"Missed the mark on 5 star for us!
We stayed at Eagles Villas for 5 days and took the all-inclusive package. We had booked a junior suite with a pool and were nicely surprised to be upgraded to a villa with a pool, overlooking the sea (frankly I thought my junior suite was also sea view).
However, it was stunning, very private and the views are priceless.The materials in the villa and design are very nice. However, noticeably, there is was drain smell daily and we reported it twice and decided that basically, that they could not fix it and that’s how it is. We noticed that house keeping sprayed a noxious deodoriser to cover the smell. Of note, there is also in the Lofos resturant/ bar, a very strong perfumed area, which is over powering and makes us question why there has to be that perfume?
So as stated the goods are:
1. The villa was fabulous
2. The views fantastic
3. A great design at the beach, dividing zones into quiet, family and active, which appeared to work very well.
4. Great choice of water activities.
5. I am sorry, I meant to have written down 2 staff names in Lofos who were excellent. A male and a female- very engaging, sense of humour and great service.
Why this is not 5 star for us:
1. We only came for 5 days and independently booked this but on hindsight, the hotel(sister to the villas, which we did not know from our booking) is used by alot of package tour providers, and encourages families. So there was a lot of under 5 year olds with families, (which we have not problem with), apart from when trying to have a meal or drink in the evening, there is not cut off time for families, so that other guests/couples can enjoy peace and tranquility. Instead, you have children running around or screaming/crying.
2. The food and wine were definitely not 5 star. The marketing on the website shows a stunning plate of food, which was then our expectation but flavours and presentation were not great.
3. Kamares - “adult only” tasting menu. We were encouraged that there was such a thing but we were raced through the meal and then told the menu does not change daily, so we then had choices of buffet(not our thing), Vinum - a meat grill or Lofos -Italian. We ate 3 times at Lofos as it had a better spread of choices for me who prefers vegetarian food.
4. Wine selection on the package were limited. We tried to drink local Greek wine but often the bottles were not in stock and of note, red wines were chilled. So we had to leave the red wine a long time to warm before drinking. We felt it a shame that we reverted to Argentinian wines in Greece, due to limited selection. We did look at the “selected” wine menu, which were could pay extra for but the prices were very high for again, not the greatest selection.
5. Service- for a 5 star achievement, usually service is tip top but little things like, no towels near the bedroom shower. The towels are positioned up by sinks and you forget and have to call out to other person to grab a towel. The private swimming pool in the villa, you cannot enter from the sunbed area and have to walk through the Villa to go in the other side(odd design), housekeeping comes for turndown every day at about 5:30p, when we are getting ready for dinner. Three times, I asked” please come after 7p” but they still tried at 5:30p. The gym never had drinking water and I kept having to go and ask for it. In lounge areas, the comfortable chairs have no cushions and yet have huge seats, where your back cannot reach the posterior, so end up being very uncomfortable and noted, not many people in the bars hanging out.
6. Nothing you can do about this but be aware the 2 hour transfer from airport is on a very windy road- take travel sickness medicine if you suffer. Transport is shared and potentially, you could be sitting backwards for 2 hours!
I know this all seems ridiculous and picky but when you spend a lot of money on a holiday and other reviews say it’s 5 stars (and we have stayed at other 5 stars), that level of extra detail is noticeably missing.
For us, the villa and views are breath taking and undeniably 5 star but if you want gastronomic delights with a selection of fantastic wines to go with this experience, it misses the mark and is most definitely 4 star!
Just our view but hope it helps! Of note, lots of people come here year after year. For us, a one off unless convinced the food and wine has improved."
