Margi House — Hotel in Skiathos Municipality

I've been asked to review Skiathos town, tricky task. We have been to Skiathos 24 times now, and what strikes us will be biased by previous visits. With just a couple of exceptions, we have stayed within walking distance of the town though, either from the airport side, like this year, the area behind Megali Ammos beach frequently, or occasionally in the town itself. We know many locals, tavernas, shops etc. and pretty much know where everything is. If you need something, ask, the people will usually know where it is or where to get it.||There are many places called supermarkets, do not expect great isles with floor to ceiling shelves packed with every conceivable item. There are a couple of big supermarkets, with all the usual stuff, these might be more expensive though.||The majority of the hotels, (broadest definition), are clean and friendly, most, not all, are self catering and the rooms have basic kitchen facilities. These days, hot water is usually available, it might take a while to come out of the tap, but probably has had a long and tortuous route to get there. Also, the temperature of the water will be dependent on the time of day, the weather, and the size of the hotel. Many places use panels on the roof for water heating, a bright sunny day in a small hotel with limited demand will often have no trouble at all, the larger hotels at peak times, early mornings and late afternoons, may have trouble, and the water may be tepid.||The kitchen in the room will be basic, but will usually have the appropriate number of cups/mugs, glasses, plates and cutlery, the items may not match each other. The cooker will be electric, and often consist of a small unit on a worktop with two "rings", with a single saucepan and a frying pan. There has always been a fridge. ||The main drag through town is Papadiamantis Street, he was an author and poet. It is pedestrianised, most things are here, or in the smaller streets leading from it. It runs from the ferry terminal, inland to the school. Tavernas, though, are mostly along the coast road, a few good ones are buried in the back streets, walk about and find them, it is difficult to get totally lost, the town is not big enough. Downhill will invariably bring you to the seafront. There are a few quality shops selling clothes, ceramics, etc. plus many typical tourist junk examples.||There are cash machines all over the place, we always use the ones outside banks though, better rates, there are several. The ones outside shops usually have a fee payable to the site owner, and another to the equipment supplier.||There is a small, open air, cinema, which seems to be showing Mama Mia numerous times per week. It does show other things though... It is part way along the main drag, on the right if coming from the harbour.||At the harbour end of the main drag there are shops selling ferry tickets for the larger ships. The smaller boats usually just have a table on the quay where the boat ties up, we use these.||Turning left at the harbour end of the main drag, about 200m is the bus station, (stop number 0). The main route runs along the South coast, with 26 stops ending at Koukounaries. Some of the stops are obvious and clearly labeled, other are "discrete", tell the driver where you want to get off, he'll usually shout when you get there. There is a shuttle to/from the airport but we've...

We were met by a wonderful host, who was so welcoming and very helpful. Made us feel like family guests. A great way to start our 3 night holiday on Skiathos whilst Island hopping.|Room was a lovely size with a high standard of decoration in contemporary style.|Gorgeous view, you’ll want to sit and stare for hours. |A very good sized balcony perfect for relaxing. |It’s like staying at a family house rather than a hotel and so quiet and peaceful away from the hubbub of Skiathos town. I’m sure the hotel was full but it was very peaceful.|A few good tavernas and two excellent beaches and if you’re prepared to walk around the rocks some wonderful coves with your ‘own private beach’ 😂. |Well stocked supermarket to pick up supplies on your way in and out of Margi House.|Buy a parasol €13 if you don’t want to rent sunbeds for €20 a day, or as we left ours just ask if you can borrow it 😀|Crazy Rooster Tuesday and Thursday have bonkers dance pool parties. Was told you need to book but we got in at the end of the night and it was great atmosphere if you like that entertainment. |Super bus service every 10 mins right into Skiathos for €2 each which runs until 01:30 |18 Euros taxi after we walked through town to sus it out ( so we didn’t take one direct from dock). Taxis are typically €20 so do that first with your cases right to the door but then bus the rest if the time.|When we come back to Skiathos, which like so many other people do, then we couldn’t think of a better place to stay that would improve on our wonderful holiday.||Some minor improvements would in our opinion make the House even better…||Watch out for the tiny spigot on floor to close the shutters on the balcony, I trod on it! I put a towel on it afterwards to avoid a nasty accident |A couple of plates would have been nice. With no breakfast you may want to eat your own food, from the supermarket, on the balcony as it’s not so easy on the cup saucers|The tea cups in the room are the smallest I’ve ever seen! Useless for tea drinkers. We brought our own teabags as there was only coffee and green tea in the room.|What an awesome view, but it will be lost soon if the garden/trees are not maintained.|House could probably do with a gardener as it’s starting to look a bit rustic and the lovely trees around the place are not being managed properly. The palm trees 🌴 look so sad yet they could be wonderful if the dead leaves were taken care of.|Small wash hanger on the balcony wall would be better that losing the view and making all the balconies look like mini laundries |The hill to the house was not as bad as some had suggested. I run it, so you can see the true profile on my attached strava pic.|Overall we highly recommend...

booked the Babis oct 2014 for july 2015 booked upper floor and payed for sea view.Booked with booking .com.was told we would have to pay extra if we wanted cover in case of cancellation,we declined this as we regulary visit Skiathos and were pretty sure where the hotel was although we had never viewed it ,but going by the photos they put online and the reviews we were confident it would be fine.Considering that we had booked nine months before and payed for sea view we felt secure that we would be given a decent room,we also requested to be picked up from the airport we were told this was a service the Babis provided.When we arrived at the airport around noon there was no one there to collect us so we got a taxi this we were not to concerned about until he stopped halfway up the hill and said he couldnt go any further.We then had to drag our casesin the miday sun along cobbled streets not knowing exactly where the hotel was.when we did arrive they told us booking.com said we were arriving in the evening.We still do not know if that was true.When we got to the room we could not believe it room number 10 it was on the corner of the block with a tiny side balcony which could only just fit 2 chairs with one side sea view and one facing the wall &the next doors balcony the studio was also very small and darkalso the bathroom door handle was falling off.when we told the owner we were not happy she showed us another room which was not a studio and much smaller it did not even have a proper wardrobe only half a cupboard.we were really dissapointed as we had booked so early &did expect a decent room.the rooms where much smaller than they looked online,and in our opinion only suitable for people staying 1 or 2 nights not 14 as we were.we told the owner we could not stay there as it was not as described.She said we could not have any refund.We left & found another place to stay. Over the next few days we were informed that in Skiathos it is accepted that if someone cancels they refund 70% as the owners can easily get new customers at the port especially at high season.however the babis refused to refund anything.It was only after a few emails to booking.com threatening legal action did they finally agree to give us 25% back,which we accepted but were not really happy with as we also had to pay out for other accomadation but it was starting to ruin our hols so we accepted.I know the babis has had a lot of good reviews but I think this is from people just passing through for a few days.I would just like to warn people about paying upfront if you havent seen the...