Kalamaki Holidays from £353

Our hosts Dionisis and his wife Aggeliki were wonderful. They greated us warmly on arrival and upgraded our room with a sea view without any extra cost when we checked in which was a lovely surprise and also gave my partner a huge birthday cake on our second day when they heard it was her birthday. They also gave us some gifts on leaving to remember our stay with them. The perfect hosts. Dionisis has made his own map of the island which you can have a copy of, indicating various day trips and the best sites to visit on each day trip and even a discounted boat trip to visit the blue caves and shipwreck beach (if you say you are staying at the Belussi beach hotel) Our room was large and clean with a lovely sea view from the balcony. The staff were all so friendly throughout our stay and we had some lovely chats with them when they were on and off duty. Every one of the staff were friendly from the cleaners to the restaurant and bar staff. I highly recommend you hire a car for the duration of your stay. There are three local restaurants within 5 mins walk if you wish to walk to dine out away from the hotel and a supermarket is a ten minute walk through an olive tree lined road. But if you want to explore the island properly and explore what it has to offer you need some transport. You can use a taxi or a bus to explore but this would really limit what you can see. The hotel has everything you need to enjoy swimming in the sea and days around the pool. The breakfasts superb.

+ Amazing view Beautiful surroundings Helpful staff in the reception Boat trips and rentals of cars, mopeds or ATVs/ quads avail able Pool and beach Good drinks Easy to find parking Good location (close to mini-market, cafe and several restaurants). - The poolbar had highs and lows, food was good for the most part but sometimes it was missing ingredients och was burnt and sent back. Sometime the wait was crazy long (over one hour at one point). They almost never brought the dishes at the same time so me. Sometimes they forgot part of the order. Staff was shy and felt uncomfortable speaking English. Couldn’t answer simple questions. The pool could use some upgrading, but worked fine to cool off. Sunbeds by the water had a super thin mattress and were quite uncomfortable. Some sunbeds by the beach were broken and the sun beds by the pool had seen better days but worked fine. The cleaning staff did not read the do not disturb sign and knocked and opened the door a couple of times when we did not expect it. Nothing was on time: transfer to/ from the airport, the boat ride, the food etc.

The hotel is really clean, and nice. The staff go to great lengths to keep the shared areas as clean as the rooms. Everybody goes out of their way to make us feel comfortable abd happy. The breakfast buffet was the okay, but compared to the other food options around the hotel, it felt a little shy in comparison. However, within walking distance around the hotel there are plenty of options from local tavernas to touristy spots.

Presents like a 5 star hotel but delivered like a 3 star. Positives were rooms were very spacious and upgraded to a ground flr room with a great size plunge pool. Negatives- both managers lacked any type of customer service charm, no bell man to help with bags, cheap finishes from flooring to tiles to toilets which were always clogged or running. Weeds growing in the floorboards all around the pool, place is definitely put together and operated on a shoestring budget - not sure how they get away with a 5 star rating but fittingly one of the stars on the exterior of the hotel has already fallen off. Two tvs in the room but when you turn ine on the other turns on too, when you change the channel, the other tv changes too. Poorly designed and cheaply finished. Most of the staff are international and all seem scared of the harsh looking management. They charge for water bottles and tried to charge me for mini bar items that we didn’t even have in our mini bar to start. The saviour for this place is Stamatis the bartender who is the only friendly face you will see here. He is class and delivers true greek hospitality. All in all, for the size of the room and the upgrade to the great private plunge pool it was worth it, given that we are not hanging out at the hotel all day. Would be better for them to downgrade to a four star and over-deliver.