My wife and I have just spent 2 fantastic weeks at markella. Debbie and Demitri are a fabulous couple who go out of their way to make you feel at home. We were in room no.8 which was in the main block and it was more than adequate for our needs. Very clean and tidy, towels and sheets changed on a regular basis.
Demitri also organised a trip for 7 of us around the island, at an incredibly reasonable price. His local knowledge and jovial manner made the day a joy from start to finish.
The pool area is just beautiful with sun loungers nicely spaced and when it gets too hot Debbie is always on hand to supply cold drinks from the well stocked bar. They also keep the glasses in the freezer, so you are always assured that your thirst will be quenched!
Early on in our stay I unfortunately broke a tooth, but Debbie arranged for me see her dentist in Zante town and Dimitri drove me in. They really do go the extra mile for their guests.
Christina, their daughter, also helped out as soon as she returned from school and she is a lovely girl.
They are also helped out around the property by Lena, who was just a delight and never stopped smiling.
The coast is a very leisurely 10minute stroll away and we found the Keri Taverna to be about the best value, serving good local food.
If you are thinking of going to Zante, it has to be Markella.
We would unreservedly recommend the markella and certainly hope to return.

The Markella is in Keri, 20 minutes car journey from the airport, and about 15 minutes walk from the main seafront where there is several taverna’s and a couple of shops, self drive boat hire is available for around 40 euros per day, there are also organised boat trips available, although at the time of writing it was not possible to get directly to Kefalonia because of a license dispute.

There are a couple of small supermarkets close by which sell all of the essentials, bread, milk, fresh fruit, toiletries etc, there is also a bakery nearby which sells some delicious cakes, what Keri doesn’t have is any banking facilities, no ATM, so if you use a card to get your spending money be warned, the nearest ATM is in Agalas, which is not within walking distance.

The Markella itself is well run by Debbie and Demitri, the rooms are basic but were spotlessly clean upon arrival, sheets and towels are changed about every 3 days, a fridge and 2 ring hob are provided, along with a kettle and toaster, there is a TV in the rooms, but no English speaking channels. The bathroom was in need of some attention, the bathroom cabinet was only being held on the wall by two screws and moved every time that you opened the cabinet doors, and the shower curtain is a disaster waiting to happen, a dangerous trip hazard as the curtain does not fit the shower tray.

Air conditioning can be provided at a charge of 4 euros per day, safety deposit box is 2 euros per day.

The swimming pool is quite large and cleaned daily, sun umbrellas and loungers are provided free of charge, but no cushions are available for the loungers.

Breakfast is available at the hotel, and snacks are available at lunchtime, drinks are available throughout the day, for evening meals you will need to dine out.

If you want to get out and about, realistically you will need to hire a car or motorcycle, there are several places of interest to visit, speak to Demitri, his knowledge of the island is very extensive.

If your looking for a relaxing holiday away from it all then this will suit you, just a footnote though, it is not always quiet, every residence in the area seems to own either a cockerel or a dog, both of which can shatter the peace, especially early in the morning.

I enjoyed my stay at the Markella mainly due to the hospitality of Debbie and Demitri, but I would not return there, that is purely based on the fact that I have never returned to any hotel twice in 30 years of travelling, there are far too many other places in the world to visit.

We would like to broadcast our gratitude to the hoteliers of the Markella Studios - Debbie and Dimitri - for providing a clean, equipped room for one day, at short notice and at a reduced rate, when we had to leave accommodation at the Kyprianos Apartments with seven hours before being transferred to the airport.

The Markella studios have pretty, lush gardens backing on to the silence of the nature reserve. Although we were not resident for more than a few hours, we benefitted greatly from the option of sanctuary at the Markella and the fact that the hoteliers are on-hand with fluent English.

Their 'Best of Zante / Zante Transfers' have provided punctual, reliable and friendly service. As our daughter said,"Dimitri is a legend!"

We traveled to Zakynthos in August '11 with another couple of friends so : 2 rooms.We arrived there by car at about 20:00 PM.We found the rooms to be spotless with clean sheets and towels(the sheets and towels were changed ONLY ONCE in 7 days though - luckily we had brought our own).The rooms had two double beds,nightstands,mirror,closet.The air conditioning is charged 4 euro /day but i wouldn't suggest taking it because you don't need it.At nights the temperature would drop from 36 degrees C to 20-22 degrees C.We took the air conditioning for the first day and we didn't use it at all but we had to pay it anyway.In the closet you will find the safe which also costs 2 euro/day.We didn't take it as we didn't need it.
The hotel does have an interior parking but that is only used by the owner and they wouldn't allow guests to park there.There is a black limo,an old jaguar and other vans that belong to them.As a conclusion you need to park on the street in front of the hotel(if you find any parking place) or you would be sent to another parking between some olive trees 30 m down the road which belongs to Kyprianos hotel situated across the street.The parking issue caused a lot of stress to me because even when i had a small accident in the parking lot going backwards into an olive tree and breaking my rear window and denting my trunk,i wasn't allowed to park in the hotel interior parking because the owner wanted to drive some guests with the limo to a restaurant and he didn;t want to leave it on the street.As a conclusion i was sent to park exactly in the same spot i hit it several hours before,completely unsafe.SO THE HOTEL HAS NO PARKING.The parking is either on the street,either in Kyprianos Villa parking between some olive trees and just in one precise location not anywhere you want as the parking doesn't belong to Markella.
The hot water schedule is from 6 AM - 8 AM and from 6 PM - 8 PM which is also very annoying when you come back from the beach at 8 and everybody is showering and all that is left for you is cold water.We had to come back early to get prepared for the night out because we had to "catch" the hot water.
We were also asked not to throw toilet paper into the toilet because the drain would clog and just throw it to the bin which we found very disgusting.Just imagine the smell that would cause.
The toilet flushing system had a problem and it wouldn't flush when you pressed the button so we had to lift the top and flush it manually almost every time.
The pool bar is open till 11-12 PM but on one occasion the owners closed early and left to eat out.
The pool schedule is from 8 AM - 8 PM which was also very annoying.We couldn't take a relaxing swim because when we came back from visiting or seaside the pool was already closed.The pool had underwater lights but they were never lit because we were told the electricity is very expensive.Also they mentioned not to leave the air conditioning running when we're not in the room or leave any lights on because they would shut them off.
The pool is cleaned almost every morning by the owner and i think it would have been great to spend an hour or two at dusk by the pool but it wasn't possible as i mentioned above.
At the pool bar there is a free wifi internet connection.
Breakfast is the only meal that can be served at markella which is rather expensive for what it offers.As a conclusion we only took it once and after that we went to the enchanting tavernas facing the beach where the breakfast had the exact same price and was richer. Keri Restaurant: 5 euro - English breakfast: two fried eggs,two sausages,beans,french fries,bread,butter,juice and coffee or tea. Markella: 5 euro - two fried eggs,bread,butter,coffee or juice.
Mythos beer at Markella - 2,5 euro, Mythos beer at Keri Restaurant - 2,5 euro. so there was no difference.
They told us not to bring any beer/juice down at the pool bar so we had to buy it from there but that was not a problem for us because we had enough money.
Debbie was very cute,polite and helpful as was her daughter Kristina which was working all day long with her parents despite she had a summer holiday.Dimitri,the owner,gave us very good tips about things do to or not to do on the island,places to go,tavernas to try and so on.His tips were great and we appreciated it very much.
Debbie was very kind and lent us some snorkeling equipment that other tourists left there so we didn't need to buy any.
As a conclusion,Markella is very basic,reasonably priced,good position in a wonderful resort(Keri Lake) but it also has its minuses which i already mentioned above.
My advice would be for young couples (20-35 years old) not to go there because that's not a suitable atmosphere.As Dimtri told us he doesn't want young people staying at his hotel because they are noisy an would disturb the other guests.That was not our case though.
Hope you find my review useful.