Alkyon Beach Hotel

I had an early checkout on my last holiday day, and although I wasn’t staying at the hotel anymore, the staff let me use the pool. The sunbeds and umbrella were free as long as you ordered food or drinks at the bar. Prices were very fair, and the staff were so attentive.

We found some good places to eat nearby, including a restaurant about 300 meters away with excellent souvlaki. Shops, a bus stop, and rentals for cars, scooters, and ATVs are close, and the hotel is right by a beautiful beach. The receptionists were all kind and helpful. The room was basic but adequate if you’re not looking for luxury. Still, the bathroom smelled of sewage, and water leaked out of the tiny shower whenever we used it. It was hard to shower without nearly knocking the whole cabin over. The included food and drinks were the biggest letdown. Breakfast had a limited choice but tasted good. Lunch and dinner were almost always the same, mostly chicken thighs and pork stew. No chicken breast, and the fish was not tasty. There was a decent range of salads. Dessert was usually one option, plus fruit, alternating between watermelon and oranges. At the bar, the man serving us didn’t seem friendly or keen to help. When we asked for drinks, he acted like we were bothering him. The wine, which was probably watered down, and the quite good beer were available to pour yourself. We don’t plan to return.

The one real positive is Maria at reception. She was kind and helpful. The hotel’s location might work for people who don’t mind being in the middle of nowhere, but otherwise there isn’t much to recommend. Our rooms were partly renovated, yet still very old and in poor shape. The shower and drain leaked, the toilet looked smashed, and the bathroom smelled strongly of septic waste and wasn’t properly cleaned. The closet was empty, old, and nasty, with no shelves. The TV had only 3-4 channels. Ants were all over the room when we arrived. Air conditioning in one room didn’t work for 4 of our 11 days, and in two rooms it regularly switched off during the day and night. The hotel was dirty overall. The owner was rude and wouldn’t discuss our concerns, just turned away and left. He regularly switched off the dining room air conditioning to “save energy,” so people sweated through lunch and dinner. The reception area’s air conditioning was also off for the same reason, and the lobby was filthy. Stray animals and a dog wandered through the hotel. Towels weren’t changed regularly because they supposedly didn’t have enough. One night there was a “schnitzel,” but a woman stood by to make sure everyone took only one piece. The pool looked oily, had damaged corners that could hurt you, and people who weren’t hotel guests came to swim. There was just one public bathroom by reception, often in a nasty state, which people from the pool and beach had to use. They charged an environmental tax on arrival, demanded cash, and gave no receipt. They also use plastic cups everywhere, creating a lot of pollution that ends up in the nearby nature and sea. Food was dull and repetitive, which seemed to send people to the restaurant next door, owned by the hotel owner. He also owns the shop beside the hotel, where you can buy bottled water because the hotel doesn’t provide any. It feels like the whole business is set up to take money from guests wherever possible. I think the Greek ministry of tourism should look into this disaster. It’s a shame for greeks and Corfu. Avoid this hotel at all costs.

The location is pleasant, right by the beach, and the staff were very nice. The place was clean, too. But our terrace window screens were torn, so we couldn’t leave the windows open at night. The meals were average, and dinner service was cleared an hour early, which would be a problem if you got back late from an outing. The pools were nice, though the water seemed poorly filtered, if it was filtered at all. Drinks from the vending machine at the main bar were only available with a meal, which seemed ridiculous when all I wanted was something to drink after a trip. And even though the package was all-inclusive, you had to pay at the pool bar and at the restaurant in front of the hotel, which belongs to the hotel. That felt contemptible.