Maria Resort Parga — Hotel in Parga Municipality

If you are seeking a relaxing private time chilling and/or reading a book at your accommodation then this is not the place for you. I researched fully before selecting Marias and made my choice based on reviews that confirmed the apartments were situated on the mountainside a long steep walk from the town, a little oasis away from noise I thought. This may have been the case in previous years but unfortunately the management and running of the premises has been taken over by the two sons of the owners, prior to the 2004 season.|The pool area is situated directly adjacent to and in front of the apartment block and is basically at the same level as the ground floor apartments. The pool area has been modified to include a bar and seating area which has music playing continuously from around 9am in the morning until midnight. The apartment doors and shutters do not eliminate the noise and chatter. The pool/bar area is not restricted to the holiday makers using the apartments and it is open to the locals, children, babies and friends of the family. Passing trade is also actively encouraged with “Visitors Welcome” signage.|The apartment block as a whole, due to its location was subject to cloud cover in comparison to apartments lower down the mountainside and at sea level. The walk to the nearest supermarket is long and steep and the walk to town and beach is longer and very tough going. Sitting on your apartment balcony particularly at ground level you have no privacy whatsoever and notwithstanding the noise of music, people, glasses, dishes and coffeemaker you are on full and close display to staff and customers. You are in a goldfish bowl. There was no soundproofing within the apartment from adjoining apartments and there is road traffic noise, motorbikes and lorries audible from the adjacent highway if sitting on the balcony or at the pool area.|The cleaning staff particularly Eleni are excellent but the Management did not address any of the concerns I raised. They are unbelievably OCD and are more interested in keeping the layout of the tables, chairs and umbrellas like a show room than providing and accommodating customer service. Sunbeds could not be moved, and sunbathing areas were hosed down around your bed while you were sunbathing. Umbrellas need to be lowered on leaving your sunbed although not all sunbeds had umbrellas. You could not move sunbeds with umbrellas to catch the shade. You may spend your day watching the owners literally moving chairs a few millimetres at a time throughout the day. It was not permissible to have the entrance door of your apartment left open, to maybe get a through breeze or prevent the smoke alarm going off during cooking. You have that feeling that you are constantly being monitored and watched 100% of the time. Your Tourist Tax is collected quite intimidatingly on the first day and only cash is acceptable. Air Conditioning|and Safe is available but at additional cost.|In summary, if you are not concerned with noise and the inconvenient and distant location for walking to amenities, beaches, restaurants and bars then Marias may...

We understand Maria Apartments has undergone extensive renovations and have to say someone has taste! Everything has been put together with thought, quality and an eye for colour. Delighted to have a double bed and French windows leading out onto the balcony with lovely views over to the mountains and sea. Our lovely young housekeeper, Eleni, keeps the apartments and surrounding areas spotlessly clean. Linen and towels of a high standard. Only 2 mugs, plates, dishes, cutlery supplied and a couple of saucepans. No tea towel or washing up liquid so ensure you take them. Luckily I had decanted some washing up liquid into a small container. We also took a fly swot which came in handy for fighting off the mozzies! |We were very impressed with the quality and portions of food served from the bar. Very good value. We loved the house Maria Burger and the ribs. They come with potato wedges which were the best we have ever tasted! Salads good too. It's great if you don't want to go back into town in the evening - and again the view as you are eating is superb. The swimming pool is just below the balconies so I imagine your room could be noisy if busy.||Bit of a walk to the beach and town. We enjoyed walking down, and on hot/tired days, got a taxi back - just 5 euros. Town has character and beaches are naturally lovely - cut above many resorts. Arista is the best supermarket price-wise. The bakeries are gd and we enjoyed sesame bread and corn bread. We had a lovely day trip on the Captain Hook to Anti-paxos and Paxos. Sadly conditions weren't perfect on the day we went and they couldn't stop at the Blue Caves.||Worth walking up to Anthoussa Village from Maria's where there is a lovely supermarket, a real Costa Coffee(!) with stunning views (really friendly Greek guy who runs it), bakery, other tavernas, and Café Neon run by friendly Nikos and his English wife, Joanne. You are guaranteed a warm welcome. Great ham & cheese toasties for 3 Euros. If you enjoy walking, you can continue up to Al Pasha Castle, which is another 25 mins on from village. We walked down through the olive and lemon groves to Valtose Beach. It took us an hour but was worth it as the peace and atmosphere was surreal. You can also get a land-train up to Al Pasha Castle from the far end of the main beach. One is kept amused and entertained by Vassilis and if you ask someone at Maria's they will phone the company and ask them to stop outside Maria's and pick you up. The land-train stops at the village for 15 minutes on the way down. It's not long enough but gives you a "taste" of the area. Train costs 9 Euros/person.||We did experience unsettled weather the first week - perhaps it's not as settled during the early season as Rhodes or other islands, but we had a wonderful time and will return. We travelled with Jet2. They are an excellent company - very reasonable, professional, efficient and nothing is too much trouble. ...

We didn't get off to the best start at Villa Maria. We were greeted by a hostess who 'welcomed' us by informing us that if we wanted air-con, which we'd need because it was August, that there was an extra €50 charge, and we'd need the safe, because we were situated on the ground floor and would be vulnerable to break ins, which was an extra €15 charge. Well, there was no alternative to the air con, i.e. a fan, in the room and it was 37° so we didn't feel we had much of choice other than to pay the extra for air con but declined the safe. I felt as if she was trying to scare us in to paying extra for the safe by telling us that we would be vulnerable to break ins, which was a concern from the off. There was also a €15 pp charge for us of the shuttle bus, which was useful as the hotel is up a huuuuge hill and ran regularly between 9am and 11pm. Although it was only a 20 minute walk to parga centre if that's your preference.|Our studio was supposed to be self catering but no facilities were provided to wash up, i.e. sponge, washing up liquid and a tea towel, and the daily housekeeping didn't do the washing up either. So it was difficult, if not impossible for coffee stained mugs etc, to clean up the kitchenette and it's utensils and crockery after use. So I don't think it meets the requirements to self cater.|The room was big and clean, and the bed was comfortable. The television often lost signal but that wasn't a huge issue for me personally. The stool at the vanity table was too low to see one's self in the mirror whilst sitting on it, rendering it somewhat useless. There was plenty of storage for clothes in the wardrobe provided with hangers. |As we had been warned upon arrival that ground floor apartments were vulnerable to burglary, we opted to keep the outside shutters closed whilst we were out to maximise security and, hopefully, deter potential thieves. So I was most disgruntled to come back to them having been opened by the housekeeper(s) whilst we were out. They also altered the settings on our air-con whilst we were out. If I have paid extra for a service, I expect it to be left as I have chosen to have it.|The pool area is well maintained and cleaned nearly every day (we stayed for 7 days and I think there was only one day where I didn't see the man cleaning the pool).|The overwhelming positive of this hotel is Dimitris. He was so friendly and well informed. He even took us on an extra trip further into the mountains to see the views and took us to a restaurant free of charge. He ran the shuttle service diligently and even made a special trip out to pick us up after our boat trip from Paxos returned late and we were cutting it fine to make it to a dinner reservation. His customer service is second to none. He...