Hotel Panorama in Koukounaries and Meltemi Hotel in town
Aug 3, 2018 9:22:20 GMT
kelso, dennisn, and 3 more like this
Post by katet on Aug 3, 2018 9:22:20 GMT
As I was VERY remiss and didn't do a trip report whilst there I thought I would, instead, write a quick description of the two places we stayed in case anyone is thinking of booking them.
We had decided to do a two-centre trip as we couldn't decide whether to stay in town or Koukounaries as we love them both, so booked the Panorama - an old favourite - for the first week and the Meltemi on the new port, which was refurbished last year and looked very nice. Our booking criteria was really accessibility, as we didn't want to hire a car and Paul wasn't up to walking too far.
Hotel Panorama is opposite Bus Stop 25 & has a lovely family running it. We always used to stay there until we discovered the lovely Myrtia in the forest, but the track several times a day is too much without a car. We arrived late at the hotel - 10 pm - due to a TC plane problem at Manchester & had missed dinner. Apollo and Dina (brother and sister who manage the hotel now) gave us such a lovely welcome that it made us wonder why we hadn't been back before and then Dina showed us to our room. Wow! We had Room 43, which is one of the best - huge and beautifully appointed & with a large balcony overlooking the Muses & forest beyond. It's a roof top room, so there's also a huge terrace when you come out of the lift & amazing views over the nature reserve. You can just see the sea! The furnishings and beds at the Panorama are excellent .... one of the comfiest I've ever slept in. The only negative ... the bathroom! Nicely tiled & spotless, but an over-bath shower with very poor water pressure & a blowy shower curtain - hmmmmn! I would imagine that they will be doing something to improve this in coming years, though, as the younger generation who are now running the hotel have made such big improvements. (When we first stayed in 2004 it was very traditional Greek throughout - everything dark & wooden.) The hotel was opened by two brothers, now mostly retired, who each have a son & daughter. The other brother & sister are Marius and Dina (confusing!!) and they are also lovely and work hard all summer, helping guests. They are a few years younger than Apollo and Dina - who now each have two children to carry on the family firm!!
Breakfasts are very good - served until 11 am! Buffet style, with yogurt, fruit, cereal, bacon, eggs, pastries & cakes etc etc. The coffee is also very good. We ate in the taverna a couple of lunchtimes and for one dinner. Mine was good (pasta), but Paul chose lamb chops and they were very tough. He told Apollo, who apologised profusely and said that he would change suppliers, as he thought they had become complacent! The pool is very good (and the water a great temperature!), with plenty of very comfy sunbeds. On pool days we tended to get to the pool at about 11am & didn't have any trouble getting a bed. (We have alternate pool/beach days as I love the sea & Paul prefers the pool - he hates sand!!) The hotel is spotless (& our cleaner was lovely), the family can't do enough for you and the location is great.
On the middle Sunday Dina booked a taxi for us and we were taken to the Meltemi by Anna, the very pleasant, blonde taxi-lady. (It wasn't nice having to re-pack half-way through he hol .... hadn't thought of that
)
The Meltemi Hotel is situated on the New Port, very handy for the bus terminus and taxi rank/ferries. (I got a bit obsessed with ferry-watching!) We received a lovely welcome from Ekaterina on reception, who showed us to our room - 304, I think, am rubbish at remembering room numbers! The room (and hotel) is very modern and minimalistic - which we like - and the bathroom also extremely stylish. We had a small balcony; the biggest plus was the view - looking directly down onto the trip yachts, Diamanti, Evdora etc, and the Pounta opposite. It was also great for plane & ferry watching. I would often sit out there to read and get quickly distracted by the goings-on! The plus points for the room were the view, the comfy bed, powerful & hot shower,good air-con and overall cleanliness and stylishness. The downsides were that it was small (particularly the wardrobe), could be noisy with the windows open - especially when the Dolphin coaches parked opposite with their engines running, waiting for ferry passengers!, and that there was no way to have a shower without soaking the whole bathroom as the glass screen didn't extend far enough. (Also, Dennis, no holder for the shower head!!! I did take ours, but it make the bathroom soakage even worse so had to abandon it!)
Breakfasts were not the best - good coffee, juice and pastries but the hot food wasn't and was a bit odd. We were chatting to our neighbours & they had paid room only rate and went to Fresh Cafe (next door but one) for an excellent breakfast each day. We'll do the same if we stay here again. I think I would also recommend booking one of the bigger rooms - although our room was the same size as the one we had at the Atlas last September. Obviously, there is no pool, but we 'discovered' the Tennis Club only a short walk away. We really enjoyed a couple of days there - the food is also very good. For beaches, it's only a short stroll to the old port for a water taxi or a 20 minute walk to Megali Amos beach (or a hop on the bus, of course!) One big advantage of being in town is that you can really enjoy the bars/music venues after dinner without worrying about getting the bus back. We had a couple of very good (very late) nights at the Blind Dog! We also found it easy to catch the world cup games - watched an England one whilst enjoying a delicious lamb meal at Fresh on our final afternoon, just before Anna picked us up for the airport.
So to summarise, both hotels were excellent and suited our needs perfectly & we would love to stay at either again. For me, town is better as if Paul is feeling unwell I can easily go for a wander or get something to eat while he rests. For Paul, Koukounaries slightly has the edge as he is in his comfort zone and loves being at the bar in the Agustera or Myrtia & chatting to our lovely friends there. I think we just need to book more Skiathos holidays!!
We had decided to do a two-centre trip as we couldn't decide whether to stay in town or Koukounaries as we love them both, so booked the Panorama - an old favourite - for the first week and the Meltemi on the new port, which was refurbished last year and looked very nice. Our booking criteria was really accessibility, as we didn't want to hire a car and Paul wasn't up to walking too far.
Hotel Panorama is opposite Bus Stop 25 & has a lovely family running it. We always used to stay there until we discovered the lovely Myrtia in the forest, but the track several times a day is too much without a car. We arrived late at the hotel - 10 pm - due to a TC plane problem at Manchester & had missed dinner. Apollo and Dina (brother and sister who manage the hotel now) gave us such a lovely welcome that it made us wonder why we hadn't been back before and then Dina showed us to our room. Wow! We had Room 43, which is one of the best - huge and beautifully appointed & with a large balcony overlooking the Muses & forest beyond. It's a roof top room, so there's also a huge terrace when you come out of the lift & amazing views over the nature reserve. You can just see the sea! The furnishings and beds at the Panorama are excellent .... one of the comfiest I've ever slept in. The only negative ... the bathroom! Nicely tiled & spotless, but an over-bath shower with very poor water pressure & a blowy shower curtain - hmmmmn! I would imagine that they will be doing something to improve this in coming years, though, as the younger generation who are now running the hotel have made such big improvements. (When we first stayed in 2004 it was very traditional Greek throughout - everything dark & wooden.) The hotel was opened by two brothers, now mostly retired, who each have a son & daughter. The other brother & sister are Marius and Dina (confusing!!) and they are also lovely and work hard all summer, helping guests. They are a few years younger than Apollo and Dina - who now each have two children to carry on the family firm!!
Breakfasts are very good - served until 11 am! Buffet style, with yogurt, fruit, cereal, bacon, eggs, pastries & cakes etc etc. The coffee is also very good. We ate in the taverna a couple of lunchtimes and for one dinner. Mine was good (pasta), but Paul chose lamb chops and they were very tough. He told Apollo, who apologised profusely and said that he would change suppliers, as he thought they had become complacent! The pool is very good (and the water a great temperature!), with plenty of very comfy sunbeds. On pool days we tended to get to the pool at about 11am & didn't have any trouble getting a bed. (We have alternate pool/beach days as I love the sea & Paul prefers the pool - he hates sand!!) The hotel is spotless (& our cleaner was lovely), the family can't do enough for you and the location is great.
On the middle Sunday Dina booked a taxi for us and we were taken to the Meltemi by Anna, the very pleasant, blonde taxi-lady. (It wasn't nice having to re-pack half-way through he hol .... hadn't thought of that
) The Meltemi Hotel is situated on the New Port, very handy for the bus terminus and taxi rank/ferries. (I got a bit obsessed with ferry-watching!) We received a lovely welcome from Ekaterina on reception, who showed us to our room - 304, I think, am rubbish at remembering room numbers! The room (and hotel) is very modern and minimalistic - which we like - and the bathroom also extremely stylish. We had a small balcony; the biggest plus was the view - looking directly down onto the trip yachts, Diamanti, Evdora etc, and the Pounta opposite. It was also great for plane & ferry watching. I would often sit out there to read and get quickly distracted by the goings-on! The plus points for the room were the view, the comfy bed, powerful & hot shower,good air-con and overall cleanliness and stylishness. The downsides were that it was small (particularly the wardrobe), could be noisy with the windows open - especially when the Dolphin coaches parked opposite with their engines running, waiting for ferry passengers!, and that there was no way to have a shower without soaking the whole bathroom as the glass screen didn't extend far enough. (Also, Dennis, no holder for the shower head!!! I did take ours, but it make the bathroom soakage even worse so had to abandon it!)
Breakfasts were not the best - good coffee, juice and pastries but the hot food wasn't and was a bit odd. We were chatting to our neighbours & they had paid room only rate and went to Fresh Cafe (next door but one) for an excellent breakfast each day. We'll do the same if we stay here again. I think I would also recommend booking one of the bigger rooms - although our room was the same size as the one we had at the Atlas last September. Obviously, there is no pool, but we 'discovered' the Tennis Club only a short walk away. We really enjoyed a couple of days there - the food is also very good. For beaches, it's only a short stroll to the old port for a water taxi or a 20 minute walk to Megali Amos beach (or a hop on the bus, of course!) One big advantage of being in town is that you can really enjoy the bars/music venues after dinner without worrying about getting the bus back. We had a couple of very good (very late) nights at the Blind Dog! We also found it easy to catch the world cup games - watched an England one whilst enjoying a delicious lamb meal at Fresh on our final afternoon, just before Anna picked us up for the airport.
So to summarise, both hotels were excellent and suited our needs perfectly & we would love to stay at either again. For me, town is better as if Paul is feeling unwell I can easily go for a wander or get something to eat while he rests. For Paul, Koukounaries slightly has the edge as he is in his comfort zone and loves being at the bar in the Agustera or Myrtia & chatting to our lovely friends there. I think we just need to book more Skiathos holidays!!
, or maybe feeling fragile from the evening before!) - and it was beautiful. I liked the look of the hotel and looked this year at going there, but availability for our time was non existent - I guess it gets booked up quickly.
