant which we did try and the food was also excellent. There are only a couple of supermarkets on the main street, one of which has English newspapers.The beach is long and narrow and it gently shelves, so is safe for swimming, there is also a life guard who sits in a tower (when he isn't chatting up the ladies!) The beach has a good range of watersports such as Parascending, Pedalo's waterskiing, speedboats and rings pulled by speedboat. The cast of Parascending for 2 people is 50 Euro's and 30 Euros for 2 people in the rings, there is a discount for more people, our two 16 year olds enjoyed the watersports very much.The sea was warm enough to bathe in and everywhere in the resort was clean.
If you book ant tours or trips use any one of the small travel agents located on the road up the hill from the beach as they are considerably cheaper than the tour operators!Internet access is available in the Crepes (pancake)restuarant, but you have to ask as its not advertised.
We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment which was quite modern and had the option of air conditioning at 5 Euros per night and really is essential as the heat builds up during the day and it is unpleasant to sleep without it. (However the studios which are in a different block are very cramped and basic and are very old).Each bedroom in the 2 bed apartment has a television with limited satellite channels.The kitchen equipment is very basic and the small cooker dates back to the 1960's. The table and chairs are white garden type. There is a sign on the wall saying "do not squash insects" one of our 16 year olds squashed an insect and when the maid discovered this he was told off and a man was sent in whilst they were still in bed and he repainted the wall!! The maids run the place like the Gestapo and will tell anyone off who does not get up before 10:30AM.
The pool area is nice and there are sufficient sunbeds for all, however, if you leave a boat or inflatable in the pool overnight it is removed and hidden.If you then ask where the inflatable is, you are told that someone must have taken it. We discovered towards the end of the holiday that the boats and inflatables are cleaned and reinflated and placed back in the shop for resale! the owner paces around the sunbeds checking that the sun brolly's are not too high or touching a tree and sometimes even removing them for no reason at all, even if people are still sitting under them. He upset most people for one reason or another during our 2 week stay.The prices at the bar were different every time for the same drinks and the prices for food were a lot more expensive than other restaurants, so most days we went to different places to eat for lunch/snacks.
To summarise we had a lovely holiday and Arillas is a lovely place which we would certainly come back to but not to the same apartments as they are being spoiled by a very rude owner who only interested in making lots of Euro's.
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
- July 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Brioney - Reading (26,27)
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
I'm not sure where to start - so I shall start when we booked the trip.
We booked this deal to Corfu at the last minute, and once we arrived at the airport, and resort we found out why!!! Apparently the cost of living in Greece is so high now that tourism in Corfu was down 33% on previous years. ALL of the people we met at the airport, on the flight, and in the resort has booked a cheap deal at the last minute. We definistely found Corfu more expensive than Santorini (where we went the same time last year)!!! Evening meals out would cost more than €35 for the two of us!!
The transfer time to Arilas was supposed to be 2 hours, but it was deifnietely a lot less than that!! Interestingly, if you are lucky enough to get a transfer direct to Arilas, it will only take 45 mins, but we stopped by Ag. georgios both ways which added approx 30 mins to the journey. The coach transfer was a little hair raising as the roads are winding, very bumpy and generally not particularly suitable to huge coaches. On both of our transfers the coach was less than 50% full, so it would have been much better to be in a very small coach, or even a mini bus!!
Kaloudis apartments were lovely. The rooms were fairly basic (although we had some sky channels on the TV, which was useful for seeing home news), but very clean and were cleaned 6 times while we were there. There was air conditioning available also, but at a charge of €5 a day.
The pool was also very nice and clean. The only thing I would say was that the owner (Billy) had a dog, which sometimes left little parcels which were not too promptly cleaned up!! I saw two during our week. There were plenty of sunbeds, but I got the impression that not all of the 100 apartments / studios were full. The pool was also open to the general public - so in busy periods it may be hard to get a sunbed.
The pool bar was incredibly expensive for food, although drinks were about the same as the rest of the resort. We paid €17 for two bottles of water, two salads and some chips.... which compared to previous visits to Greece seemed expensive.
Arilas was quite a quiet resort with some fantastic sun sets. The beach was very clean and sandy with plenty of room (although I think this was because tourism was down) and also some sunbeds and umbrellas available.
The food was ok, again I sometimes got the impression that a lot of locals had jumped on the restaurant bandwagon to take advantage of the tourists, without actually being able to cook!! As previously mentioned, I found the food to be expensive, we ate two meals a day out (only one of those being a proper 2 course meal, the other being a snack) and managed to spend about £450 thorughout the week.
We only went on one Thomson Holidays
tour, the trip to Corfu town, but we wish
we hadn't gone!! The map provided by Thomson Holidays
had all the streets written
in english, but the street signs were all in geek, so it was hard to
orientate yourself. The were cheap leather wallets available, but I
thought the bags were expensive. If you want to do some serious shopping
though, there are some good shops (including an M&S). If you want to do
some sightseeing then there is also two fortresses to look round!! To be
honest we spent 2 1/2 hours in a coach, for 5 hours in Corfu town, and
again, the coach transfer was fairly hair raising, especially as it was
a double decker bus!!!
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Skytours - 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Jan and Alex (45, 10)
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
Being a single parent I'm always cautious about the type of place I go to and having read up the very good reviews on the Kaloudis Village apts, I was really looking forward to a nice week away with my son.
What we got, however, was not quite what we were expecting. Firstly the good points: The apts are kept beautifully clean and the surrounding gardens and pool area are extremely well kept and maintained. However, that's probably the best I can say about the place.
The main problem we encountered which became apparent very early on was that, if you don't spend all your money behind the bar of the apts, the Owner and his daughter are rude to the extreme. It's soon obvious that his 'favourites' are the guests who turn up with 'loadsadosh' and spend it freely in his bar and restaurant. He runs the place with military precision and almost all the guests were complaining about his offputting manner. Woe betide anyone who went into the bar with water on their feet (it's smack bang next to the pool!) My son and I encountered problems with a rather loutish family who were there, my son was hit by one of their (much older) kids, but this was 'overlooked' as he belonged to a 'loadsadosh' family - so if you're a single mum beware - you're on your own!!
Also, one serious thing to watch out for is the boat trips. It wasn't until we'd handed over the money and actually boarded the boat that we were informed that it was all 'on the quiet'- (illegal sprang to mind!) - and our holiday insurance cover would have probably been invalid had an accident occurred. It consisted of 6 hours on his private speedboat with no shade from the sun, 2 hours for the lucky girls stranded on a beach with his crying dogs with no facilities or shade, while the guys got to escort him on his fishing trip. And all for the pricely sum of 50 Euros - total rip off!!!
The onsite supermarket is manned all hours by a lovely woman called Roula who was the only person who was at all pleasant to us, she really is lovely, but that's about it really.
Finally, a quick word about the resort. Boring really, a drab beach (but with nice sunsets), run of the mill restaurants serving frozen chips and frozen veg with everything, definitley wouldn't bother going back and will not be recommending it to anyone I like!!
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Skytours - May 2004
Opinion submitted in May 2004 by : Jenny & Mick 50,49
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
This was an absolutely brilliant holiday from start to finish - a real bargain from Teletext. The resort is beautiful, so unspoilt and picturesque and the apartments are unbelievable. They have everything that you could need in a wonderful location and so clean it was untrue. The owner Billy and his family make everyone welcome and nothing is too much trouble.
There are plenty of tavernas and the walks around the surrounding area are brilliant. It was our first time in Corfu and we were so impressed. It was stunning and the scenery and flowers had to be seen to be believed. The sea was warm enough to bath in and everywhere in the resort was clean.
To watch the sunset in one of the beach tavernas was pure heaven. We will be going back.
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Kaloudis Village Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Skytours
Opinion submitted in May 2004 by : Andy & Paula (40,37)):
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
This was our first holiday in Arilas and we had an excellent time. The resort had everything we needed great taverna's (Kostas on the Beach & Brouklis to name but a few), a nice beach and a relaxing atmosphere. There are a small number of bar's but the one we enjoyed most was Ammos with its continental feel, very friendly staff and seafront location.
Kaloudis Village Apartments were well equipped, had a nice pool and bar with plenty of evening entertainment. Also on site was a handy supermarket.
All in all we shall definitely be returning to Arilas.
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Korikis Apartments - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Libra Discounts) Libra Holidays - July 1st 2005
Opinion submitted in July 2005 by : Amie & G (aged 25 & 32) Kettering, Northants
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
The resort of Arillas is beautiful. It is a gorgeous resort that is suited to couples looking for a relaxing & maybe romantic holiday! It is not a holiday for groups of young people looking for a "wild" holiday.
The resort is set in a bay on the north west coast of Corfu and the scenery is lovely.
The main road, which is only approx 400yards long, is set along the beach front, with restaurants serving gorgeous food, a few supermarkets,pools and apartments for you to use. There is a further road, off the main road which has 2 drinking bars,The Malibu Bar and The Coconut Bar, for those wanting a nosier atmosphere and a drinking place into the early hours of the morning. The 2 bars mentioned also have Sky TV, for all those sports fans who can't be parted from the daily sports news.
We stayed in the Korikis Studios, which are situated next to the medical centre, approx 5 minutes walk from the beach.
The studios are basic, yet immaculately clean and provided us with everything we needed during our stay. The kitchen and bathroom were both small but adequate. Kitchen had a kettle, utensils, glassware and a small oven. The shower had no hook on the wall, so we had to wash with one hand and hold the shower head with another or hold the shower head for each other! The bathroom floor also got soaked as the shower curtain did not sit inside the shower tray, however the maintenance man was addressing this on the day that we left.
We had 2 single beds in the studios and the sheets supplied were clean and did the job. Fresh towels were left in the stuido every second day, they were old but clean. The cleanliness of the studios could not be faulted, they were immaculate, even if they were basic.
There was a small balcony area with a table and chairs set, with washing lines for you to hang your beach towels on at the end of the day.
There was no pool at the Korikis Studios. This wasn't a problem, as
you can use any pool in the entire resort of Arillas. We choose to use
the pool at the Kaloudis Studios, which is part of the Thomson Holidays
apartments site. The pool at the Mirage restaurant, along the sea front
is also spectacular as you have a beautiful pool looking out onto the
sea and the beach. Breathtaking and very relaxing.
We were allowed to keep the room on, for the day, on the day of departure for a fee of 20 Euros, which we paid. We spoke to the maid on the day and there was no problem with this. It meant that we were able to get a further day sun bathing in, and had somewhere to return to get a shower before flying home. It was well worth the extra cost.
The place, Arillas could not be faulted. We enjoyed dinner in a different restaurant every night and we never had a bad meal. The food was great and the service was good. It was lovely sitting eating dinner, watching the sunset on the horizon over the sea. We particulary enjoyed Kostas on the Beach, which has a beautiful romantic setting.
We paid approx 40Euros per night for dinner, but this was usually a 3 course dinner and a number of drinks - so it is relatively cheap to eat out at night. Every dinner we had was delicious and we ate at a different place each night - there are plenty of restaurants to choose from even thought Arillas is small.
We spent nights eating out and then went to the Coconut Bar and The Malibu Bar, for more drinks and some music before heading home in the early hours of the morning.
We took Euros and English sterling which we exchanged in Arillas and also used our VISA card. Be warned that there is no cash machine, but most places take VISA. We did need some cash and some places will give it to you, using your card, but they charge 15% to do so, so it can be expensive. The exchange rate was better in Arillas, 1.47 Euros to a £1.00 compared to the 1.35 Euros we got at the airport.
Mosquitos and insect bites were bad here. I suffered badly with them and had to take a trip to the local doctor, as I had an allergic reaction to them, so be sure to bring the best insect repellant you can buy, as you really do need it here. Lots of people suffered with them, so you have been warned!
Transfer time from the airport to Arillas was approx 2hours.
If you are looking for a hard weeks partying and all night boozing, this isn't the place for you - go to Sidari or Kavos.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for a peaceful and relaxing holiday with somewhere to enjoy a good dinner, nice views and maybe a quiet drink into the early hours, come to Arillas.
We had a great time here and will definately be back for more.
We found arillas com quite helpful when researching this holiday.
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Korikis Apartments - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Airtours Direct) Airtours - june 2004
Opinion submitted in Aug 2004 by : claire loynd (50,45,29,24)
Resort Rating: Below Average
Accommodation Rating: Poor
My/Our Holiday Review:
the town was very quiet, only a few restaurants along the front, the beach was small and dirty, there was a man who went along it every morning burying all the rubbish under the sand, so you couldn't walk on it.
our apartments, THE KORIKIS, were awful, we were dumped at the front by the rep and told to pick any room,we went in to the first two rooms we found, there was no living room, just a tiny kitchen and bathroom and a bedroom, the shower didn't work properly, it just trickled cold water and then stopped, one of our party got stuck in the bathroom when the door jammed shut, and in the other room the bathroom door fell off, the electric box on the wall was uncovered and all the wires were hanging out, the door handle was hanging on with a nail, there was no lighting around the apartments and one of our party fell up the steps and badly grazed her knee.
our beds were disgusting, one of them collapsed as all the latts were broken, one of the sheets had blood on them and the other had human excrement on them, and to top it all off we had some one trying to get in to our room at four o'clock in the morning.
i would never go back to corfu and i wouldn't put a dog in these apartments.
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Makris Apartments - Arilas
Operator and Date: Manos May 2007
Opinion submitted in June 2007 by : Sue Jones - stoke-onTrent (57,54)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
stayed at Makris end of May about 10-15 mins from main shops and tavernas. Arilas very quiet and peaceful not a busy Corfu resort. It was just what we wanted.
The beach was ideal for families although we didnt use it. Tavernas were very good and reasonably priced in fact cheap 8 OR 9 euros for a 3 course meal.
recomend Captains Greazellies. also ate at fish taverna where fish had been caught that day.
Makris apartments were very spacious we were in a studio with 3 beds and seperate kitchen area. kitchen was very clean with kettle and a small oven witha grill and 2 electric rings.
the bedding was changed once a week andthe towels 3 times.
outaide each apartment was a brush mop and bucket and a dustbin near the apartments. they were cleaned every other day. so if you needed to empty a bin or sweep sand up everything eas on hand.
Hellena , her sister and mom worked very hardall wek and were excellent hosts nothing was to much trouble. would go back to Makris and Arilas.
Only thing let us down was coach transfer as it was nearly 4 hours dropped off all around the coast.
if i WENT AGAIN WOULD FIND OU HOEW MANY DROP OFFS AND GET A TAXI .
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Hotel Marvellous - Arillas
Operator and Date: Thomas Cook - July 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by :
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We have just returned from our first holiday in Corfu and had an absolutely wonderful time. We are a couple in our mid twenties and would recommend Arillas and the Hotel Marvellous to anyone who wants a relaxing holiday with great bars, restaurants and friendly local people. it is definitely not suitable for people who want to go on holiday to party 24/7!
The Hotel Marvellous really lives up to its name. The family who run it (Spiros and Kostas) are really friendly as are the two waitresses who work there (Katarina and Margrita) and cannot do enough for you. Even the cleaners were so lovely! The rooms are basic but kept spotlessly clean. Towells and linen are changed twice a week and your room is cleaned up, beds made, bins emptied etc almost every day. During our stay there was a really friendly atmosphere especially in the bar in the evening. There is air conditioning in the rooms which you pay 5 euros per day for (definitely worth it).
The resort itself is beautiful. We really enjoyed going on the pedaloes on the beach and seeing the resort from out in the sea, really relaxing. The people who work the the bars, restaurants and even the supermarkets are really friendly and we would recommend that you attempt basic Greek (for example please, thank you, hello, goodbye etc) as they really appreciate this, although they all speak great English. The places we would most recommend are, for eating: Thalassa, Portafino and Armourada (although sometimes the service is REALLY slow in these places, especially Thalassa) We also really liked Malibu to go in the evenings for a cocktail or 2. The waitress who works there, Kinga, is really nice and friendly. The Coconut bar is also good for entertainment, the magic show they had was cheesily brilliant!
As for day trips, DO NOT book these through your holiday rep. There are three places in Arillas (all near the beach) where you can book trips, they all basically have the same prices which are a lot cheaper than your tour company! We went on the trip to Albania, which was interesting. If you are going on this trip, here are some tips: this trip leaves Arillas at 7.30am, you get to the Port in Corfu town at about 9am and then you have to wait for the boat to Albania which I believe left at about 9.30am - you get to Albania about 11.30am and then they take you to a restaurant for a drink. if you have paid extra on the boat for the trip to the ruins at Butrinti this leaves at about 12.15pm - takes about half an hour to get there, then you tour the ruins for 1.5 hours. What I am saying is that you are left without food for A LONG TIME! The restaurant they take you to does not sell food until you go back there for the buffet lunch after the Butrinti trip (inclusive in the price) - this was at 3.30pm!! So, if you are going on this trip, take food and a lot of water with you as you will need it. The other thing about Albania is the poverty, be prepared for gangs of children who will not leave you alone until you give them 1 euro for the bracelets they sell. believe me they DO NOT give up and will follow you around until you buy! Other trips we went on were the Corfu Town evening shopping trip - definitely go at night as it is wonderful, and much cooler. There is a great atmosphere in the evening. We also went on the trip to Paleokastrisa which was great value - 12 euros for a trip to the Kumquat factory, 13th century monastery, 3 hours in Paleo and then a trip to the most amazing view at Bella Vista. It was amazing.
Finally, a word of warning about the mosquitos - DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN to combat them as they do not leave you alone. We covered ourself in repellant constantly and had a plug in repellant in our hotel room but I still got bitten about 40 times and had an allergic reaction - not good. I would say this is the only bad thing about this holiday, but what can you do!
In short - we had a fantastic time and would recommend it to anyone!
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Hotel Marvellous - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Thomas Cook Direct) Thomas Cook - Jun/Jul 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : Sian & Liam - Harrogate (20,22)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We've just got back from 2 weeks in heaven! The Hotel Marvellous is fantastic. It is a family run hotel situated on the main road of Arillas and is 5 mins walk from the beach, local shops and bars/restaurants. The staff go out of their way to be friendly and only need to ask your name once. Rooms are immaculate with the maids cleaning them every day, linen & towels changed every 3 days.All guests get 10% discount of meals and drinks at hotel and everything is reasonably priced.
Would highly recommend brouklis (white restaurant next to whispers pizziara) & the fish restaurant on the back road of Arillas pass the rusty bike (3 course meals for 8 euros)approx 15 min stroll from the hotel. Arillas is very peaceful & quiet the perfect place to unwind and relax.
Would highly recommend this resort and hotel to anyone and already have been looking to go back!
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Hotel Marvellous - Arillas
Operator and Date: June 2005
Opinion submitted in Apr 2006 by
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
A peaceful resort with a narrow, but gently shelving sandy beach. A very friendly atmosphere with lots of good places to eat and only a few bars. It seems that most holidaymakers return again and again.
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Hotel Marvellous - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Thomas Cook Direct) Thomas Cook - June 2005
Opinion submitted in June 2005 by
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Small, friendly, family-run hotel, kept spotlessly clean. Lovely pool. Good quality restaurant/bar. Although next to the road, it was very quiet. Not far from the beautiful beach and a nice selection of tavernas.
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Mathraki Apartment - Arilas
Operator and Date: (Olympic Direct) Olympic June 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : Joanne Aisthorpe - North East Lincs (39,38,14,12,8)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Having just returned from Mathraki Apartments we have decided it was one of our better holidays. We always use holidays uncovered and found only one review for the apartments however it swayed us to visit!!
The only down side to the holiday is the coach transfers.....over 4hrs on the coach and if we had of know we would have taken a taxi but once we arrived at Manthraki the transfer was well worth it. The two bedroomed apartment was very clean, spacious and had everything we needed for our self catering holiday. The pool and poolside is spotless and cleaned every day and the poolbar was brill!!
The food was very tasty, freshly made and very reasonably priced and all three of our children loved having snacks at lunchtime, in fact we even had a couple of evening meals around the pool. The kids were happy with the one pool table and choice of ice creams and lollies. The owners, their son Akis and his girlfriend were very friendly and nothing was too much trouble. We musn't forget to mention our rep Leah who was one of the best reps we have had the priviledge to meet, she was friendly, helpful and chatty! Arillas itself is very small and quiet, just what we wanted in order to chill out and get away from the rat race. A couple of lovely restaurants we would recommend are Brouklis Taverna, Arilla Inn and Costas on the beach. As a family we visited them all several times!!
The water park in corfu is a must, a fantastic day out if you have kids and even mum and dad had a good time! We hired a car for three days and travelled to different resorts and yes we would definetly be going back. If you are after a lively mad holiday then Arillas is not for you but to chill, unwind, watch the sunset by the beach with a glass of red wine then yes this is just the thing... We wish we were still there!!
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Nafsika Apartments - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Manos Direct) Manos-Aug 2006
Opinion submitted in September 2006 by : Karen Hendrie-Jersey (41, 33, 13, 6 )
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We had a fantastic holiday at the Nafsika which is part of the Rainbow complex. Jimmy and Spiros were excellent hosts and nothing was too much trouble. The apartments were very clean and spacious.The bar on the complex was a great place to meet up in the evening with good food and a brilliant atmosphere. I would definately stay there again in the future. The pool was lovely and clean and never too crowded but if you wanted to visit the beach it is only a 5 min walk. Favourite restaurants were the Armourada, Brouklis and Kostas.
All in all a very special holiday.
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Nikos Apartments - Arillas
Operator and Date: (Manos Discounts) Manos - June 2005
Opinion submitted in June 2005 by : Trish O'Dowd - Oldham (44,41,8,6)
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Have never been to Arillas before but would definetely go again.
It was a fairly quiet resort but the people were very friendly and our apartments were spotless. We stayed in a masionette at Nikos. They had a beautiful wrought iron spiral staircase that led to 2 beds upstairs. Would not recommend them if you have small children as they could be quite dangerous but as our kids are 8 and 6 there were no problems. Vasillas, our host was a great chap and very obliging. Nothing was too much troulble.
This resort would not suite people looking for a lot of night life but it was just what we wanted. Several other families had returned to Arillas and Nikos for the second or t