"My mum and I were spending 10 days here with my 4 year old daughter to celebrate my 30th birthday. We had a private transfer from the airport which took approximately 30 minutes.
On arrival we were blown away by the standard of the lobby and the extremely welcoming and friendly staff. We were brought cold face cloths and fresh lemonade which showed us the high standard of service and attention to detail in which we would experience for the duration of our stay. We wanted to book in immediately for the à la carte restaurants as we read other reviews where people had experienced issues making reservations. I asked at reception if we could make reservations for any nights available as long as they were at 6:30pm as any later would be too late for my daughter. The same afternoon there was paper posted under our door with all of our reservations booked in spread out over the course of our stay. Every restaurant we ate at was an amazing experience, the staff, the food, the drinks and service, the fuss they all made of my daughter, she went from being a beige food picky eater to trying sushi and feta over night (the main restaurant is Mediterranean and although it caters for everything you can possibly want in the realm of fresh salad, meat, fish, Greek cuisine, it didn’t do chicken nuggets/burgers/pizza, but there was pasta and chips every night for the fussy kids!) The man that worked primarily on the door and in the restaurant became my daughters hero, they ended up making a handshake and she would look for him across the restaurant if we’d missed him on the way in, he would often stop in his tracks to give her a high five or head pat and went out of his way most evenings to warm her milk before we headed to our room. The beach was a short walk down the hill but the buggy drivers were always up and down and would happily give you a lift and always full of smiles. I often whatsapp messaged reception (definitely download the Grecotel app for contact information and making reservations) to ask for the buggy to collect us from the beach as most afternoons my daughter would fall asleep on a lounger after a fun filled day in kids club. Martyna and Pemi were absolute diamonds (there was another lady but we can’t remember her name). My daughter would be itching as soon as she finished breakfast to go and play with her ‘teachers’. The restaurant staff gave me a takeaway box to pack her some pastries and fruit from the breakfast buffet to take for a snack at kids club as once she was in, I could only get her back out when the closed for lunch! They had a full day to day (did not open on Sundays) schedule of activities on the app ranging from sand castles, face painting and science experiments ending with the mini disco up at the amphitheater at 6pm. The kids club was a well shaded and gated hut located by the beach and would be held inside the hotel on rainy days. This was perfect for me and mum as we would perch on sun loungers that are located on the grass by the hut and flow down onto the sand. The beach was very small with only a narrow strip of sand, we had read that beach shoes were needed as it was shingle but we found it was more sand than anything so didn’t bother using them. The beach perfect as it was small and safe for children and the tide didn’t really move. The beach bar also had excellent drinks and service and served lunch from 12:30 -2pm where it was a selection of fresh salads, gyros, wraps/toasties/burgers, pasta and chips and a constant replenishment of freshly made pizzas. There was also a crepe and gelato hut located at the beach with, again, outstanding service and staff and delicious sweet treats. The beach bar in which you have food in during the day is the Asia Oliva restaurant by night and again the experience was so good we tried getting into this one again before we left as you may get more than 1 visit to the à la carte if you stay longer than a week (everything was fully booked as the end of our holiday was the influx of half term arrivals already pre booking). The Tavernaki restaurant was also located on the beach front and was the most picturesque. This offered the traditional Greek cuisine, again, fantastic service and food. The lovely server with the long red hair (we didn’t get her name) was fantastic, would always stop for a chat when she saw us. The reception staff were exceptional and lost their minds over every outfit, truly made you feel like a celebrity. There were 2 bars up at the hotel, one opened in the evening to serve for the entertainment that was out on the patio. Most nights (except Sundays) there was live music but on the Tuesday of our stay premiered an acrobatics group which absolutely blew our minds so much that I believe they became a permanent part in the hotel’s entertainment schedule. The Nikos’s, the Mai Thai cocktail kings! Our drinks server, Nikos, introduced us to a Mai Thai on our first day and always had one lined up for us going forward and the bartending Nikos was so helpful and attentive. The Il Gattopardo Bar & Restaurant was located by the indoor bar which was my mums favourite for food. It just so happened that the Danilia Village reservation landed on my 30th birthday and it was the most dreamy location I have ever been to! 2 hours at this location wasn’t enough so we recommend you eat and drink as fast as you can and go and explore this setting for some of the best sunset photos you will ever get. I was gifted a surprise birthday cake and bottle of fizz which made my birthday so special. We made friends with a large family from Essex who absolutely erupted breakfast dining with a rendition of happy birthday, it was honestly the best birthday ever. We’ve just mentioned a few highlights of our stay but could go on for much longer, every concierge, waiter, cleaner, the man that manned the front gate with his dog- gave my daughter treats to feed him, every single member of staff went out of their way to maximise our experience here, even the general manager often stopped and spoke to us. When we left, the three of us shed a lot of tears, even my 4 year old was upset saying she wanted to live in Greece. So now we are left with the dilemma of do we explore as much of Greece as we can or do we return to this exact location for part 2??"
