The Skiathos Palace Hotel — Hotel in Skiathos Municipality

General Location – Skiathos Palace is set on a headland overlooking Koukounaries beach. The views from the pool area and hotel entrance are outstanding. If you do not have a car or ATV, you can get from the main road or beaches via the drive or a series of steps. These steps are very steep and care needs to be taken as they are poorly lit at night and the steepest set on the lowest part of the drive have no white markings. The alternative is the drive which has quite a gradient and seems endless. Both options will leave you short of breath. Anyone with mobility issues will find access very difficult if they are on foot.

Rooms – ours was a standard room with a garden view. The room was quite large and was cleaned to a very high standard every day. There was a good sized balcony. Beds were comfortable. The shower had plenty of pressure and was hot. There was a mini bar, safe and air con. Due to the size of the hotel, our room was quite a distance from the reception and pool area. There are no lifts so there are plenty of stairs to climb. The colour of the lighting in the corridor indicates which floor you are on – red for 4th floor, green for 5th, etc.

Food – we stayed bed and breakfast. Although the options were the same, the breakfast spread was fantastic with so many choices you could have a different type of breakfast every day. You could either eat on the terrace or inside. We could have had the evening buffet if we wanted to, but at 30e each we declined!

Pool - The pool itself is quite large but lacks a shallow end for children. There are plenty of sun beds which give amazing views over the sea or Koukounaries beach. These are snapped up quite early but you can usually get one by mid afternoon. The pool itself was never too busy. There were plenty of tables and chairs if you could not get a sun bed. Beach towels were free of charge from the shop next to the childrens’ play area. The grounds surrounding the pool were well maintained and clean. Set back from the pool and under shade is the pool bar. A large Mythos was 7e which must have put some people off as it was quite quiet in the evening.

Staff – We found everyone very friendly and helpful. Breakfast staff soon got to know you and what your preferences were. The lady who cleaned our room worked her socks off. The reception staff were always helpful. Finally, the young porters outside of reception were brilliant and were always interested in what you were doing and were keen to have a conversation with you.

Koukounaries Beach – a 15 min walk from the hotel. Sun beds are set in five long blocks consisting of four rows with spaces in between each block. Two beds and a parasol cost 15e. The sea itself is very clear. There are several decent beach bars which were a bit pricey, but that was to be expected. On the main road to the rear of the lake are several restaurants and bars. It would take at least 15 mins walk from the hotel to reach the nearest – then there is the hike back! There are also a couple of well stocked mini markets.

Transport – there are two free shuttle buses which leave from outside of reception.

The beach shuttle runs approx every 15 mins and takes you to either Maratha or Koukounaries beach. The sun beds at Maratha are 20e for two – this put us off from visiting this beach. The shuttle runs from 11:00 to 18:00 and booking is not required.

Skiathos Town shuttle runs less frequently and you have to book this via reception. It takes approximately 20mins to get to Skiathos Town. The last bus into town is 20:00.

Public Transport. The local bus is excellent and runs approximately every 15mins until after midnight. It cost 3e and has to be paid in cash.

Summary – A large hotel with stunning views and a lovely pool. The hotel grounds are well maintained and the whole complex is very clean. The staff are friendly and helpful. Food (breakfast) is very good. The downside is access to the hotel if you do not have a car or ATV – it can be very tiring in the heat and the steps do not appear to be that safe,...

First of all we really enjoyed our stay at the Skiathos palace hotel. We gave an over all star rating of 4 ⭐️ basically as there is no lift in the building.They do have plenty of staff and bell boys to help with your luggage though. But if you have a disability you might struggle. We gave the rooms 4⭐️ as the bathroom could do with an update but the room was a good size and had plenty of wardrobe space. We wanted a double bed but had to make do with 2 singles pushed together made up as 2 singles. When we tried to use it as a double they would separate. We had a lovely view from the balcony. On arriving at the hotel you enter the very large foyer with 3 staff members to greet you at the desk and one stood in the foyer along with 1 or 2 bell boys. I dont think I’ve ever see so many staff at a hotel waiting to help. You then walk along 2 large long corridors which lead to the rest of the hotel. You must go up stairs from this point. While at the foyer from here you can hire a car or quad from the rep in a side room off of the foyer or if you want to go into Skiathos town a boat tour you can ask one of the receptionist and they will give you a choice of many tours at reasonable prices. With these tours you have the bus trip to Skiathos town and back included. What I will say is we booked a trip from Skiathos harbour with Elizabet cruses and the staff really got involved and made the trip fun. The trip we booked through the hotel which was a Mama Mia trip with another boat company was very different. We saw everything but the boat trip was dull in comparison. The pool area is up 1 or 2 flights accessed from a side door off of the first corridor from the foyer or from the main stair case. The pool area also encompasses the main bar which has plenty of chairs and tables to sit and eat. The bar menu is very good and the portion size is good also e.g the French fries for €5 is about 2 or 3 portions which caught us out. Some drinks are pricey €14 for cocktails. But the beer is a good price €4 I think a large glass of the local lager Mythos which is very nice and lighter than Heineken which they also sell. The pool is vey nice in size & depth. At its deepest I might be around 2.5 meters or more. It wasn’t until I was around 2.5 meters from the shallow end wall that I could touch the bottom. This is probably why there is a life guard on duty. They are loads of sun beds stretched along the dwarf glass barrier and around the side. You might struggle to get a decent spot if you leave it to late though. Off of the pool area is the buffet restaurant where you will have breakfast and maybe a buffet meal in the evening @ €30 per head. We thought that was expensive. It would be fine if you had a really big appetite as you can eat as much as you want. The breakfast was plentiful with lots of choice. Above the bar is the White View restaurant. The food is lovely and the view spectacular, especially if you get a seat with a view. The hotel has its own beach “Maratha” which is below and across the road. If you go from the main stair case and find room 138 then got through the big door you will see a sign to the beach. There are less steps this way although there are still plenty. You can hire sun beds here. Koukounaries beach is the beach you can see from the front of the hotel. You down the steps at the front of the hotel and cross the road then down more to get there. You can hire sun beds stretched along€20 but as you walk further along the price goes up to €30. We are there at the ocean beach bar and thought the food was over priced for the quality and wouldn’t eat there again. If you want to eat close to the hotel there is the “big bad wolf” restaurant which is 9 minute walk away (15 minute if you walk the road way)(look on google maps) The hotel is on bus stop 22 and the buses go past every 10 minutes. To go into Skiathos town the fare is €3 per person each way. To come back there is a kiosk near where your dropped off at bus stop 0 where you can buy tickets to come back. You can also buy...

This is a lovely elevated hotel in Koukanaris in Skiathos. It is situated 20 mins bus ride from Skiathos town (the buses run every 15 mins) and the bus stop is right outside the hotel. Across the road from the hotel is Koukanaries beach which is a wide, clean and sandy beach and is very popular. There are sunbeds, watersports, a small supermarket and tavernas available. There is also a water taxi from the far end of the beach that will take you to Skiathos town (20 mins) which is great fun, it costs 7 euros one way and we were really fortunate to see a pod of 3 dolphins when we went on the taxi - so really worth the experience. The hotel is in a fab elevated position which over looks the beach and sea, whilst this is great for the views, there are lots of steps, so this hotel would be unsuitable for anyone with mobility issues.|Our room for 3 adults in July 25, was a reasonable size and had all of the usual facilities, decent air con, shower gel, shampoo etc, bathrobes and slippers, safe and fridge. The only thing that lacked for us was there was no iron or ironing board available for use.|The pool area is quite small with not a lot of space, although it is always kept really clean and tidy by the grounds staff. This means that the sunbeds are packed together pretty tightly and the early morning reservations are required - although overall it isn't too bad. |There are 3 restaurants, one is on the roof top which is a la carte and you need to book, another other is the main restaurant used for breakfast and evening meals (if you are half board). The views from this restaurant are lovely and there is plenty of seating outside on the terrace which is really pleasant, although in the evening it can still feel quite warm so grab a table in the shade. The food is great, breakfast is the usual choices with fresh juices, fruit, cooked breakfast, pastries and of course amazing greek yoghurt. Evening meals were great as well, everything was well presented and tasted delicious, we had no issues and really enjoyed the food. Drinks were reasonably priced. I recommend going half board as there are not a lot of restaurants in the vicinity of the hotel, although there is on decent one called the big bad wolf that everyone said was lovely. The final restaurant is the snack bar used at lunch time, which is reasonable value - ham and cheese toastie 5 euros, sandwich 9 euros and salads 11 euros etc, drinks are fairly priced. There is a supermarket near the hotel if you need snacks, take a right out of the hotel and follow the road round for about 15 mins and it will be on your right hand side.|There are lots boat trips that you can from Skiathos town, the bus ride from the hotel is 4 euros and takes 20 mins to the port, most of the boat trips leave from 9.30 or 10.00 am. We did the mama mia boat trip to Skopoles and Alsonissos and it was fab, it was a full day from 9 - 7pm but it was really enjoyable, it took you to the other islands and stopped off at a beach at the end for a swim etc. They played Abba songs through the day that everyone sung along to - it was great fun.|There are lots of lovely walks to do around the hotel, one in particular will take you into the pine forest, just take a right out of the hotel and after about 6 or 7 mins you will come to a wide dirt track that goes up, walk up that and you will be on the pine forest trail, it is a walk that is around 6 miles and is quiet with great views.|All in all we had a lovely holiday in Skiathos, it was very hot, but not too packed, and this hotel suited all of our needs. If you like a quiet hotel in a scenic location near to a beach and not too far from town then this will suit you.|The staff are kind and professional at all times and were very helpful. Word of warning in case you did not know - there is a government tax charge for staying in Greece and this is 15 euros per night per room, so you need to factor that into the cost of your checking out fee - can get pricey if you are there for 2 weeks with 2 rooms as...