Sunny Garden

The villa is green and lush, with beautiful plants that are watered regularly. The pool is clean and lit in the evenings for night swimming, and there’s also a shower by the pool. Its depth ranges from 1.0-1.6m, with wide steps that are good for kids. The rooms and pool were clean, the beds were very comfortable with enough pillows, fresh towels were plentiful, linens were changed regularly, and floors were swept. We stayed for about a week, arriving around 10 AM and leaving around the same time. There was always hot water, the Internet connection was decent, and AC was included in the price. Getting to the port takes about 2 minutes on foot, and the beach is maybe 5 minutes away. The route goes through some odd shortcuts that aren’t pleasant and show another face of Greek tourism, with dead plants, broken furniture, and crowded parking lots in the bushes. The villa’s location is good for resting, but smokers and non-smokers aren’t separated. Loud neighbors may sit on the same terrace, divided only by a barrier, talking and smoking late into the night. There are no other windows in the room, so the terrace door is your only source of oxygen. You end up breathing in the cigarette smoke, and so does your kid. One thing that could be convenient or frustrating is the one-touch lock. If you lock your key inside, you need to call your guide. It could be awkward with small kids or when four people rent an apartment and get just one key. The kitchen is shared by everyone on each floor. It’s nice that cooking smells stay there, and at least it was clean, but don’t expect it to have all the utensils. There was no kitchen knife, wine opener, peeler, kitchen cloth, or cooking oil, so you have to bring those if you plan to cook. The listing should include pictures of the actual room being rented. The bathroom is tiny, and the toilet is wedged into a corner between two walls, which can be a challenge for adults. The shower is very small and doesn’t leak, but with Greek standards, don’t run it and the lavatrice at the same time or you’ll get a flood. The wastewater installation is “one by one.” Overall, the accommodation was quite good. The real question is why Greece, and if not, where to?

The place has changed a lot since our first visit in early July 2019. We came back in June 2021 and found freshly painted walls inside and out, new doors and mosquito nets, and new sun umbrellas at the pool. The apartments are clean, the garden is beautiful, and the pool is great. There’s a grill by the pool and private parking too. The owner is friendly, and the apartments sleep up to 4 people, with one large bed in the main room and two twin beds in the other. Sunny Garden works well for families or groups of friends. It’s in a quiet area, even though the taverns are only a 2 minute walk away by the shortcut. There was construction nearby this year, but it wasn’t noisy at all. The owner has two taverns, where we got a 10% discount. You can use Sunny Garden as a base for seeing the island’s beaches by car or rented scooters, as we did, and evenings in Nidri are lively. At the same time, the rooms are quiet and the pool is lovely, so it’s easy to relax. We’ve spent two holidays here and liked it so much that we know we’ll choose Sunny Garden whenever we vacation in Nidri.

Vera, the housekeeper, is a lovely person, very polite and sweet. The rooms are comfortable, clean, and hygienic. The Wi-Fi is terrible and doesn’t work at all, so if you need internet for work or anything else, find another option. You can only get a Greek SIM card in bigger towns like Lefkas or Preveza.

It’s a low-cost place with a great garden and a nice, clean pool. The apartments are okay, though some have no windows in one of the rooms. It’s in a quiet spot, but the walk back from the beach is along small trails with no lighting after dark.