Magna Graecia Annex

Don’t leave valuables in your room. We stayed here in May 2023 and didn’t expect luxury, especially at the fairly good all-inclusive price. It included local drinks that weren’t the best quality but were drinkable, along with good food and snacks that lacked variety. We put up with the bad smell near our accommodation and other issues until €100 disappeared from a wallet in a backpack in the dresser. The safe was broken. The room opened onto the garden, and the maid always left the garden door open after cleaning. Anyone could get in from an alley that almost reaches the street, and there’s no guard at the entrance. We’re sure it was someone from the hotel because nothing else was taken, and only two €50 notes were missing, while €175 remained in the wallet. Nobody admitted it, and they asked us to prove we had the money, which is impossible. Who can prove how much cash they have in their wallet? It’s absurd. Afterward, I read reviews on other sites and it seems we weren’t the only ones, and theft from rooms had apparently been a problem for a while. Shame on them!

After being refurbished this year, it’s now called Iolida Hotel. It’s right on the main local bus route to Corfu Town, with two buses an hour in each direction for €2.50. Our rooms were cleaned to a high standard every day, with fresh towels daily. There were a few bars and a receptionist. I’d say about 80% of the guests were French, as the animation team is French. The food choices were much better than expected from a TUI three-star hotel, though the food was never piping hot, so I used the microwave. There’s only one bar open in the evenings. When the female staff were alone or together, they’d sometimes disappear for a smoke, take personal calls, or FaceTime their boyfriends, and you could feel like an inconvenience. The pool stays locked until 10am, so there’s no need to get up early. There are some sunbeds on the paved area for earlier use. The bus stop is just outside the hotel entrance. Next door, there’s a nice wine bar with perfectly chilled glasses of wine and a large beer for €10. There’s a small shop on site, but a cheaper supermarket beside the wine bar. Past the Malibu beach club, a few beach bars have evening entertainment. During the day you can get two sunbeds and an umbrella for about €10. Turning left out of the hotel, it’s a steady 20-minute stroll to several tavernas and bars. It’s a very good hotel overall, but the slope from the entrance to reception is very steep, so it may not suit anyone who struggles with walking.

The bartenders were polite and very nice, and the room cleaners did a great job every day. The all-inclusive drinks were basic, mostly mixes of two spirits with water, soda, or juice. You could pay extra for more elaborate drinks. The hotel’s location is poor, with no private beach for guests. The beach is about a five-minute walk away and very small. Food was good for the first day or two, then became terribly repetitive, with the same dishes daily. Some things didn’t taste good and even had foreign objects in them. There was no tea or coffee with lunch or dinner, so you had to get it at the pool bar. The rooms on higher floors were well maintained, though the toilets were a bit old. On my last day I extended my stay while waiting for transport to the airport and got a room on level -1. It smelled of sewage, and I couldn’t sleep because it was below the main hall and bar, where it was noisy. I feel sorry for guests put on the lower floors. It’s unfair for some guests to get better rooms than others for the same price. I don’t recommend this hotel. It’s at most two stars, not four, and you can find somewhere better for the same money.

The animation was the highlight for us: lots of concerts, and the entertainers were great at getting some guests involved. The rooms are nice too, and the hotel bar and lounge were pleasant. Food was good, though the vegetables weren’t always fresh. Desserts and ice cream were much too sweet, and the banana and strawberry flavors looked especially artificial. The air conditioner smelled bad, and I’d have liked to know when it was last cleaned. There were lots of bits of broken glass near the rooms below the restaurant, which could be dangerous for children. They didn’t serve bottled water with meals or at the pool. Crossing the busy road to reach the beach was really difficult.