Maratha Beach — Attraction in Skiathos Municipality

Just been to Maratha Beach and ended up leaving shortly afterwards. An hour of our day wasted. Found a spare umbrella and loungers at the entrance, which seemed great at the start. Unfortunately they were reserved, fair enough. All the other umbrellas and loungers were taken but we were told we could use the loungers which were tucked away at the back but without an umbrella, as long as we didn't move them. We were happy to do this and use our own umbrella. So we did all the back and forth in the heat to get everything we needed from the car, including the umbrella. We dragged the loungers out from the plants, cleaned the bird droppings from them and set up the umbrella. Quite happy at this point. But then they had the nerve to tell us that they still wanted their 20€ for this, basically the same as everyone else who didn't have to do a thing and also had the luxury loungers! I asked the person who wanted payment if we could have a bit of money off, since we had basic loungers which we had to clean up, plus having to bring and set up our own umbrella. His response was that he only worked there and there was nothing he could do on the price. I asked if he could speak to his manager to see if he could do anything for us. His manager refused to come down on price also. He asked us if we'd like to speak to the manager ourselves. So the manager came to speak to us. He told us that the hotel sets the price, so the price is still 20€ despite the circumstances. Plus, he was being very engratiating and telling us to be happy and enjoy, and for it not to ruin our day. This rubbed me up the wrong way, thinking he could charm us and we'd still pay. He asked me not to be angry but by this point I'd had enough and started taking things back to the car, in the heat. I told him we were going to another beach where we would get treated better.

Seems they're only interested in getting the most money out of people possible and not so much about keeping their customers happy. AVOID and go to the next beach Koukanaries. Cheaper loungers, plenty of them, and you'll get treated a lot better. Maratha have missed out on the 10€ to 15€ we'd have been prepared to pay, given the circumstances, plus the money we'd have given for drinks and food. We won't be going back and I'd advise others to go one of the many other beaches that will treat you properly and give you a great holiday experience, rather than these who just...

It’s a wonderful beach with fine sand and an amazing panorama. There’s a nice little bar and staff are fantastic. We’ve been coming back for 8 years.

So why only two stars? Because the rental prices for the sun beds has doubled (20 EUR per umbrella and two beds as of 2022). This is not communicated very clearly, especially to long-standing customers. I think it’s a bit short-sighted: we ended up consuming less from the bar and didn’t return, as we usually did, several times during our holiday.

Since Banana and Xenia beaches have been effectively privatised for a few years by that other hotel, and so the number of affordable beaches is dwindling, it makes you wonder if you’re not being priced out of Skiathos in...

A very narrow beach, with a small capacity, fills up quickly. The beach is almost completely covered with sunbeds, which are rented for €20 per set (umbrella and two sunbeds (at the beginning of July)). There is very little space to put a towel  and there is very little natural shade on the beach. The situation is far from the Greek regulation that 50% of the beach should be without sunbeds. There are no showers on the beach and there is no public toilet, only in the beach bar. The beach does not have a parking lot, it is necessary to park on the main road. There are two ToiToi toilets on the path...