Author Topic: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....  (Read 23684 times)

Offline Silverstar

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Returned home on Sunday after 3 glorious weeks in SS.....its the first time I've had 3 weeks there and unfortunately 2 weeks will now never be enough so have booked for 3 weeks again next year  ;D

Stayed with Vagelis in his Helena Villa which was fabulous yet again - cleaned and beds made daily by Anthoula who is now 8 months pregnant but just looks like she's had a big dinner - nothing slows that lady down, absolutely nothing :)

As usual we spent majority of our time at the Nafsika pool and had breakfast and lunch there most days.  Consider it as my second home and thoroughly enjoyed the company of Spiros, Stefanos, Chris, Patricia and Penny with some memorable nights had including the 80's night, Killer pool and the Quiz night we had last Friday - both were comedy gold.... 8)

I found the resort to be busier than last year and even Acabar seemed to be getting into double figures most nights and many of the shops and restaurants/businesses seemed to be happy with the summer so far.

I just went to the restaurants that I really rate this year so didn't eat at hardly any on 'the strip'.

I decided to retry both Olympia and Brusko again after disappointing meals in 2009 and 2015 respectively.    Had some lovely after dinner drinks several nights at Silver Star which was much busier than last year (lovely to see) and also made it to Bar 38 one night for some very nice cocktails and live music.

Olympia - I cannot fault the food, it was lovely this time round.  However for me personally, there is absolutely no atmosphere in there.....   In addition, I will never eat there again after being charged a €7.50 cutlery charge on my bill.   Literally couldn't get my breath at the cheek of that and met several other people who had experienced this item being added to their bill.......!

Brusko - this year I thought the food was excellent - great staff, great food and a lovely atmosphere - back on the hit list and happily so!

Nafsika - my home from home and I absolutely love their breakfasts and the grilled chicken and Greek salad is my lunchtime favourite.  In addition I tried the Greek roasted chicken and their curry this year and loved both so Nafsika continues to shine for me.

Ozzy Oil - we took friends who hadn't eaten there before and unfortunately it was a disappointing night.   The menu has changed beyond recognition and all the Oz dishes which were preceded by Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane etc have completely disappeared and there is just one token Australian dish on the menu now.   I was not bowled over by anything that I ate and to be honest, I feel like it has lost its way a little bit and the menu now is just like a Greek restaurant when the point of Ozzy Oil was to bring an Australian flavour to the resort.

Fantasea - still one of my favourites and I just love what Kostas is trying to do in terms of being innovative and coming up with fresh ideas.   Every meal was great and the location, ambience and service continue to be excellent.

Beachcomber - again, one of my favourites and Sue always seems to get it right from a perfectly cooked fillet steak to home made Tiramisu.    Had several lovely meals there and they never disappoint - also sunsets to die for!

Beer O Clock - Had a 2-3 meals here and again, always very good with lovely staff and a nice atmosphere.

Yiannis - infamous orange cake and good service  ;)

I also ate at a few places outside of SS for a change.     I can thoroughly recommend Trilogia in Kassiopi - just love going back here as never disappoints with a superb location and fabulous food.  We also returned to Anemos in Afionas one night which again had great food (and cocktails) with those amazing views and the sunset of all sunsets.

New for us this year was Bikolis in Peroulades which was an absolute hidden gem and I would definitely both recommend and go back next year.  Fabulous food in a lovely garden restaurant with very helpful and friendly staff.

Also new this year was Horizon hotel in Arillas - went a couple of times for lunch and wished we had heard about it earlier in our stay.   Uber cool hotel restaurant overlooking Arillas beach with Ibiza type music and a very laid back vibe with excellent food and cocktails.  Definite winner for me and will be revisiting next year for sure.

All in all another fabulous holiday and also flew home with Norwegian Airlines for the first time and cannot rate them highly enough.  Superb on all levels and will definitely be my first choice airline next year.

Only 49 weeks till I'm there again............ :(














Offline Dupnica

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2016, 07:56:01 PM »
 €7:50 for cutlery! I've never heard of such a thing! What do they expect you to do,eat with your fingers?
 Is this is something new that they've introduced this year? If so they are going to lose a lot of custom.
 I think I would have told them I only want to eat with the cutlery not buy it! Olympia has been crossed off my list for September, shame,used to like it there
 
 But ,appart from thatI'm glad you enjoyed your holiday.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2016, 08:00:25 PM by Dupnica »

Gavlah1973

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2016, 10:06:18 PM »
I've never liked Olympia.
I get the feeling that they would ideally love a Taverna full of couples.
Never got a good feeling towards our young one and it's always half empty

Offline chrissie d

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2016, 10:34:13 PM »
Same here ,went there in 2009 when our daughter was 5 ,never been back .

Gavlah1973

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2016, 10:42:23 PM »
Chrissie I heard two others tell me similar whilst we were out there. Just not appealing to families at all

Offline rilo57

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2016, 01:31:02 AM »
Have only ever ate there once in 25 years and that was once to many...totally no atmosphere, and not at all friendly..was like here is you food , eat up and go..

Gavlah1973

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2016, 10:25:17 AM »
Weird isn't it Rilo.....

I know some rave about it. I've honestly never seen anymore than 4/5 tables taken

The last time we went in there it was 8.30pm at the end of June . We were the only ones in till another 2 tables were taken about 9.45pm

This cutlery charge thing is madness


Offline rilo57

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2016, 12:14:44 PM »
Yes Gavlah very strange...and cutlery charge , thats a new one on me..will sure keep away in the future..

Offline Jimbo

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2016, 02:59:43 PM »
If they charge me I'll keep the cutlery!

Offline Teamnickos

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2016, 05:02:32 PM »
Strange, although it's not my favourite we find them very friendly. Didn't notice the 7.50 charge in July - but it might well have been on there - I don't look at the detail (I know I should). It was the busiest we've ever seen it this year.
Great review SilverStar, glad you had a great time.

Offline Dupnica

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2016, 07:12:36 PM »
 I'm wondering now if something got lost in translation and that the €7.50 Olympia called a cutlery charge was actually a service charge, would that make sense?

Offline Tredegar Boy

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #11 on: August 31, 2016, 08:43:01 PM »
I agree with Teamnickos. Ate there 4 times in July with no "cutlery" charge and it was very busy each time in fact the one night there were only 3/4 tables right inside not in use. Always found them very welcoming for kids as well.
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Offline WINKIE

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #12 on: August 31, 2016, 09:33:44 PM »
I ate there three times, whilst staying in the apartment above in early August,definately no cutlery charge then,I always check my bill,Im a true Scotsman  ;D.Im back in a fortnight,so will find out if its a new charge added since then.
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Offline Silverstar

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #13 on: September 01, 2016, 05:45:41 PM »
Ok - the cutlery charge is definitely for real. 

This is what happened........we went for dinner one night and at the end of the meal the bill was around €15 higher than it would normally be for what we had.........it was all in Greek, and we were tired and couldn't be bothered to argue, plus Nate was trying to wade in their fountain so we just wanted to exit before he was soaked.

However talking to one of my friends around the pool the following week and she told me that she had had some friends (a party of 15) go to Olympia for dinner the previous evening and they left in disgust......apparently the service was shocking and they were made to feel like an inconvenience all night and then the bill was significantly higher than expected and they asked for a breakdown of several €7.50 charges in Greek and were told that they were cutlery charges at which point it all got a bit heated apparently.....!

I had a lightbulb moment and said 'so that's why our bill was higher than it should have been!' and then in speaking to other people found out that a few others had experienced it too.......!

Definitely something to watch out for but I won't be visiting it again - its just not for me.

Offline Jimbo

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Re: Back after 3 weeks and here's the requisite holiday review.....
« Reply #14 on: September 01, 2016, 05:57:13 PM »
Many places charge for covers, don't they?

 

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