Atlantis Houses

The house itself is lovely and authentic, with a great view and location. There’s a 5-7 minute climb to get there, but it isn’t very steep, and I managed it without a suitcase. The small details were tolerable. The host’s way of dealing with guests, though, was unprofessional and showed little basic care or hospitality. I’d been dreaming of staying in this beautiful house, enjoying the island and recovering after a tiring journey. Instead, I spent half an hour trying to find it in the confusing narrow streets. It appears on the map, but its location isn’t obvious. I happened to run into a manager in the street, who told me the house was somewhere else. When I asked how far, he said it was far away, at the top of the mountain))) It turned out to be 700 meters, a 7-minute walk. The last picture shows the difference on a map. If we hadn’t crossed paths by chance, I could have been searching for ages. With a suitcase I might have sat down and cried, and with small children I’d probably have smashed everything! There was no way to contact the host through chat on the booking resource (agonda), because messaging was blocked. The only contact details were a phone number that couldn’t be found on any messenger, and an email that got a reply after 6 hours, without an answer to my question. The manager said they normally meet people at some post office, but nobody sent me instructions or any message about it. Admins, people travel a long way to get here. Some fly from another country, and some, like me, take two ferries. Guests just need clear, comfortable arrival instructions. There are lots of simple ways to do that: 1) Send clear directions and pictures with arrows showing where to go. 2) Put all your addresses on Google maps and send guests the right one manually. 3) List each house separately on the platforms with its correct address. 4) Stay in touch through the booking platform and a popular messenger, since lots of travelers only use the Internet while away. It’s so simple! You said there’s no such option on Agonda, but everyone else seems to have it. Maybe check carefully? If you don’t like dealing with people and do everything possible to spoil their holiday, change jobs or hire people who know how to do this! A few other things: - The shower didn’t work. There was enough water pressure generally, but not enough to switch the tap to shower mode. The mixer needs to be replaced with one that switches properly. Until that’s fixed, explain the problem to guests and give them a clothespin to hold the button. Before I found one, I washed my hair sitting down, pressed against the wall. - The front door was hard to close. - At midnight, they messaged me to say I owed a 2 euro tax, which I don’t think was mentioned when I booked. The amount isn’t the issue, but what if I had no coins or cash and was leaving early in the morning? Why not tell guests in advance? - The keychain was huge and heavy, and very inconvenient to carry. I took it off. It’s another sign that the host doesn’t think about guests or their experience. I’m saying this as a very experienced traveler who has been to half the world and hosts three of my own arbnbs. This was the worst experience I’ve ever had communicating with hosts. It’s a shame such a nice property is managed so poorly.

This stay was an absolute joke. On Aug 12, the day we were checking in, Athens fire department notified us that our property was in danger because large wildfires had reached the suburbs of Athens, and that we had to leave immediately. We told the host we were leaving, then another couple arrived shortly afterward and said the host could put them up for the night. It was reassuring to know the host could find replacement guests, but when we asked for a refund, they refused, saying the property's refund deadline had passed 15 days before our arrival. Atlantis Houses may well be a great place to stay in beautiful Chalki, but I hope our experience warns future guests about how the host handles unexpected situations.

The apartment looked great in the photos, but what we found on arrival was shockingly different. We hadn’t been told where to go or how to get the room key, so we had to call and ask about check-in ourselves. The room was extremely small, nothing like the listing. There was no TV, and its only window was right beside the bed, which was pushed against the wall. The bed itself was fine, but the room felt cramped and uncomfortable. The bathroom was unbelievably tiny, about 1.2 meters by 80 cm. I had to shower practically on top of the toilet and next to the sink, with nowhere to move. It was impossible to shower without flooding the whole bathroom. The apartment’s cleanliness was questionable too, with a lingering smell and grime you could see. I asked Booking.com for help, but they didn’t even try to resolve anything. When we tried to sort it out ourselves, the person on the phone demanded more money than we’d already paid if we wanted to change accommodation. They insisted on cash until we eventually negotiated a bank transfer. This place wasn’t cheap, and the whole experience left me feeling completely ripped off. I never want to go through that again. It was misleading, uncomfortable, and a total waste of money. Avoid it and find somewhere else.

We booked Tholos, one of the houses in the Atlantis series. The room was beautiful and the terrace had a great view, but it wasn’t as clean as I would have liked. It was nice overall, just not anything special.