Olympic Holidays at 02:10 pm, 18 October 2011
We have just returned from a fortnight at KIH. Positives were that the amenities such as large room with a double bed (amazing for a Greek island) plus a good single bed/settee for those who might need it. Just as surprising there were both a shower and a bath! The kitchen was also very well equipped, with two sinks. The room had a nice private balcony too The room was very quiet day and night, very well decorated and clean when we arrived. The pool was a good size, clean ans a safe depth, an excellent liesure use temperature and plenty of cautionary signs. Best of all was that there were signs asking parents to control their kids' during the afternoon siesta. Brilliant for us as a quiet couple. Having said that, we were given a room opening onto the children's play area. We avoid school holidays so this was not a problem for us but at other times this might have been pretty noisy, I guess!
The negatives were that the room was not cleaned often enough, so that we had to empty bins ourselves three times. However, the more serious problems were the horrendous infestation of wasps in the hotel area which meant that we were unable to use our balcony at all during daylight hours. As soon as we went out they landed on us and our food. There were wasps all over Messonghi at a lower level. When we complained we were told that it is the natural side product of the greenness of the island of Corfu, because the ripe fruit attracts them during summer months. OK, but we saw one German and one Russion man each stung on the face on the beach; if that had happened to children, well ... I wouldn't take a child there.
WARNING: The road to Messonghi from KIH is, as described, a fifteen minute walk away.and we enjoy a morning and evening walk but, oh dear, the road is narrow, twisting and quite busy. We saw many cars and bikes have to break hard and/or swerve to avoid each other or a pedestrian. Personally, I wouldn't want to drive along it and I definitely wouldn't use one of the rented scooters. Lots of people with no experience did so and, guess what, we saw a couple of young girls being loaded onto an ambulance because they'd fallen (or been knocked) off. To be fair, the Olympic rep warned us not to use the scooters or quads.
The road has stretches which are completely unlit at night and when we tried the walk one night it was pretty frighteningnd we didn't do it twice! Taxis are, of course, available by phone from the Messonghi-Merraitki bridge rank, but, of course, that's a cost and a bit of a drag. We were taken home by taxi one day and we weren't too thrilled being in a huge Mercedes being slalomed along that road. Maybe we are too cautious.
This meant that we were, in the evenings,, basically stuck at KIH. The bar area was stuffy and quite smelly, I'm afraid. I didn't see the air-con switched on and we wouldn't use the bar, although we used the outside pool-table sometimes.
Thank goodness for the Dionysos restaurant, which is absolutely wonderful. Lovely atmosphere, quite small, family run and with a small menu of superb food at very reasonable prices. We went almost every night. We tried the Fisherman's Haunt which is by the sea, five minutes' walk away but the service was not so good.
The beach is very pebbly shale and uncomfortable to walk on. Getting in and out of the sea was quite a painful experience and many people, including me, bought wading shoes to cross the rock and pebble strip on the shore. Once in the sea, it was absolutly brilliant. Clean, shallow a long way out and plenty of room to swim, very calm and warm. Lovely. There are decent bars and resaurants along the beach and cheap beds (2 euro per day). Once in Messonghi, we had a brilliant time.
The only boat trip we booked with Olympic was cancelled. We walked up to the 75 Steps, which was a fair old walk, but had amazing views.
For September, the weather was amazing, there being a heatwave. Maybe that explains the wasps, too.
For £300 per person per fortnight, the value was fantastic but I really don't think we'd go back. Maybe very early season, perhaps, to avoid the wasps!
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