Philoxenia Suites

We booked a hotel by the beach through the website, but were taken without explanation to an apartment by the pool, much farther away. Our room had no windows, felt like a catacomb, the air conditioner didn’t work, and the bathroom was barely bigger than a shower stall. It also wasn’t cleaned. Getting to the sea meant a 15-minute walk along unpaved streets. We stayed two days, then the owner said we had to move to another apartment, even though we had a small child and had just unpacked. When we refused, he shut off the electricity and spoke at us in Greek. After two hours of being hassled, we left and asked for our money back. He said he had nothing to do with the booking and couldn’t take money from Booking. I wouldn’t recommend this at all. Stay away from these apartments, they’re fraudsters.

The pool is the main draw, especially for families with kids, and there’s also parking, a barbecue area, and a filling breakfast. The rooms look nice and have a little kitchen. But the bathrooms are small and smell bad, with no shower screen, so water gets everywhere. The sheets had rust stains and other things we couldn’t identify. The price felt high for what we got.

We arranged everything by email and got a good price for what we thought was a lovely family suite. The photos showed a different hotel from the one we arrived at. There was no pool and no family suite, just a basic studio that cost twice as much as other places on the market. When we asked about the hotel in the pictures, someone on the phone said it wasn’t even ready yet. This was just a cheap, low cost apartment house. We left and found much better conditions at another hotel for the same price. Definitely not recommended.

We were very happy with our stay and would recommend it. The hosts were polite and helpful, and the rooms were cleaned every day. Breakfast tasted good, though I wish there had been more variety. The pool in the yard was clean and especially handy with kids. Nea Vrasna has better beaches, but they’re only about a five-minute drive away.