Nirithes Hotel - (Accommodation in Skala)
This family run 'aparthotel', now in its 4th year of operation, is by far the best we have ever stayed in, and some have said that it equals some 4*/5* hotels! (We can't comment as we have never had that much money to burn!)
We stayed in a 1st floor 'studio' which consists of one large room with a shower/wc room off, the room had 3+1 beds (2 placed together -no roll together!) with another bed which pulled out from under the convertible bed/sofa, a private balcony off with table and chairs and clothes airer.
Very high quality fixtures and fittings, loads of power sockets, UPVC double gazing and steel security roll shutters, plenty of cupboard/drawer/wardrobe space.
Kitchen equipped with toaster/kettle/ 2 ring electric hob, sink/drainer and 4 of everything cutlery/crockery wise.
Table and 4 chairs, bedside tables, coffee table and dresser/mirror, Tiled throughout, hairdryer built into the wall!
Colour TV with 3 Greek and 3 English channels (Cnn/BBC world/BBc prime) plenty of old sitcoms and kids TV as well as 24 hour news -saves you a fortune in UK newspapers!
Efficient maid service daily! (Change of sheets/towels etc.)
L shaped pool with Jacuzzi, 1.9m deepest 1m shallowest, plenty of sunbeds/brollys, bar (with big screen TV etc)and bbq area, snacks available all day, foyer has holiday book club -look on the reception bar -they'll have to get a bookshelf soon!
It is the staff that makes these facilities exceptional, Napoleon and Dina with their families run a well ordered and efficient business here, one that it is obvious they are justifiably proud of and care very much for!
Friendly, welcoming and funny -they are the perfect hosts!
Air conditioning is built in, optional at 8 Euro per day, a safe is also built in at 15 Euro per week.
The location is at the end of Skala (new village) and at the end of the fairly steep main road, this however gives some advantages:
Hardly any traffic on the road outside.
We have had the best sleep we had in years here (and not just thanks to the excellent Skala Taverna food or Napoleons Cocktails!) -woken only by our own body clocks or the cockerel down the road waking up everything else!
The pool stays quiet for most of the day as only residents use it!
The location is ideal for a walk up to old Skala village (destroyed utterly in the Earthquake of 1953) a very moving and FREE excursion for you to do! If you do go -take plenty of water/sunblock/hats, get the map from the 'periptero' (news kiosk) and leave by
Say hello to the goat(s)!
p.s. if anyone reading wants pictures of 'Sami' the cat and her kittens email me direct:
Timh@chippenham58.freeserve.co.uk
Thanks again to Napoleon/Dina and families for making us so welcome, we will see you again next year!
- UKSkala Resort - (Resorts in Kefalonia)
Kefalonia/Skala General comments:
Unless you plan a pool/beach holiday ONLY, then to appreciate the beauty of our favourite Island you MUST rent a car (bikes only for those who are very experienced motorcyclists pref. with their own gear/helmets really!) as the island is large, we usually cover 1000kms in a week and we don't go everywhere at that!
Skala has a roman villa which is worth a look and an old temple also (bit of a walk on the Poros road for that though!)
The beach is shail/sand and pebble -walk up and down to find the best spot, nearby beaches are better -Try Katelios/Kaminia/Mounda.
Favourite tavernas/estiatoria (we are Greek/Italian food lovers) Socrates/The old village/Noufaro, these are the ones we found to be superior to everything else we tried! There are also a couple of take away places too.
A decent meal for 2 with local wine and starter/dessert will cost anything from 25 euro upwards, portions are generous and we found ourselves having less starters and certainly no room for desserts!
Largest supermarket is nearest to the Nirithes, but is not very cheap, best bet is (with a hire car of course!) to go along the direct road to Argostoli from Skala, where you will find DIA discount supermarket and Lidl (no credit cards though!) which most of the locals shop at.
Petrol stations usually have attendants -just tell them how much you want!
If you (like us) haven't been abroad since the Euro, you will sadly notice that prices have rocketed, petrol is similar now to
Get your phone cards and fags from the 'periptero' on the main road, fags are no cheaper whether bought as an individual packet or as 200! 59% cheaper than
Phone booth next to the kiosk & bottom of the road etc.
Booze: 75cl of decent vodka is about 14 Euros, cheapo stuff from Lidl about 4 euros!
Beer in most bars -Amstel and Mythos mostly is about 2.50 Euros for a 1/2 litre (1.1 pints), shorts are quite expensive at twice this!
Plenty of exchange places for travellers cheques at 2% commission, DON'T USE THE BANKS -they charge a whopping 6%!!
Excursions -(better to hire a car again IMHO) not to be missed -Myrtos beach one of the top 5 beaches in the world, -pebbly though!, Melassani lake (like a beautiful fridge in the middle of the desert!), Assos town/castle, St Georges castle (Kastro), Fiskardo (expensive northernmost resort -visit the charming volunteer Environmental museum next to the church!) and if you like your history -The massacre site and memorial to the Italian AQUI division (only 33 out of 9000+ survived) a la 'Captain Corellis Mandolin' and the AQUI museum next to the Catholic church in the main shopping area in Argostoli, again, very moving! The nunnery and cathedral at Agios Gerasimos, located, conveniently next to the Robola Winery -free tasting all day-yum!
Plenty of museums are all worth visiting, the archaeological and folklore ones particularly so (both in Argostoli).
Rule of thumb -if you see a brown sign -it is telling you of a sight worth seeing -stop/turn off and take a look!
Learn the Greek alphabet as Greek road signs are usually located before their English translations and will make sure you don't miss turnings -although it can sometimes be fun to get lost -you'll see the real
As you head further north/inland you get tantalising glimpses of old (pre earthquake) houses that show a small part of the real beauty the island was, however it's own natural beauty blows most other islands away.
Hire cars we have had and would use again are Pefanis and Aenos travel (although I think Napoleon (Nirithes apartments) has his own business which can supply cars so try him when you arrive!) worth getting air con, bearing in mind it does drink fuel!
Nirithes Hotel - (Accommodation in Skala)
This family run 'aparthotel', now in its 4th year of operation, is by far the best we have ever stayed in, and some have said that it equals some 4*/5* hotels! (We can't comment as we have never had that much money to burn!)
We stayed in a 1st floor 'studio' which consists of one large room with a shower/wc room off, the room had 3+1 beds (2 placed together -no roll together!) with another bed which pulled out from under the convertible bed/sofa, a private balcony off with table and chairs and clothes airer.
Very high quality fixtures and fittings, loads of power sockets, UPVC double gazing and steel security roll shutters, plenty of cupboard/drawer/wardrobe space.
Kitchen equipped with toaster/kettle/ 2 ring electric hob, sink/drainer and 4 of everything cutlery/crockery wise.
Table and 4 chairs, bedside tables, coffee table and dresser/mirror, Tiled throughout, hairdryer built into the wall!
Colour TV with 3 Greek and 3 English channels (Cnn/BBC world/BBc prime) plenty of old sitcoms and kids TV as well as 24 hour news -saves you a fortune in UK newspapers!
Efficient maid service daily! (Change of sheets/towels etc.)
L shaped pool with Jacuzzi, 1.9m deepest 1m shallowest, plenty of sunbeds/brollys, bar (with big screen TV etc)and bbq area, snacks available all day, foyer has holiday book club -look on the reception bar -they'll have to get a bookshelf soon!
It is the staff that makes these facilities exceptional, Napoleon and Dina with their families run a well ordered and efficient business here, one that it is obvious they are justifiably proud of and care very much for!
Friendly, welcoming and funny -they are the perfect hosts!
Air conditioning is built in, optional at 8 Euro per day, a safe is also built in at 15 Euro per week.
The location is at the end of Skala (new village) and at the end of the fairly steep main road, this however gives some advantages:
Hardly any traffic on the road outside.
We have had the best sleep we had in years here (and not just thanks to the excellent Skala Taverna food or Napoleons Cocktails!) -woken only by our own body clocks or the cockerel down the road waking up everything else!
The pool stays quiet for most of the day as only residents use it!
The location is ideal for a walk up to old Skala village (destroyed utterly in the Earthquake of 1953) a very moving and FREE excursion for you to do! If you do go -take plenty of water/sunblock/hats, get the map from the 'periptero' (news kiosk) and leave by
Say hello to the goat(s)!
p.s. if anyone reading wants pictures of 'Sami' the cat and her kittens email me direct:
TimhATchippenham58DOTfreeserveDOTcoDOTuk.
Thanks again to Napoleon/Dina and families for making us so welcome, we will see you again next year!