Iolida Corfu Resort & Spa by Smile Hotels — Hotel in Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands

I recently stayed at the Iolida Hotel in Corfu and overall had a really positive experience. It’s a modern, comfortable hotel that makes for an easy and enjoyable holiday base.||Pros|* Rooms: Spotlessly clean, modern, and well-maintained. A comfortable space to return to after a day exploring. Bed was very large.|* Food: Plenty of choice and very nice – definitely better than expected for a buffet-style offering. There was always a selection of different meats each evening which were beautifully cooked, as well as plenty of options for those picky eaters. The gyros at the snack van on the Wednesday were a definite highlight. It was nice to have the option of the snack van or the buffet resturant for lunch. There was always food and ice cream available at the snack bar by the pool, you would never go hungry here. Me and my partner have a track record of getting ill from food on holidays but this was not an issue here - the food was constantly being watched and topped up by staff.|* Facilities: Hairdryer and air conditioning both worked really well – the hairdryer was actually powerful (rare in hotels!) and the air con kept the room cool and comfortable.|* Staff: Always friendly and helpful, adding to the relaxed atmosphere.|* Transport: The bus service is excellent, making it easy to get around the island without a car. The no.7 bus on the hotel side takes you to Corfu town and to Ipsos on the other side of the road. You can also track live bus times using the QR codes at the bus stops. Buses run until around 12am. You can buy bus tickets at the onsite shop, roughly €1.80 each way|* Showers: Powerful in the room, plus it was a bonus to have extra showers by the pool.|* Drinks: Wine and cocktails were consistently good.|* Pool area: The main pool doesn’t open until 10am, which means no need to get up at dawn to reserve a sunbed – plenty available.|* Water: There was a water refill station by the pool/snack bar, which was really handy for water bottles.|* Arrival: Having arrived at the hotel at around 12am, it was much appreciated to have food and drink provided in the room fridge.||Cons|* Entertainment: Largely aimed at French guests, which wasn’t an issue for us but something to bare in mind.|* Smell: There was an unpleasant sulphur/sewage smell outside – not the hotel’s fault, as this seems to be an issue across the island.|* Soft drinks: Far too sugary and strong-tasting, more like a squash that needs diluting. Once diluted they were okay.|* Restaurant seating: We did struggle to find a table in the restaurant for dinner on a couple of evenings, but the staff did try their best to turn round tables quickly.||Other Notes|* Tourist tax came to £45.55 for 5 nights, so worth factoring into your budget.|* Safe hire cost €10 cash for the stay, paid upon arrival. You are given a key for this.|* Towels were available for a deposit.|* You could arrange car hire and trips at reception.|* There are lots of steps around the hotel e.g. you were not able to access the pool without any steps. |* It appeared that room cleaning was a little late sometimes. This wasn’t an issue for us as we used the DND sign when we went out for the day - when we returned at around 2:30pm, the room next door was being cleaned, so something to bare in mind when planning to return to your room in the afternoon.||Overall|Iolida Hotel is a clean, modern, and welcoming place to stay, with good food, friendly staff, and excellent facilities. The overall experience was relaxing and enjoyable. I’d happily recommend it, especially for those wanting a well-run base with easy access to...

This is a nice 3 star hotel in my opinion; and I’ll tell you exactly why:

Pros -Rooms are nicer on average for Corfu -Shared areas are chic and well designed -All inclusive food is generally nice. Good variation, some days were better than others but overall a good option when you don’t want to leave -Dassia beach, a convenience shop, atm and some local restaurants are all close walk -Ipsos is short bus ride and is much chiller if you want to go out out but not lose your head (bus stop is literally at the bottom of the hill of the hotel that goes straight to town as well). Bus costs 2€ you can pay by card. -The staff were lovely, generally the most helpful people. They are great. It’s rare to get this kind of service not at a 5 star hotel. They were always bending over backwards and giving us suggestions. -AC in the rooms is easy and modern and COLD. Loved it.

Cons -There’s almost a sewage smell across the main road of the island, so it’s (probably) not the problem from the hotel but there are wafts are not nice breeze sometimes -the ‘all inclusive’ has restrictions. One of which is water. For a hot destination, really disappointing. There should be free water and ice no question anywhere you stay in the world. Other restrictions were hours of the all inclusive (ends at 11pm) certain drinks are excluded (any nicer cocktails like a aperol spritz is on your own dime). Towel rentals cost money (€5 for something cheap). Just felt very annoying when we have to triple check the fine print on things like the above. Apparently this is normal across Corfu tho so do your own research and decide what’s worth it. -The main Pool was SO disappointing. At least cause a majority of it was super deep it kept most families on the other side of it but it’s clear it’s not cleaned everyday, and if that, once. Bugs and pollen are common and it’s really old. Honestly if it wasn’t for this I would probably stay again.

FYI -Most tourists staying are French. Then British. Some Scandis but a good mix bag of Euro. Definitely not a party vibe it was nice and chill which is exactly what we’re looking for. -If you’re an activities person this place probably isn’t for you. If people don’t show up they don’t do anything and there isn’t much going on. I personally don’t mind but I know this is a factor for some -There is a second pool for what looks like Suites which isn’t really advertised so we don’t know if one day the lifeguard just said it was okay to go for us, but the second small pool looks much better. -I unfortunately wouldn’t stay here again, it’s sad cause I think with a few tweaks it’s okay. Some things I just don’t know are specific to Corfu (like smell) and others I know are specific to the hotel...

We stayed for 11 nights returning 19th Oct as a family of 3, the youngest 2.5yrs old.|I'll give an honest review.||The GOOD||Well decorated and clean hotel, nice rooms||Restaurant and reception staff and cleaning staff were polite and worked hard, some guests observed to be quite rude especially when waiting on a table. All staff made a fuss of our little girl.||Booked a triple room, plenty of room maybe lacking on clothes storage facility though for a long holiday and 3 cases||Well located no.7 bus south to Corfu town and north to Ipsos, bus to Corfu stopped at Gouvia where you could join the green bus line to several other areas||Hotels close to airport, short transfer||10 min walk to beach, water is clear but not blue it doesn't matter its nice to swim in and a few bars for food/drink||Food selection pretty good in main restaurant, snack bar not so nice, to.muxh food out at once for too long||Mix of clientele, 60% French a nice mix||The not so good or infact The BAD||Room doors heavy, slamming at night woke us up. Witnesses door casings blown on 3rd floor where doors slammed, shame as its a newly done up hotel||No travel cot 1st night despite emailing in advance and being assured we'd get one, 1st night was a nightmare with a restless toddler sharing our bed, not the best start ||Food was rarely hot, common abroad but annoying ||Not enough hand rails, the steps down to bar when carrying a child or unsteady on your feet are dangerous. This hotel is not suitable for children in pushchairs or for anyone unfit to be honest due to lifts not servicing all areas and alot of stairs just to get a drink ||60% French clientele, O Club entertainment team situated at hotel provide the French package hol company entertainment all centered around the French. Music booming out on a boom box, no other entertainment although was an area outside. To say it was end of season the hotel was busy so they should have some better options, entertainment board listed activity but didn't happen ||Large swimming pool area needs works on edging, patio also not cleaned enough to any bits floating about.||Air-conditioning didn't reduce below 24degrees meant door was open and mosquitos got in room causing bites, either sort air con or provide door screens ||Serious wasp issue, same when out and about from hotel however hotel didn't appear to use any deterrents||This hotel could be really good, given we perceived the Jet2 hol price to be favourable on a late booking we were happy with our stay however next year's price is nearly double, this hotel...