Name: Sotiris Studios and Apartments
Rating: 4.5

- onthebeach.ie

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Sotiris Studios and Apartments

As usual, a long winded review from me. 
I like to try and include everything, positive and negative. 
Not to put people off or necessarily  recommend, but give an overall view so folk can make up their own minds.
I've waited to do my review as our experience was somewhat marred by the teething troubles and I wanted to see how it's improved.
I nearly put 3 stars but that would have been unfair to Sotiris and his family, and especially the fantastic staff.

A very short transfer to the Serenity from the airport. 
We usually get a taxi but, as they charge €20 - €25 just for the two (ish) mile journey, we used the transfer provided and were glad we did. 
Small bus with around eight people on board, with just six on the way back. 

Arriving at Serenity we went to ‘reception’, which happened to be the pool bar! 
No complaints there. Friendly, efficient. Paid the room tax. Yes, the Greek government extort their visitors too.  

We were shown to our room (11) with the chap taking my wife’s case from her, a nice gesture. 
Our room was on the first floor above the shared swim up pool rooms. 
We had a lovely view of the sea. 
We started to unpack and noticed the lack of storage. 
It was a room for four, with not one drawer in sight. 
There is a double wardrobe, no doors fitted as yet, and a couple of shelves, and that’s it! 
As there were only two of us we used the two single beds to lay clothes out.
If there were four of us we just wouldn't have had enough room. 
It was clear there was a space for a dressing table/chests of drawers. 
The rep, Angie, happened to be about that day and she came to have a look. 
After some round about excuses and calls to management, with me insisting that the spaces and newly fitted plug sockets were clearly there ready for furniture, it was admitted that the rooms were unfinished. 
The furniture was apparently meant to be delivered on May 1st and they were still waiting. 
Some rooms had wardrobe doors, some didn’t. Some had full length mirrors, some didn’t etc. 
For many, these things will not be an issue, for me, if I pay for something I expect to get it. 
As I stated to Angie, we should at least be told of the situation, not just let us turn up and hope we don’t notice. 
Don’t get me wrong, the room will be really good, when the problems are sorted. 
And there were problems. 
The headboard, which is screwed to the wall, was loose and knocked against the wall if you moved. 
I wedged the bed hard against it and that sorted that. 
Talking about the beds, the main bed is a huge super king with an extremely comfortable mattress. 
Even this positive had a negative. No mattress protectors! 
This didn’t matter to us as they had only been used for a month. 
The issue will be later when they will, inevitably, become stained. 
I hope the plan is to add protectors ASAP. 
It would be a shame to ruin these mattresses prematurely. 
The bedside tables are funky but impractical, lumps of wood with no drawers.
We had two hanging ‘bedside’ lights. One worked, one didn’t. 
The walls need a second coat of paint, you can read the writing on the plasterboard! 
All of the above are trivial but add up, some amusing, some slightly irritating. 

However, our major issue was with the shower. 
Some reviews show a picture of a shower enclosure. 
Ours had no door and was never intended to have one. 
You walk through the bathroom door, and immediately on the right is the shower with a slight slope to the drain. 
The first showers we had soaked the bathroom floor and seeped underneath the glass partition to the toilet area (it needs sealing properly) and also seeped into the bedroom area. 
We had to use the bath mat and hand towels to clean up. 
I reported the issue to a member of staff on Sunday morning (we had arrived Saturday morning). 
They said they would get it sorted. 
Nothing had been done by that evening's showers. 
We had hired a quad bike for 4 days to tour the island and we were out all day Monday. 
We came back and after some time around the pool we went for showers. 
This time very little water went down the drain. 
I just watched the water rise up the slope. 
Even taking a quick shower resulted in a huge puddle in the bathroom and well into the bedroom.
I went to hunt for management. 
The first person I spoke to was management. 
They told me they had a plumber coming at 18:30 and would send them straight up. 
We waited in. 
They arrived at 20:10! No courtesy call to tell us he was running late, just left us hanging. 
The plumber was stunned at the amount of water that was in the bedroom and the bathroom.
He eventually discovered that a ‘trap’, designed to catch debris, hair etc, was stopping the water from flowing away. 
He removed the trap and the flow improved, although the design is such that the amount of water that splashes beyond the shower area still soaks the floor and seeps into the bedroom. 
We asked for extra towels and used those for the rest of our week to stem the tide.
During the time the plumber was in the room, Sotiris, the gentleman that created the Sotiris group, came to the room and chatted to the plumber. 
He was clearly annoyed at the situation and tried to come up with a solution. 
He told me they would fit a sliding door to the shower. 
I stated that now the water was draining we would make do with extra towels for the rest of our stay. 
We really didn’t want any more disruption. 
We were only there for a week and I’d spent several hours already trying to get it sorted. 
By the time we had cleaned up that night it was gone 21:00. 
Neither of us felt like going out so we went to bed, a wasted evening.
For the rest of our stay we did as described above and used towels to make a ‘dam’ when we had a shower, it worked well enough.

I had a chat one day with Sotiris’s wife and she told me how upsetting it was that the furniture hadn’t arrived in time for the opening, and she also told me they knew about the plumbing and were very annoyed about it.
She was so sincere, I said not to worry, once it is finished it will be lovely. 

So there was the proof, the rep was coming out with usual rep pork pies! 
Jet2 knew the property wasn’t finished.
I’ve read recent reviews and it looks like the teething troubles are sorted.

Those are the woes over and done with (mostly :-)), now on to the positives, of which there are many.

Not least of which, the staff.
Can’t fault them on the service they provide.
The family are also really nice, though I’m surprised they didn’t buy us a drink for the amount of hassle we had, but hey!
Next time!!

The rooms.
Excellent, once the teething problems are sorted.
We had looked at getting a swim up room with private pool. 
I’m glad we didn’t. 
First off, we wouldn't have had our lovely sea view, plus, the swim up rooms looked to be ‘isolating’, which is fine if that’s what you want, they are also so small, one stroke and you’re at the other end, more of a plunge pool.
We want to meet people and chat/integrate. 
I’m not knocking those that prefer the private swim ups, it’s just a personal preference. 
If I were to go for a swim up, it would be in the shared swim up area. 
That pool is big enough to actually swim.

The main pool area.
Excellent,  roomy (we were ‘out of season’) and never an issue getting a sunbed.
In high season? Not so sure, but I don't se any complaints from recent reviews.
We also met some really nice people around the pool. 

The pool bar.
Again, really good. 
Although there is an issue regarding spirit measures. 
The first drink I got my wife was measured, and generously, the second the server poured by eye and it was lacking. 
Best stick to measured if the free hand pouring is going to be stingy. 
At €7 for a vodka and coke it’s 'reasonable' but not cheap!

The breakfast
You have a set breakfast with plenty items to choose from and all freshly cooked to order.
I tried the Greek breakfast, the breakfast sandwich, eggs on toast, and a full breakfast. All excellent. 
You can also have yoghurt and tinned fruit in addition to your breakfast.

We didn’t eat lunch at the Serenity but you can do so at the same place as breakfast.
We did have our first evening meal at the sister hotel ‘The Horizon’, accessed via steps behind the ice cream cart, across a field, I kid you not, and down another set of steps. 
The meal was good and it was the only ‘genuine’ gyros I had all week.

The beach
Nice enough.
We only went for a walk on the beach one day never actually spending the day there.
We were out most days and the times we weren't we just chilled by the pool.
I did have a good hours snorkelling on my own on a different day, however, it’s not a good place for snorkelling if you’re into that kind of thing, plenty of rocks but not much life.
I’d been to Sharm the year before and now I’ve spoilt it for myself, that was like swimming in an aquarium. 

Surrounding area
As quiet as we expected it to be. 
There are some very interesting walks, sometimes dead ends, but interesting all the same.
Enough restaurants to choose from.
Our favourite, which is down a side lane, you could miss it, was the Fois, (What3Words: densely.passably.congress) for those interested.
Another, Milos, was pretty good, which is along the front, Porto Helis, also pretty good.
After each of our quad bike days out we would finish off at Crazy George’s bar and have a beer and a club sandwich, very nice. 
Though that one is a bit of a jaunt from Serenity, go the back way to cut the distance a bit.
So, along with others, there’s enough places to eat somewhere different every night for a week. 

Like I mentioned above, we hired a quad bike for 4 days and we loved it.
We went from one end of the island to the other throughout the week, but by far, the highlight was the drive up the mountain to the national park.
Had we not gotten ‘lost’ on our way there, we would have spent quite a while in the area and walked a fair bit.
As it was, we pretty much circled the mountain we were meant to be 'climbing, came back on ourselves and eventually found the long and winding road (sorry Paul :-)) to the top.
A 30 minute journey taking around 2.5 hours!!
The bonus of getting ‘lost’ is the amount of other stuff you may otherwise miss.
If you are adventurous I highly recommend a quad bike, we are in out 60’s, so if we can do it…
Just take it steady.
All in all, if you want a peaceful, lazy break, give it a go.
If you want loads of bars and nightlife, it's not for you.

Well, I could ramble on more but you’ve likely fallen asleep by now so I’ll end it here.
Would we go back, heck yes, the wife would go back tomorrow.

Lovely Place

Nicely refurbished room. View overlooking the pool. The breakfast was fairly one dimensional (Eggs central). No fresh fruit or pastries. The facilities pretty good. Room were clean and spacious. The location very quiet with a nice small sandy beach. A few Tavernas nearby were OK but expensive to what we have been used to.  A good bus service to other livelier towns is available early evening.

A nice Hotel for a week's stay

Great rooms so close to the airport . Very clean and spacious, private pool room was excellent. 
Breakfast cooked to order each day and great choice . Pool bar open till midnight . Sortris family are lovely and very welcoming but the main assets to their business are the 2 staff members Kosta and Yianni , they are both fantastic guys can’t do enough for you and very funny . 
The resort is very spread out and very quiet so if you want nightlife this place isn’t for you . Very close to beach and bus stop to get to Argostoli . 5 min walk uphill to a well stocked supermarket. 
Perfect chill out holiday

Relax

had a lovely time, hotel spotless clean,facilites exactly as they are described , staff really good, breakfast and lunch really nice and well presented, shout out to Yanis and Kosta, great job very nice and proffesional Champions league ,

Sotiris Studios and Apartments

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