Sunrise Village

My wife and I took a last minute holiday to the sunrise apartments in sept 08.

I do not usually write on review websites but have also just returned from the sunrise village apartments and have seen the review below written by someone who was there at the same time. We had an absolutely brilliant holiday. Kefalonia is amazing ... great weather, sights, food, people. The apartments were great. They were modern, relaxing, quiet and comfortable. We were a little suprised that they only supplied the first toilet roll but it is self catering and the shop around the corner (nikolas) sells single rolls so please, future guests, don't let this put you off! Air con was quite expensive but pull the shutter down and sleep with the french doors open - problem solved! Our hot water was brill, if not a little a too hot at times, and the shower pressure was phenomenal (we probably were showering at the same time!) At the end of the day how much time do you spend in your room?! They were clean and comfy. The pool was gorgeous - plenty of sun loungers and the local beach great. We found the atmosphere lovely and the staff friendly. We spent most evenings at the pool bar listening to the music and drinking cocktails. It is very remote but luckily we had a car for the whole week and saw some beautiful places. The local restaurants were great and the staff VERY friendly. Looking at the map it is obviously near to the airport and the planes are noisy but quite exciting to watch them nearly land on your balcony  .... look at the positive ... your transfer time is literally minutes! So please don't be put off ... Kefalonia is beautiful and the apartments are great ... just be sure to hire a car and pack some loo roll!!!

My wife & I have just come back from these apartments, and would say that this was the worst holiday we have ever had. The only thing that stopped us returning home early was the excursion we took whilst there. We found Ann extremely informative about the island, and the history regarding Kefalonia (an extremely enjoyable day. Thanks Ann).
We have been on numerous self catering holidays, including Turkey. These apartments did not even supply a toilet roll, which is a basic requirement. If we had wanted the aircon it would have cost approx 50 euros for the week.
The hot water stopped working twice while we were there, and the shower was nothing but a dribble (we eventually got the shower working properly on the Thursday, and we left on the Sunday). When we asked for assistance it was as if we were asking for the earth. We found the staff sullen and dis-interested, unless you were either German, or Italian.
Getting around was a pain unless you hire a car for 130 euros, or get a taxi to Argostoli which cost 15 euros each way.
The apartment we had contained 2 twin beds, a fridge, and a 2 ring hob and that was it!!!!
The airport had flights every day, but Sundays and Thursdays where the worst with flights every half an hour approx 600-800 yards from our balcony. also the Greek airforce have their training facility on Kefalonia. and they constantly fly over the apartments every 10-15 mins at  approx 600 feet. Peacefull You must be joking this all started at approx 6am and carried on until the sunset!!!
Would we go back...Hmmm let me think......Not On Your Life!!

Hi Sharon

Stayed here June 2007 for 2 weeks. We had 2 Studios, with fantastic views Very high standard of cleanliness. Transfer only 10 mins from airport, and we found that aircraft did not bother us, infact we found it interesting watching the planes as did most other residents. I have walking difficulties, but even I could get around and managed to walk to other beaches - just needed to take my time. Nice pool, small bar/snacks. Few restaurants / Tavernas. George and his wife very nice people, very helpful.Short walk to bus stop for bus to main town of Argostoli. Have been to Kefalonia few times before, wanted to go back to Sunrise 2008 but proprioters have withdrawn from First Choice. If anyone knows how to get there from UK please let me know.

I would like to answer Sharon Allwood's question: The website is www.pinksunrise.gr. Have never been there but did a Google. Regards Andrea

we enjoyed are stay at Sunrise but the only problem we found was that it was away from anything so a car is a must have also planes fly very low over the accomodation but this is only 2wice a week and only 2 or 3 planes  apart from that great people very clean and friendly. Thank you great holiday

Just returned from 2 week stay at Sunrise Village, May 2005. Located slightly closer than the 15 minutes from the airport as stated in Unijet brochure - actually it only took four minutes on the transfer minibus! Aircraft noise mainly on Sun and Tues although there is a plane that comes in most nights about 10.30 and leaves at about 11.00. Studios that are not shown in brochure are very poor with very limited space - supposed to sleep three, perhaps third person sleeps in wardrobe! Also clothes hanging in wardrobe often smelt damp. Mini market on-site has limited items. Car hire is ESSENTIAL due to the remoteness although it is great for a relaxing holiday. Pool area very nice and clean. Kefalonia is a very pretty island, so is a must.

We spent one week at the beginning of August. The family is extremely welcoming and friendly. Mike who runs the bar played the guitar and we all had a great time. We highly recommend it.

We have just returned from 2 weeks at the Sunrise Village and had a really enjoyable time. The pool area especially was excellent and the children would have been happy to spend every day there if we had not dragged them off on trips and to the beach. The village was very quiet (as we had expected) but there was a reasonable choice of minimarkets and tavernas with a few good karaoke/low key disco nights if that's what you like. Ammes beach was beautiful, clean and never too crowded. Overall the atmosphere was really good and very Greek. Sam our rep was a nice guy.

Two bad points:
The two bed maisonettes only have air con in one of the bedrooms, which is a ridiculous oversight and we had to spend extra hiring a weedy fan.
The 'lounge' area is little more than a tiled space with a fridge, sink and electric rings, and a plastic table shoehorned into one corner.

we stayed at the sunrise village for one week in july and must say we found it to be a very nice place . we do not agree with the comment about the family being unfriendly as we found them to be lovely people and the mother even had time to sit and chat with us for a while and even showed interested in our lifes and family. our room was comfortable and cleaned every day. the pool was cleaned every night. the bar stayed open untill everyone had gone so what more can you ask for. we particulaly enjoyed the happy hour every evening but were saddened that guests found the need to go to other tavernas instead, never mind at least we appreciated you mike ( thats the fella who bothered to open the bar for all of those who went else where). if you want a peaceful holiday within a very friendly atmosphere then you must visit here but do hire a car and see the beauty of kefalonia. THANKYOU TO THE FAMILY FOR A GREAT STAY....from diane and david youngman...

We stayed at Sunrise Village for two weeks in July. We really liked the relaxed atmosphere and the fact that there weren't too many apartments. Apartments, pool, gardens, etc all kept very clean. Owners are nice people if you make an effort to get to know them. Can be quiet around the apartments but we enjoyed it (we also enjoyed watching the planes landing - not too noisy at all). We hired a car which was very much needed. We celebrated Euro 2004 final with the locals in Argostoli after midnight (Michael in the pool bar gave us a lift!). The atmosphere was brilliant and both of my children (11 and 14) agreed that the experience was awesome and one they'll always remember. PS Did not see any cats or dogs around the apartments!! Going back in October and can't wait

We have just returned from Sunrise village appts at Svoronata and there are a few comments i would like to make. Please dont take any notice of the rantings about cats dogs and wet floors by others who have visited. The masionettes are 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms, a very basic kitchenette with 2 balconies and 2 shared terraces. The site can get quite breezy in the late afternoon but it is generally quiet (Sun & Tues busiest airport days with about 10 planes max) and the nearby beach, Ammes, quite pleasant. If you are without transport there is a small shop and a taverna in Sotiris appts behind Sunrise, and plenty of tavernas/minimarkets about 10- 20mins gentle stroll up the road towards the village. I am afriad we did not try the wall climbing exercise to cut the journey so cannot comment on that. We saw 1 solitary, though pregnant, cat, 2 puppies, several lizards and a couple of flat roadkill snakes. The Sunrise cannot be seen from the appts , but there is a wonderful view of the Sunset behind the Lixouri peninsular.
My main advice to any one staying here is to hire a car for at least a few days, as the Island is well worth seeing, bring a plug-in mosi’ repellant, and get pool shoes for the kids as the bottom of the pool is quite rough.
The good points, quiet area, beautful pool and bar area, clean accomodation not huge but not cramped, (dont worry about the joint window business) plenty of sunbeds and if you have a car, good central location.
Bad points occasional aircraft noise, but not after 10.30, floor tiles slippery when wet (watch the balcony if hanging washing) and the family that run it are not very helpful or particularly friendly. All together we enjoyed our stay. Mel Scott and girls June 04

We were told that a car was advisable to stay in these apartments when it is actually VITAL. I would not recommend staying here at the beginning or end of season unless you are prepared to hire a car because everything within walking distance closes, All the surrounding supermarkets/restaurants closed the weekend after we arrived. For the few days that the supermarkets were still open, our rep advised us all in the 'Welcome meeting' to climb over a wall at the back of the complex to make the walk shorter. We did this a couple of times but when my 69 year old Father cut his arm after falling, we stopped. The pool bar was closed most of the time although to be fair this was because there were not many guests and the owner did explain that First Choice had forced them to remain open even though the surrounding villas/apartments had closed. Sunrise has no restaurant or supermarket and no public telephone which caused problems. It was costing us 20 euros to get a taxi to the nearest town Lassi just to buy bread and milk! The owner was happy to ring taxi's for us but it was a 10mnt walk to the payphone to ring home and part of the walk was in complete darkness. The amount of stray dogs took us by surprise and I was attacked by one of them in the second week. It actually had my leg between it's teeth. Again I dont actually blame the owner for this, if the other guests had not been feeding these dogs then they wouldn't have hung around. Even our rep Gemma was making a fuss of the dogs and encouraging them to hang around even after she was made aware of my being attacked. There were small children on the site which made it much more of a concern in my opinion. My other complaint would be that the walls are paper thin. We could hear conversations word for word from next door to us, above us and below us. The location was peaceful and tranquil, perfect if you are wanting to get away from it all, but a nightmare if you do not have transport! Also, the owner told us that our rep was responsible for choosing the apartments for Guests. We were in a first floor 2 bedroomed apartment and there were very small children above us?!?!?!? An accident waiting to happen or what! Also, the shower bases were too low and the bathroom flooded everytime we used the shower which made the marble floors very slippery. We would not return to Sunrise but mainly because our rep Gemma was absolutely appalling!

Stayed here in May 2003 not long after it opened. Location is quiet and peaceful. There are a few restaurants within walking distance. There are also one or two supermarkets within reasonable walking distance. We were with First Choice and it should be noted that their estimations of distances to the nearest beach and supermarket are a little optimistic !

We stayed in a '2 bedroom maisonette'. This consists of two small bedrooms and two shower rooms. There was also a small balcony.

These maisonettes are semi-detached to another maisonette. Strangely there is a central ground floor window which provides for both maisonettes. Unfortunately the dividing wall runs across this window with a 2 inch gap between the end of the wall and the glass pane. This means that there is effectively no sound insulation between these maisonettes. It also meant that if your neighbour smokes then the smoke comes into your maisonette too !!

The accommodation was new but I could see that the build quality was not good and that the accommodation could soon deteriate if not well looked after.

The staff at the centre were friendly and unobtrusive. The facilities offered were very limited although these may improve once the accommodation is established.

The pool area is very attractive with a late night pool bar serving drinks.

A hire car is essential to make the most of a holiday here.

Prices generally were oon a par with English prices.

In all some real problems (with the maisonettes) and some attractive features.

Can't fault the accomodation at all. Very modern & clean, We stayed in one of the split level rooms. Despite being near the airport it's very quite especially at night Busy days for airport are Sun & Tues
Super pool which never appears crowded and you could always get a sunbed at any time during the day.
Car hire recommended. It is a bit isolated & local shops & taverna a 15/20 min walk through ajoining hotel grounds.
Ammes beach is close by (10 mins walk) - nice soft sand & clear water - excellent for children
Air con is subject to a local charge (E50) but essential in mid summer Electric fans are also available for hire.
Take a torch so you can see & be seen on your way back at night

Excellent for families with small children - older children will find resort a bit too quiet

we went to the sunrise first week in May the studios are not shown in the brochure anyone interested in booking these please feel free to email us. sandra.swansea@btopenworld.com