"Don't be fooled by the 2 star rating... Stefanos totally exceeds expectations and suited us perfectly! This was our 3rd visit to the area, so knew exactly what to expect from the area, but our first time at Stefanos. We were greeted on arrival, by the lovely Ukranian lady, who does the cleaning and was shown our room. With the owner Tina arriving to check in on us, soon after. There is no reception and nobody based at the accommodation... but that was totally fine by us and Tina showed us where we could find her number, should there be any issues.
Our room was on the upper floor and fabulous! So much bigger, than we have had previously, in similar types of accommodation - very spacious. Huge bed, comfy mattress and pillows. Large wardrobe, which contained drawers, along with bedside drawers and dressing table. So plenty of storage. Kitchen contained the usual basic items.... 2 ring hob, kettle and basic cooking items. Yes, very basic... but who really wants to be cooking full meals when on holiday! The kitchen also contains a large fridge freezer, which was such a bonus, and we were able to fill with plenty of water, drinks, fruit and salad items for the 2 weeks. The rooms on the upper floor all have seaview balcony's, which are a great size, with a table & chairs and a handy laundry rack for drying. The balcony also had a retractable shade, which was brilliant for keeping the heat off the room during the day. Air con is available, but we managed without ok. There is a mesh screen door in addition to the glass balcony door, which was great to let air move through during the night.
Bathroom and kitchen bins, were emptied every single day without fail and bedding & towels changed every few days. The room was always cleaned to a really high standard.
The location is just incredible.... set back from the beach, so is so peaceful ... but literally only a few minutes from the beach, tavernas and a small number of bars. Lourdas beach area is super chilled, no overly busy bars - with just enough fabulous tavernas and a couple of little bars, sitting alongside traditional allotments, olive groves and fruit orchards. None of the bars stay open too late or take over with loud music... which fits in with the area perfectly.
I would advise that you do your research before coming to the area for the first time, as Lourdas Beach is at the bottom of a very steep winding hill, which is just under a mile in distance. There is a bit of a strip at the top, where you can find more lovely restaurants, bars, supermarkets and car hire places. Again, its still very relaxed and quiet. There is a taxi rank by the beach and people regularly use this to go up to the top and back. We are fit and healthy, and despite the hill being a big of a slog in the heat ... its fine and there are couple of small supermarkets along the way, if you want a break!! But for those who struggle with hills or have mobility, it would be a problem though.
Stefanos is also up a little bit of an incline from the beach and also a steep slope, when accessing from the other side.... but all very do'able. I would recommend carrying a little torch or using the torch on your phone, as it is pretty dark at night.
There are two supermarkets - one on the hill just up from Stefanos a smaller one by the beach.... both provided us with everything we needed.
We really loved our stay at Stefanos and would 100% stay again.... and probably will be back very soon.
Additional bonus of this accommodation, was the beautiful cats and kittens, what had claimed it as there! Sitting on the balcony with a coffee each morning, watching 6 stunning kittens playing and tumbling around with each other, was just so nice! Again, we did hear/see a few people huffing and puffing at them... but if you don"t like cats, what are you doing in greece!? They come part and parcel of the Greek Experience!"
