San Stefanos Online ~ North West Corfu

First up - Corfu airport.

Spent a total of 3 hours on our feet first queuing with the luggage, then for a drink in departures and just when we were about to sit down we get called for our flight. We were knackered.

Anyway the hols itself.

Arrived at Fedra Mare just past midnight on Sat 17th - Sat was very hot - 40+ and stuffy which was unlike San Stef I thought. Over the next 8 days the temperature eased. When I say eased I mean it went down to the mid to late 30's - phew!!

Overall we thought prices seemed to hold up well from last year. Certainly didn't spend anymore nor less.

For our 13 evenings we ate at Manthos (Greek dancing night) which was excellent, Beachcomer which was okay but I tend to agree with other posters i.e. it needs to do a bit more than offer a sunset, Mistral where the starters were huge - the biggest we had experienced and great value for money (watch out for the mozzies there though), Olympia which we hadn't been to for 2/3 years and was very good, Little Prince which I thought was better than last year food wise - great chicken giros, Mythica for the first time and was suitably impressed - lovely presentation, excellent meal and large portions, Zorba's with its usual excellent entertainment and food and Sunset where as good as the Sofrito was the owner seems to have given up - sad.

Bar 38 is the place to be and is rocking. Lively late on, good music and Hilary and George were excellent as per the norm. Regularly open until 4/5am. The Little Prince bar was far busier than normal as well which was good to see.

Overall we thought the resort was busier than last year though our taxi driver disagreed. Perceptions can be wrong I suppose. Booked for next year already and only have future reviews from you good people to look forward to. oh hum.



     

Forgot to mention the exchange rate - it ranged from 1.11 to 1.16 during the week - wild variations. On top of that the price varied depending where you went but I found the place next door but one to the new Bar 38 and opposite the Condor the best.

Returned from a week in San Stef 2am yesterday morning and thought you may be interested in what's new and what ain't.

First up the weather - arrived midnight Friday 21st and it was decidely cold - for a moment I thought our plane had just circled Bristol for 3 hours and landed where we started from. Blankets on the bed - brrrrrrrrrr. After that frosty start the weather improved markedly from Saturday afternoon onwards (mid to low 20's) culminating in 31 and 32 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday which was much more like it.

Changes - the old Bar 38 is shut down and the new one is taking shape. There have been delays as Spiro was taken ill 6/7 weeks ago and was in a coma in Athens until early last week (bleed on brain apparently). As I understand it he's starting to improve and Hilary is hoping to have the bar open by mid-June. The Olive Press looks shut for good with no activity at all. I didn't notice any completed new places just a few in the progress of being built. One thing I did see was the expansion of the Delfino Blu which will soon have another outside pool and an inside one as well along with a spa. It will probably cost you an arm and a leg to stay though.

Food/beer prices - we ate at Zorba's (twice), Little Prince, Beachcomber, Sunset and Waves. Prices had gone up a little on some things except for the Waves which seemed noticeably more expensive than the others including the Beachcomber e.g. Tzatsiki at Zorba's 2e's and 4 at the Waves. Beer prices seemed pretty much as normal to be honest though I did notice an increase in supermarket prices - though that may just be what I bought rather than a universal price hike.

Beach has lost 10 to 15 yards of sand due to the terrible winter but it will be back I'm told.

Going back in July for another 2-weeks - can't wait. Hope this was of help.



   

Hi Bella,

Stayed at Delfino Blu 3 years ago and can confirm the comments about luxury etc however in our experience the place wasn't worth the money we paid (£3000 for 4 people). The pool area is small and not really suitable for lively teenagers. There was a touch of sunbed grabbing early in the day with the culprits not actually using the space until late afternoons (I raised this with some other regular guests who claimed that kind of behaviour was the norm). It is however right on the beach which is where we spent most of our time and we still go back and use their beach bar every year though. The owners and staff are very friendly people and we still had a great time but the price can be a killer (this year we're paying just over £1500 for two weeks plus flights for 4 somewhere else in the resort).

Carole/Mike

We were so lucky. They played far better than us and deserved to win, no mistake. Cooper at scrum-half - makes me weep.

Thanks for the info. We'll be there 21st May so we may bump into you.

We'll be the sad people with our 2 sons with us even though its OUR holiday. Couldn't leave them at home for a week.

To Zimmer

As a San Stef regular of advancing years I agree wholeheartedly with previous posters who said amongst others when commenting on your post, never the twain shall meet, its good that we all don't like the same thing etc etc. I'm at an age where I don't give a monkey's about what people think however, as a San Stef regular I'm a little put out by your comments. I shouldn't be, but I am (tragic or what).

I've only been on these boards for 18 months or so and in that time I've seen posts on where's the best place to eat, what's the worst meal you've ever had, who does the best breakfast, posts with reference to all the bars - which is the best/worst, walks over to Arillas, using the ATM etc etc and I could go on and on, and as you drew reference to these boards as the reason for trying San Stef I'm surprised that you were disappointed.

After reading what I and others read on these boards why were you surprised by anything you saw or experienced? You would have known that you could get an English breakfast if you wanted one, you would have known about the taverna's and bars and which did what etc (bingo, karaoke, quiz night's), you would have known that San Stef is smaller than a town but bigger than a village, you would have known that most of the holidaymakers there are British, you would have known that its not the Greece/Corfu of 30 years ago and won't be again etc.

As you knew all this in advance I'm surprised you went. One question for you, why would you go somewhere which has everything you don't like? Baffles me that.