Hotel Philoxenia — Hotel in Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands

My Husband and I stayed here a few weeks ago for one week.|Before booking, I had emailed the hotel directly to ask how much a 7 night stay would be for the dates we wanted but their price was too expensive, so I booked with Booking.com. Once I had made a booking the hotel contacted me and offered a better price which included pick up (for stays over 5 days). We also agreed to pay cash and saved 170 Euros! and cancelled with Booking.com.|We were collected promptly from the port (we had been to Albania the week before) so they will collect from the airport..|As we were early our room wasn't quite ready so we had a drink and waited by the pool area.|You are given an actual room key and on the fob is the card for the electric. The only problem with that is when it is dark you have to put your phone torch on to be able to see and lock the door at night and pop the card into the slot. It would be better if the lights outside the door were solar you would be able to at least see the lock when opening the door. |Our room could do with modernising but was clean with plenty of space, bathroom and a large balcony with sea view (and amazing sunsets). |The patio doors have an insect blind that you can pull down while sitting on the balcony or being inside the room but having the doors open.|The aircon was pretty rubbish and didn't keep the room cool so we slept with the doors open as it cooled slight in the early hours of the morning.|There are not many coat hangers in the wardrobe so you have to load each coat hanger up a bit to fit all of your clothes on.|The shower head fixture was low and not an over the head shower head, so you had to wash and then hold the shower head to rinse off. The holder kept moving round by the force of the water. The water was nice and hot but the water drain away was slow and caused the water to go all over the floor and you had a puddle on the floor.|The breakfast was buffet style, there weren't enough tables inside to cater for the number of guests; Some guests had to sit on the sofa or eat at the bar as most people wanted to eat inside as there were a lot of wasps if you ate outside. There a number of tables outside.|We also ate in the hotel restaurant, the food was nice but again there were quite a few wasps - Not sure if it was because of the time of year. The hotel staff did bring over a small container that was smoky to deter the wasps but once it finished they reappeared.|The pool is a lovely area to chill out and relax.|The beach is down a hill and is lovely albeit a little stony, the water is chilly but so refreshing. There are sunbeds and parasols that are owned by another hotel so we were charged 15 Euros.|We never used the restaurant/cafe called George's on the beach so are unable to comment about that.|We did however eat at the pizza restaurant called Salado which is located around 5-10 minutes walk away from the hotel which is very popular and the food is really nice.|We also used the bus to get from Ermones into Corfu town - The bus stop is also around 7-10 minutes away from the hotel.|We didn't have a car so did feel a little isolated as you couldn't just nip out to get somewhere (I'd read the reviews so only have myself to blame for that).|All in all it was a great stay and we had...

I usually never give a bad review and strongly dislike typical negative comments based on non-controllable factors such as mosquitos, too much sun, etc.. And even though I fully acknowledge ‘why’ this place has received positive reviews - I.e. they are friendly, rooms are nice, the view is great and the food is okay -, I strongly recommend finding another accommodation for the following reason:

The price is approximately 100 euro per night, which in my perception entails that certain demands are met. During my stay I experience issues with the Keyholder which turns on the electricity in the room - it kept falling off while I was reading (I.e. the lights turned off) and during sleeping (which meant the airconditioning turned off). I would normally not complain about such issues if I stayed at a 20-40 euro accommodation, but paying 100 euros per night entails that certain demands are met to fulfill the price/value relationship (that is at least my opinion, you are free to disagree). Furthermore when my room was “cleaned” (notice the irony with quotations), the sheet was simply pulled over a sandy bed (of course from my visits to the beach, but again something I would expect would be removed at ANY accommodation) - additionally, my underwear was lying under the tightly tucked in sheet, is that okay? You decide. With such in mind, I approached the reception with an explanation of my experience and quietly noted that I was willing to pay 60 euros, since they had not delivered the value I had initially agreed to. Suddenly a big guy came out from the back office, came towards me offensively and told me that I had to pay the price or he would call the police. I felt a vibe of offensiveness, aggressiveness and a probability of being physically attacked. Even though I felt I was right, I was still a foreigner alone in another country (I am from Denmark) and therefore decided to pay what he wanted me to pay. So while they are friendly and everything seems nice, I strongly recommend you find any other place than this. The Greeks are such friendly people and all the places I have stayed have been exceptional, but you be the judge if you would want such an experience? For me it was the low-point of my holiday and a shame that it took place the day before I had to go back home. I hope you listen to this review, as it is honest and simply a way of informing others of the greediness and lack of understanding this family possesses - which is in stark contrast to the...

“It takes a lifetime to discover Greece, but it only takes an instant to fall in love with her.” - Henry Miller For us, it only took an instant to fall in love with the big family at our marvellous hotel, Philoxenia.

Since the moment we walked in the hotel, until the very last moment, everyone showered us with kindness and, of course, hospitality. No matter the time of the day, be it early in the morning or very late at night, everyone from the big Philoxenia family had a smile on their face, always willing to help with anything we asked for. This was the first time my mom and I were travelling to Greece, and we were a bit scared at the beginning about the things we wouldn’t be able to do, for we didn’t own a car, nor had plans to rent one. But the wonderful Takis was more than delighted to help us with organised trips around the island or to other islands(if your time allows it, please make us of this opportunity, for the trip around the island is in company of a local, who will be glad to tell you all about the hidden gems of the place), and we even used the hotel transfer to visit one of the closest beaches, a true jewel of the island, Glyfada Beach. Whatever you wanted to do, Takis and his family were always coming up with a solution for it. The hotel is located very close to what became my favourite beach, where it was really relaxing to just lay on while reading a book, we even did a few hikes in search of the sunset. The rooms were clean and very comfortable, and we had a really nice balcony overlooking the hill all the way to the sea. We had amazing dinners at the hotel restaurant, where we enjoyed beautiful sunsets, as well as very nice time around the pool, either during lunch (I recommend you have lunch at least one time in their garden, under the trees, overlooking the beautiful sea) or in the afternoon. And yes, the mojitos really are as good as everybody is saying, I am really sorry I didn’t steal the recipe :) I can’t but recommend this hotel (my family and friends are constantly hearing of it from me, I really hope they get to experience this as well), we had a very good time here, and we cannot wait to go back as soon...