Armeno Studios

We found the room comfortable and very clean, and the owners were friendly and quick to respond whenever we needed something. Great value for money, with a wonderful host. I’d recommend staying here.

The yard was the highlight for me, a lovely place to relax after a day at the beach. The owners were kind and helpful, and we had a great stay. One thing went wrong with the room arrangements: we’d said we were three couples, but only one of the three rooms had a double bed. I blame the agency we booked through for that.

I stayed at Armeno Studios in Limenaria, Thasos island, Greece, in August 2017, and left with a very disappointing impression. I’m sharing this for other independent travellers. It’s a family-run place, but in my experience they weren’t equipped to deal with English-speaking guests. I was led to expect someone who spoke English would be there, but there wasn’t. The elderly woman on site spoke Greek and only managed a little English, and I felt she was rude and unwilling to help with my needs. My room had old furniture, and the short door between the sleeping area and toilet left a gap of about 5 centimetres at the bottom, so smells could come through. A notice said not to put toilet paper in the toilet. Instead, it had to go in a broken basket that was emptied once a day, except Sundays. The fridge was very old and loud enough that I had to unplug it at night. Wi-Fi was weak, and I couldn’t get a good connection. They wanted to keep my passport for the entire stay, leaving me without ID if I needed it. I believe that conflicts with police regulations, which require the studio to record a guest’s name and return the passport. I’d paid a deposit as requested, but when I asked for a receipt on arrival, they got angry and spoke to me rudely. I don’t know modern Greek, but I’m sure the grumpy older woman swore at me more than once. The safe didn’t work properly either. They said it was because I hadn’t understood the instructions, though there were no instructions, and the safe actually needed batteries. When I raised these issues, I was repeatedly told I was causing problems and invited to leave. I decided to go because I felt poorly treated and uncomfortable with the owners. Then the agreed room price, 50 euros a day by email, suddenly became 70 euros a day. As I was leaving, the woman and her husband ran after me and demanded half the price for the remaining days, which I felt would let them profit twice by renting the studio again. They threatened to call the police. I kept walking while they shouted after me. That was my experience at Armeno Studios in August 2017.

Best apartments ever, such a good experience. I’d travel to Anna Armeno Studios every year if I could.