Samos House

We stayed for two nights, and finding the house was a real ordeal. The church out front is where navigation led us, but nobody we asked, even people shown photos of the house, knew where it was. Someone nearby didn't know either. After searching around the church, we spotted a small house in a dead-end alley just behind it, with a vague sign. Cars can't drive down that street, and the lanes are incredibly narrow. We had to go back down the hill to our parked car, get our suitcases, then climb back up in the heat with our two small children. We were going a bit crazy, knocking on house doors and asking who owned them. Thankfully, the woman across the street was the owner, and she welcomed us warmly. The house had everything a family might need. It was clean and the sheets were ironed, but it felt old and gloomy. There was no veranda or balcony to step out for fresh air, so we put a chair in front of the door. There was a fan upstairs. The house is right next to a church, and its bells were very disruptive. Since we weren't used to them, the children woke up in a panic at dawn on the first day. We'd decided to go to Samos the day before and didn't know the area, so we booked without researching because we didn't want to be left with nowhere to stay. Once we arrived, we saw much nicer options, but it was too late. I'd suggest staying farther down, closer to the beach, or in Vathy, a generally quiet town with no life, like Pythagoras or Kokkari.