On landing, Eleanor kindly met us at the airport as the car we had hired would have struggled with the luggage for a family of 5. Fortunately, due to bookings, we had an upgrade on the car which could cope with all of our baggage, but it was still comforting to see a friendly face in a country we had not visited before.
On arrival at the villa, our first impressions were - Wow.
As good as the pictures are, they really do not do full justice to the villa. Downstairs is one very large open plan air conditioned living area. Even when we had 2 relatives over to stay one night (we were there for a wedding) it was spacious enough to not feel the slightest bit over crowded. Upstairs, the bedrooms are all nice sizes. Furnishings throughout are to a very high standard and the equipment / facilities are exactly as described.
Outside - Apart from the pool (which was clean and safe), the nicest touch for me was the outside dining area under the veranda. On the nights we stayed in, it was really nice eating out there with the bar-b going and a glass of wine (or two). The outside area is not overlooked at all and was nicely designed so that you could find shade (or sun) at any time of day.
Eleanor and her husband really looked after us during our stay. Eleanor came round every three days or so to take care of laundry and cleaning and Eleanor's husband came round early most days to clean the pool. Most of the time, he came around so early, we didnt even know he had been. When we did have any problems (like locking ourselves out one day), they quickly took care of the problem.
Hiring a car is pretty much essential if you want to stay here. Sarlata is a very quiet village with few amenities. With a car however, Argostolli is only 10-15 mins away where the larger supermarkets will provide most of what you need.
Downsides are minor, but the only two i can think of are
1) Whilst you can see the sea from the upstairs balcony, you wouldn't describe it as breath-taking, although watching the sun rise over the mountains was nice. To put this into perspective though, we had several friends who were staying in beach side properties paying similar prices to us, but when you considered everything, there was no way we would have swapped with them.
2) Air conditioning in the bedrooms would have been good on the hotter nights. Towards the end of our holiday, the temperature day and night got very hot (24c at night) and whilst the upstairs landing air conditioning unit took the edge off, it was still warm.
All in all, we had a fantastic holiday and whilst the place that you stay does not make the perfect holiday, it can certainly ruin it. For us, Villa Elena made the perfect base to do whatever we wanted to do, and for the first time in my life, we have decided to go back to the same country / same villa. Within a week of getting back, we have already re-booked for next year.
Highly Recommended.
Tutte le prenotazioni avvengono direttamente con il proprietario 