Ideales Resort

The welcome was so warm, with a selection of fruit and snacks waiting for us. We stayed at villa Kochilaki, a stylish place for two with a large pool and a BBQ area beside it. It’s very quiet, and the villa feels wonderfully private. We enjoyed every minute!

Trapezaki, where the resort is, has a lovely beach, good restaurants, a mini market, and somewhere to get morning coffee and cheese pie. We were glad to have privacy, and the house had everything a family might need, including a washing machine. We cooked there, and the cleaning ladies were very kind. Kochylakia was spotless, the sea view was impeccable, and the pool felt extremely clean and refreshing to swim in. I think that was because it was new. With a baby and a young child, we unexpectedly got more rest on this vacation than on any other, thanks to the resort. It’s a perfect place for a family holiday.

We spent two weeks at Xteni Villa, and the large pool had crystal clear water and stunning views of the gorgeous Ionian Sea. We ate outside on the terrace overlooking the sea and mountains, and used the BBQ twice. The air conditioning worked perfectly, which we really needed in hot August. The rooms were sufficient for the four of us, though the villa is smaller than the others in the complex. It’s central to restaurants and three nearby beaches. We hired a car through the Villa company and recommend doing the same to explore Kefalonia properly. Our holiday got off to a bad start because the cot and high chair we’d requested months earlier weren’t there when we arrived. We couldn’t get a response from the emergency numbers or the Villa company by email, despite it being a genuine emergency. It was Sunday, so I understand staff may not work then, but why give us contact numbers if nobody answers or replies? The electrics were also out in the heat, though luckily I fixed that using the fuse boxes. Our little one slept in our room, and I spent the first night in the twin room. The next day I finally reached a woman I’d called several times the day before. She apologised, but the staff who brought the cot, our villa cleaner and her partner, seemed to expect to leave it upstairs even though the bedrooms were downstairs. My wife, there with our two year old while I was out shopping, had to ask them to carry it down, and they weren’t happy about it. They didn’t apologise or say anything either. We would have appreciated a proper welcome. We’ve stayed in many villas and someone has always greeted us. The welcome and the mistake are things they need to work on, especially given what we spent. The kitchen utensils were basic and limited. The welcome pack was nice, but fresh bread and definitely fresh milk would have been a better touch. The Wi-Fi was almost nonexistent. Still, we had a great, peaceful holiday and the rest and relaxation we were looking for. We’d thoroughly recommend Ideales Resort Villas and would return one day.

We won’t stay at this Villa again, sadly. It was just OK and felt a bit tired. The downstairs shower/toilet has an obvious leak somewhere that creates a really nasty smell throughout the place. The downstairs bedroom was fine, but the upstairs mattresses weren’t suitable for adults. There weren’t enough kitchen utensils, cutlery or pans, and cleaning was sporadic, mostly just changing bedding and towels. The outdoor dining chairs didn’t match, and you couldn’t fit four under the table at once. The pool situation was our biggest concern. We were told not to use suncream if we wanted to swim. The pool attendant put a hose in the pool on Friday, left it running, and didn’t come back until Sunday evening to shut it off. The filter hardly ran during that time. We wrote to the supervisor asking what was going on, but never got the courtesy of a reply. The BBQ area itself was good, and cleaning it was a fair request, but there was nothing to clean it with, so we had to buy a dustpan and brush. One small thing, a toaster was advertised, but it was actually a sandwich maker. The oven does have a grill, but that’s a very expensive way to make toast.