Hotel Helios Splendid

We have just arrived at the Helios, my partner had arranged by one of the reception staff for a bottle of wine and some birthday detail for arrival for myself which was all confirmed in an email, for my partner to be looking forward to me getting to the room all day… on arrival there has been nothing in the room which was quite upsetting and embarrassing for my partner. She has now went to receiption staff and been told well.. her birthday was on the 5th… to which my partner replied it doesn’t matter this is a belated birthday treat from her to myself! To be then told aw it will come at 7pm, to say we haven’t had the best of starts is an understatement over all extremely upset and disappointed an we have only been in the room for 20mins! Myself and my partner have been looking forward to our stay so much, lots of family and friends have stayed here but by what’s happened and the way at the reception staff has spoke to my partner I doubt any of our mutual friends family will be revisiting which is a real shame !

I stayed here for a week in September and on the whole it was a nice palce to visit if a little too quiet as a location. My baggage was lost so I had virtually the clothes I was wearing as I arrived in Corfu, I arrived quite late around 11pm I think, but the owner left me a note telling me how to find my room. The next day arrives and the sun is out and you can see the lovely views for the first time, it's a small hotel just us a small hill near Boukari beach, I could see the sea view from my balcony. Breakfast is pleasant with cold meats and cheese and a few of the usual foods, nice fruit juice and decent coffe too, you can pay a few euros extra if you want additional food like bacon & eggs etc. The hotel is situated very close to the beach, just a couple of mins walk and you're there, only a small village with a couple of restaurants and a small mini market to boot. As it was September there is no bus service to Boukari, it only runs in the peak months, so you either have to hire a car, or walk to the closest bus stop which is about an hours walk away. Manuela is a nice lady and good host, she helped me book a trip to Paxos which is a nice day trip, also the grand tour of the island of Corfu is well worth it as you get to see many parts of the island. The hotel has some lovely gardens with plants and flowers growing , a nice peaceful place to relax. Wi-Fi was ok not the fastest, breakfast is nice but basic, my room had a bit of a leak from the sink, so made a puddle of water everytime you used the sink. On the whole it's clean and comfortable, but a little bit too quiet for my liking, unless you have a car you're going to struggle to get around.

The building is more likely a guesthouse than a modern hotel with less than 20 rooms overall. Location is great for anyone looking for a quiet place nearby see (which today is pretty hard to find). The view from balcony is great, despite the fact that you can't see the full sunset - for that better go to the fish taverna of Spiros Karidis 100 m down on the beach. Room was pretty small, but it has all you could expect from a 3 stars hotel. Breakfast was good, it includes some local products, but if you want an omelette you have to pay extra (3 EURO for a simple one, 5,50 EURO for a special one). Garden is gorgeous and I understood from our host, Manuela, that botany is one of her passions. The soul of this place is the owner - Manuela - a very kind and helpful person. Despite the fact that she is present every day at the reception only until 2 :00 p.m. (or later if there is a later check-in as it was our case), she is available any time over the phone - check the front door of the reception. She arranged for us two wonderful excursions : one was to the small islands of Paxi and Antipaxi and the other was a grand tour of the island - I recommend them both. There are three tavernas in a range of no more than 200 metres and a mini market down the hill where one could find food (not a wide variety), a lot of drinks (including local) and (most important of all in my opinion) beach shoes which are a must due to pebble beaches nearby. I strongly recommend kumquat products (sweets, liquor) which are typical for Corfu. For seeing the rest of Corfu, one would definitely need a hired car as the hotel is quite remote from the small cities from the coast. Two things made me a little unhappy : mosquitos in the evening (not even repellents protect you 100% - you have some in the room) and the TV chart of programmes (there are like 20 in Greek, BBC World and TV France International - no programmes in German, Italian or Spanish which is quite unusually in Europe). Overall, a place looking like my grand parents' house (of course with much updated amenities), well located and very quiet.

Everything it said it would be and more, the host was incredibly helpful when I accidentally locked myself out of my room at silly o'clock in the morning! Breakfast was a lovely selection of sweet and savory local food with home made jams, host had very good local knowledge and was helpful when our transfers let us down. The scenery and vibe of the hotel were all great, Beautiful local beach and tavernas. Perfect for a relaxing getaway,