Very Clean, Excellent Staff, Great Location, Excellent Bar
Disadvantages:
None To Complain About Really
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The Lefkimi Hotel, Kavos, Corfu, I stayed here about three years ago with a mate of mine, and then the following summer I went again with my now wife, so have seen Kavos, and indeed the Lefkimi Hotel, named after a nearby village, from two different perspectives.
CORFU **********
Corfu is often described as the most beautiful of the Greek islands, and has just one airport located in Corfu Town, the capital, which is pretty much in the middle of the island. The main towns, or resorts are: SIDARI Quite a large built up and busy resort on the North West coast. RODA Just a bit further along the North coast and a bit more family orientated. PALEOCASTRITSA Very quiet and pretty village on an inlet on the West coast. IPSOS More or less opposite Paleo, on the East coast just above Corfu Town. A very flat town on the coast bit like Blackpool. BENITSES Starting to come down the South end of the island, a very pretty and relaxed resort not too far from Kavos. KAVOS At the very Southern tip of the island. A very lively town with a 'strip' of bars, clubs and resturaunts. This is where the Lefkimi Hotel is that I will now review.
ON ARRIVAL ****************
On arriving at the Lefkimi hotel the first time, we were very pleased to see that the hotel is right slap bang in the middle of the strip, where all the bars and resturaunts are located. We entered the main entrance to a large lobby area tiled in marble tiles with a check in desk at the far end and then beyond that are the corridors to the rooms and stairs to upstairs rooms, there are no lifts but onlt two floors. Also next to the desk is the entrance to the attached Tango Bar but more about that later.
One of the first things I noticed about the lobby was how clean it was, and I have to say this ran all through the hotel from the rooms to the bar to the pool area the owner Theo is a little obsessed I think about cleaning. We were greeted by a very pleasant young Greek woman who soon had us checked in and set up with our free safety deposit box and room keys.
THE ROOM **************
The rooms at the Lefkimi Hotel are, like most other hotels, not just in Kavos, but all over Corfu, and the Greek islands in general were very basic but as I said earlier extremely clean. We were at the back of the hotel (worth asking for if possible as you cannot hear the noise from the strip at night, should you want an early night for some reason) opposite the pool but our balcony was at the back with a view of the hotel behind us!! But this did not worry us too much as we didn't intend spending much time on the balcony. There were two single beds, ample wardrobe and drawer space and a fridge. The bathroom was again basic but very clean with a walk in shower and sink and toilet. The room was not massive but big enough for what you need it for.
Cleaning of the room was carried out daily and as with any cleaning that goes on in the hotel is to a very high standard, the only exception to this rule was that the bed sheets and towels are only changed weekly, so if you only stay a week you use the same ones all holiday and two weeks you get one change. With no aircon in the rooms this is not the best of ideas, as you tend to spend all night sweating bear out in the heat.
THE POOL / BEACH ************************
The pool is an average sized rectangular one at the back of the Tango Bar. There is a pool bar serving drinks and snacks and music is played through speakers all around the pool area so it is not a place to relax in the peace and quiet!! Also they charge for the sunbeds, which we thought was a bit out of order when you are staying there, so we didn't sit by the pool very often, I think it was 2 euros per sun bed when we were last there so has probably gone up a little since then. Again though the pool area is kept very clean and there is a pool table also.
If you would rather sit on the beach this runs parralel with the strip and can be accessed through a neighbouring hotel which has a beachfront, and this is a 3 minute walk roughly. The beach is ok just a straight run of sand and sea with sun beds all over for hire and plenty of bars and resturaunts to use. The sea is very clean and blue and there are lots of watersports going on like jet skis, bannana boat, ringos, paragliding etc.
BREAKFAST ***************
Breakfast is normally included at the Lefkimi Hotel, in fact I thing the only board they do is bed and breakfast, but this is designed so that you only eat it the once I'm afraid. Toast that tastes like cardboard and weak tea but for a couple of quid there are loads of resturaunts that will knock you up a full english, or even a full Greek if you prefer!!
THE TANGO BAR *********************
We had some right laughs in here both times I have been. If you are staying at the hotel or go in the bar every night and get to know the staff they will look after you very well. You will get loads of free jelly shots and Theo, the owner likes to pour neat spirits down your neck straight from the bottle as you lean backwards over the bar!!! Theo also like to walk round the bar delivering orders to the other staff and cleaning anything that looks even remotley dirty, or even if it looks clean to be honest., as I said before I think he has got OCD - Obsessive Cleaning Disorder!
There is a DJ on every night in the Tango Bar and he puts the music back on later at night after the police have been unlike some of the other bars. They are supposed to stop playing music in the bars after 2.30 am and then you are supposed to go to a club or sit in the bars with no msic, but some bars have lookouts to watch for the police and after they have been past the music goes back on, Tango Bar is one of these, so we used to start and finish the night here.
As with so many of the other bars on the strip The Tango Bar does drinks promotions every night and their's is buy one get one free on cocktails, you have to order half of what you want as Theo does not understand that if you order 2 cocktails you want to pay for one and get one free, if you order 2 cocktails you will get 4 and probably about 4 or 6 jelly shots too, all for about 5 euros.
THE STRIP *************
As I said earlier The Hotel Lefkimi is slap bang in the middle of the strip and could not be a better starting poit of an evening. As you come out of the door you could turn left or right and have plenty of choice. There is probably a lot more to choose from if you do a left, but we found that the better bars, as a rule were to the right. Our favourites wre probably 42nd Street and Rolling Stone. There are also some very good resturants and one of the best is the Mexican over the road from the Lefkimi and 2 or 3 buildings down to the left.
THE STAFF **************
All of the staff were very nice and extremely helpful, especially the owner Theo who remembered me when we returned the following year and looked after us brilliantly and in some respects made the holiday really good, and he is definately one of the main reasons I returned to this hotel. They are all very polite and speak very good english but did appreciate it when you try to use a little Greek that you have learned.
DAY TRIPS **************
There are loads of day trips available from your rep in the hotel or at the various travel shops on the strip. These include a water park, various boat trips, organised Greek nights and beach bbqs, etc etc. If you decide to go on a trip price it up at a few different places as the prices can be quite different, also don't be afraid to do a little haggling, this is the same when hiring a car, if you um and ar a bit and say he's cheaper down the road they will knock money off.
THE GREEK PEOPLE **************************
The Greeks are one of the nicest races on the planet in my opinion. They are kind, friendly, helpful and will do anything for you, and not just to get you to spend your money either, they are very genuine. Their lifestyle is like ours SHOULD be and is very relaxed and laid back, they never rush anything and this adds to relaxing you on your holiday very much. Even if Kavos does not sound like your cup of tea then it is well worth visiting another Greek island or Greece itself for this reason alone.
SUMMARY *************
All in all the Lefkimi Hotel is a must visit if you fancy Kavos as a resort. I would reccomend The Lefkimi Hotel and Kavos as a resort to: young singles, young couples and young groups of lads or girls, when I say young I suppose it depends on the person but I think about 16 to 35. I would not really reccomend it to family's and elderly. There is a lot going on and it is a very noisy resort. There are two go carting places just on the outskirts which are really good also.
There are loads of car hire places and I would reccomend hiring a car for a couple of days and getting out of Kavos, as good as it is, it is not the real Corfu and I can understand what people mean when they say it has been spoilt by Brits. Car hire is very reasonable, we payed 160 euros three years ago for an open top jeep for three days. In this time the possibilities for exploring are endless as the island is very small. We went to Sidari for the day one day, this is at the oppositte end of the island and Kavos to Sidari is probably the furthest you could drive and we did it in a couple of hours and that is on bad roads. Benitses is only about a twenty minute drive away and is the exact opposite to Kavos, very quiet and relaxed and a nice change from the hussle and bustle for the day.
I stayed here in September 2004 for a fortnight and in June 2005 for a week. I paid £320 bed and breakfast including flights and transfers the first time and £220 the second. The flight to Corfu is about 31/2 hours and the transfer time to Kavos is about an hour. Food and drinks are not as cheap as they used to be before the euro came in but are still well below the prices at home. Corfu itself offers excellent value for money as far as I am concerned and there are many resorts to suit all types. If Kavos sounds like your cup of tea then I would deffinately recomend The Lefkimi Hotel to anyone and everyone and will I be returning? Yes next summer with my wife see you there???
More details
Quality of Food & Drink
Good
Cleanliness
Excellent
Family Friendly
Average
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