Ekati Mare Lifestyle Resort

"We have just returned from a 7day holiday staying at Ekati Mare. Our overall experience was positive with the staff, service and quality of food & drinks at the top. You get great value for money on those areas - our room was a garden view room - clean & functional. If you are wanting to be more central to Corfu this location is 1hr drive to Corfu town and approx 2hrs to the north so be mindful of that if you wish to travel like we did. Getting a car is worth the money and relatively competitive near the hotel. Overall would recommend but for us next time we would stay more central to appreciate the many stunning views and beaches on the west coast."

"We booked Ayla by Ekati Mare knowing it was separate from the main hotel and across the road. However, the photos online predominantly show the beautiful, bright main hotel and its facilities rather than giving a clear picture of Ayla itself. We assumed Ayla would be of a similar standard and have its own facilities, such as a pool, but it doesn't. Our Ayla room was very spacious and clean, but dark and dated. The "balcony" was more like a tiny open terrace with other guests walking directly past it to access their rooms, so there was virtually no privacy. The beds were also extremely uncomfortable – I'm only 35 and was waking up with sore hips every morning. We complained to the manager, Dawn, who was genuinely lovely and very understanding and said she would try to move us to the main hotel. Then our toilet broke. We were travelling with our 8-year-old daughter, so this was obviously a problem. We were given access to another room to use the toilet, which required going outside and using a different stairwell. We were also handed a bucket in case we needed the toilet during the night. I can laugh about it now, but being handed a bucket to poo in was definitely not on my 4-star Corfu holiday bingo card! Thankfully, Dawn moved us to the main hotel the following day. We had to vacate our room before the new one was ready and there was nobody available to help with our luggage, so we moved everything ourselves across to the main hotel with our daughter. The new room was beautiful, bright and immaculate, with exactly the kind of balcony we'd expected from the photos. However, despite being told we were getting one of their best rooms, it was incredibly small for three people. Our daughter's sofa bed was directly beside ours and once open there was very little room to move. There were some genuine positives. The staff throughout were extremely friendly and welcoming, and the breakfast and dinner options were really nice. Dawn deserves particular credit for how she handled everything and she also arranged two complimentary massages, which was a lovely gesture. There are also a lot of wasps, which I appreciate is a Corfu-wide problem rather than the hotel's fault. However, we've visited other places on the island that use deterrents such as burning coffee around eating areas, whereas we didn't see anything similar being done here. Overall, 3 stars feels fair. The staff, food and main hotel are lovely, but Ayla needs to be represented much more clearly online. Guests should be able to see the actual accommodation they're booking and clearly understand which facilities are at Ayla versus the main hotel. Had we seen Ayla properly before booking, we would have chosen the main hotel instead."

"We recently stayed here as a family for a week (TUI package holiday) when we first arrived our room had a number of issues so we asked to be moved. Thankfully, the staff were very accommodating and we were moved swiftly the following morning to much more acceptable room. The food was not to our liking, very basic and bland so we bought breakfast items from the nearby Lidl and ate out in the evenings. There was also a wasp problem, almost impossible to eat in the outdoor portion of the restaurant and the indoor was also affected. Appreciate it’s summer and very hot but feel measures could be implemented to at least reduce the problem so guests could eat their meals. The pool area was pleasant, as was the nearby private beach owned by the hotel. Sadly, the immediate area is very run down and in my opinion not at all suitable for families with younger children. We hired a car from across the road so we could drive out and find activities. Corfu old town was lovely, with plenty of shops and lovely restaurants. Due to the issues we had on arrival, we were given a complimentary late check-out which we were very grateful for due to the extreme heat. The TUI rep at the hotel was also very helpful in dealing with our concerns, ensuring the issues were resolved promptly. Lovely guy and very professional. In summary, I wouldn’t recommend the hotel for a family holiday, largely due to the location. Corfu old town is much nicer and only a short distance from the airport."