From disaster to best hol EVER!!!!! (Kavos (Corfu))

Member Name: Louise Cook

Product:	Kavos (Corfu)
Date:	16/09/07 (3401 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hotel Lefkimi smack bang in middle of strip!!

Disadvantages: Hotel Lefkimi smack bang in middle of strip!!

My friend Caroline and I are both nearly 30 and this was Caroline's first ever girly holiday.

We booked this holiday allocate on arrival specifying anywhere but not Kavos, we'd heard all the stories and just didn't want to be anywhere near there. You can imagine our disappointment when we arrived at Corfu airport to find we were in Kavos. When the coach drove down the main strip and stopped outside the hotel about half way down we were praying it wasn't ours but just our luck it was.

First person we met was Aris who was working the night reception for our arrival, he was lovely and carried our cases into reception and then up to our room. The room's are basic but were cleaned every day. As it was nearly 7am we stayed up and had breakfast which was coffee or tea, orange juice and couple of slices of toast and jam which is alright until places open on the strip to go and get a full english for 3 euros!!

When our rep Mairead (or Marmite as everyone called her!!) arrived a few hours later we asked her if they could move us but as we were AOA that basically meant we'd agreed to stay anywhere they put us but she was really helpful in telling us about the rest of the island so we could try and make the most of the holiday.

We decided to hire a car for 3 days from the rental place next door on Marmite's advice (she wouldn't let us hire a car from her as she feels Avis the company that Thomas Cook use are far too expensive) so that we could get out of Kavos and explore the rest of the island. We booked the car for the next day and went for a wander around to get our bearings, it didn't seem as bad as I first expected but then it was early morning.

We went and had a meal in the evening and decided to try and have a early night as we hadn't slept much since our arrival, went to bed about 9.30ish and dropped off no problem, woke about 12ish to loud banging music. Couldn't get back to sleep until gone 3am and the music was still just as loud then but tiredness took over!!

Got the car first thing in the morning and set off for a day out, first to drive up to Corfu town, managed to miss the turning for the main coast road and ended up driving over a mountain road!!! Very scary in places but worth it for the fabulous views!! Managed to get to Corfu town but was feeling quite brave by this point so decided to carry on up to Sidari which was lovely and at that point we were gutted we weren't staying there.

It was late by the time we got back so just had a few drinks in hotel bar and went up to bed, we were that tired we both slept straight through the noise!!!
In the morning we decided to go and find a nice beach as Kavos beach is horrible to say the least!!

Maria the receptionist (quiet cool at first but lovely once you get talking to her) told us to try Gardenos Beach which is about 10km from Kavos but very quiet and secluded (http://www.greekhotel.com/ionian/corfu/ gardenos/beach/gardenos-beach-corfu.htm), apart from the beaches I've experienced in Thailand this has to be the best beach I've ever relaxed on. There are three traditional tavernas along the top if you want to have something to eat or just grab some water or ice cream.

In the evening we decided to go to Corfu town again as we were told that the old town was best for shopping after 5pm, when the sun goes down and all the old streets are lit up it's beautiful and we got most of our souvenirs. Again we were that tired when we got back we both slept no problem!!

We decided to go back to the beach the next day as it was the last day with the car, weather was a little overcast and the sea a bit choppy but still nice to just sit back and relax. In the evening it hammered it down for about an hour, luckily we'd just got into a taverna for something to eat before it started and it stopped before we came out however there is no drainage system in Kavos and the water was 3 or 4 inches deep along the road all the way back to the hotel!!

After paddling back and changing trousers and shoes we went down to Tango Bar which is part of the hotel to have a few drinks only to find Marmite, a couple of other reps and about 20 people who were all on the rep bar crawl!! She'd felt sorry for us on the first day and was asking how we were getting on and they invited us to join them all for free for the crawl round Kavos (they normally charge about 15-20euros per person). We ended up having a WICKED night!!! Getting in about 6am!!!!

After that we were well up for partying the rest of the holiday!!! The next 2 nights when Tango bar shut we just sat on the wall outside people watching and chatting to random people walking past!!! I think at the end of both nights we had about 8-10 people sat with us who had just stopped for a chat!!!!

Most of the staff in the hotel were absolutely lovely, Yanis who works in the bar and cleans the pool every day, Patrick Tango Bar's resident DJ, Ellie who works on reception, Jenny who own's the hotel and spends all night cleaning up after everyone though hardly speaks a word of english, Kelly the PR girl outside the bar and even the girl who runs the pool bar who's name I can't remember but make fantastic tuna mayo salad baguettes!!!! The only people I didn't like are Theo and Margarita who are Jenny's son and daughter, they could be really rude and shouted at the staff whenever they came to talk to us (which they did a lot!!) to get back to work!!

We've met some really nice people who we'll definitely keep in contact with and on the last night I was nearly in tears cause I didn't want to come home!!!!! Jenny even offered to let us have a room for free for a second week but by then I'd spent up and couldn't afford to!!!

I'll definitely consider going back there again!!!

Summary: What could've been a very bad holiday turned into a fantastic holiday & I didn't want to come home