Rastoni Hotel — Hotel in Dion - Olympos Municipality

I went to Platamonas via Thessaloniki with Thomas Cook airlines at the end of September. This is a new destination for package holiday tourists and they are calling it the Olympus Riviera. I wanted something a bit different as a little adventure by myself. ||It took about 90 minutes to travel from Thessaloniki airport to the small coastal town of Platamonas. Based on previous reviews, i was actually pleasantly surprised the journey was not longer. ||I was met at the entrance to the hotel by Nikos, the owner who identified me with my name. - something you don’t get at a bigger hotel, and he helped me in with my bags. There was a small lobby area with a small lift to the upper floors. The hotel only has 9 guest rooms. ||I only paid for a single room so i was pleased to find it was actually a double room in gentle, warm, neutral colours with Nikos’ own artwork. My room wasn’t directly on the sea front but my small balcony did have a side sea view. It would be nice to sit out here on better days watching the waves crashing about on the rugged cove. ||The facilities including the bathroom are basic but modern. Everything in working order. I think a few little luxuries like slippers and toiletries would be all that it needs to make it a boutique hotel. There was only one British channel - BBC news available on the TV, so you are really getting away from it all. ||The hotel only provides meals for breakfast. I learnt this was normally served in the courtyard, but as the weather was cooler at the end of season, it was served in the patisserie attached to the hotel. There was a varied selection available, ranging from homemade rice pudding, pastries, eggs, cooked meats, yoghurt and fruit - what you’d expect in a bigger hotel. Fresh Coffee and other drinks are included. The only minor disappointment was that the orange juice was “squash” rather than freshly squeezed. ||Nikos runs the hotel with his wife, Barbara and Barbara’s mum, Maria who does all the cleaning by herself. You feel that they really care about your stay rather than the staff in a big, all inclusive hotel where the staff are just punching the clock to do their time. ||Although the hotel stay only includes breakfast, as mentioned Nikos and Barbara also run a patisserie and Everest sandwich shop on the premises, which was very handy. It has to be pointed out that being the end of the holiday season, these shops were not open all the time. This was the same as the rest of the resort, where about half of the businesses were already closed for the season. I was a little disappointed with the lack of outside eateries but the resort was very quiet at this time, so you would need to allow for this. I ate at the Italian restaurant near Hotel Rastoni a few times , a nearby Mexican which is 1 of the few places offering vegetarian options, and lots of ice cream shops! ||Platamonas is a small, seaside town that is mostly visited by the Greeks themselves and tourists from nearby Eastern European countries. English speaking visitors are still very new to the area, and I was slightly wrong footed by the lack of information I could understand in shop menus. I expect this will improve over time, when they realise typical, English customers are not good with other languages! ||It is not a luxury resort. There are no five star hotels nearby but it felt more authentic and I was happy to be spending my money with local, family businesses rather than multinational conglomerates. There is a medieval castle at the top of a hill in town which affords beautiful, panoramic views of the resort. This is a popular place to visit with various paths to get there. I followed an old, disused railway track and it took about 45 minutes. I also visited Thessaloniki, the biggest city in the area by local train.Staff at the nearby railway station also ordered a taxi for me travelling back to my hotel in the evening. I also went on a couple of excursions organised by Thomas Cook, to Meteora and Mount Olympus. I would have preferred to use a local, Greek travel agent but encountered language obstacles on that front. ||I found the Greek people very friendly and hospitable, always doing their best to help when I needed a translation, directions or buying an item like an iPhone adapter. ||There are a lot of very large dogs in the resort. They wander about freely and flop about near shops and restaurants. I am a dog lover so this did not bother me - in fact I photographed many of them. They seemed gentle and chilled out and do not pester you but are probably waiting patiently for a treat. Apparently they turn their noses up at pizza and prefer meat and fish! They act like strays but they are actually not and go home to their owners at night. In this part of the world, dogs are not kept on collars and leads. This is something you might want to bear in mind if you don’t like the company of canines!||I enjoyed most of my time in Platamónas but I think it would be better during the busier Summer months. The weather was a bit overcast at the start of October and I was unfortunately bitten many times by mosquitoes after a storm. ||This is still an up and coming resort for English speakers, so that is something to bear in mind. I’m sure this is something which will change soon. ||The Hotel Rastoni is a very comfortable hotel ; the lack of a 5 star rating is purely because there are no pool or beach facilities at the hotel. Despite this, the hotel is not far off being a small and friendly luxury...

We stayed two nights on our tour around Northern Greece. Have been to several of the islands and to Athens but never to N.Greece (Macedonia). This was our first stop and it was our best hotel stop. This is a little village that time has forgotten complete with what seemed like a place where everyone knew everyone. We were just happy to be observers of it all. If you want to see Mount Olympus and the coastline on the Eastern part of Macedonia then you will do well to stop here. ||||Nikos /Barbara run a cute boutique hotel and cafe/ice cream palor and I think the restaurant across the road. We loved the pizza from the restaurant as it was some of our favorite street food on our trip. The owners are down to earth and just seemed like very genuine and hospital people. ||||The room we had overlooked the sea and was big enough for three of us (two adults and one teenager). The bathroom was small but was very nice. The bed was firm, but surprisingly provided a good nights rest. ||||--Wifi was good and strong||--Parking was around the hotel and not difficult to find||--Breakfast was a highlight and had plenty of choices with hot, cold and pastries.||||The hotel was value for money and am happy we decided to stay here and would do it again. It is about an 1.2 hour drive from the Thessaloniki Airport. ||||All in all, good stay for a quite/peaceful stay along the...

This hotel is a little gem; a oasis of perfection in an un-spoilt Greek Village. We came at the last week of the summer season and many of the shops and bars were closing down. The hotel was our saviour, a perfect location in the village square above an Everest take-away and opposite a modern bar serving simple pizzas, pastas and superb wine ( Nostos ) We stayed in 2 rooms, being offered the chance to move to a sea view room part way through our stay. Both room were spacious and superbly modern, each with unique art work made by the owner, Nikos. He also has a shop below the hotel adjacent to the courtyard - again very modern and with an arty feel. Nikos and Barbara are superb hosts and Barbara's mother serves up a stunnnig breakfast buffet and cleans the hotel immaculately. We cannot praise the hotel highly enough, its...