This is a lovely place offering restful relaxation in the coastal village setting of Karavados located in the southern tip of the island, with gorgeous views of fabled Mt. Aenos towering over the region. It is a comfortable hotel with pretty garden grounds, nice pool, lovely views, restaurant terrace and bar. Although it is called a 'beach hotel' the sea-shore & local beach of St. Thomas's bay is actually a 12-minute walk down a steep escarpment, so not ideal for the elderly or those with mobility problems. If you don't fancy the trek, the pool-side is perfectly comfortable with lots of loungers on offer and that spectacular view of the bay to gaze at. We had a buffet-style breakfast each day and there were plenty of healthy options with the greek yoghurt and honey deserving a special mention: it was to die for & we couldnt help but indulge in 2 or 3 bowlfuls every morning! We also had plentiful drinks at the bar & dinner from the restaurant menu which was of very good quality, although the waitress was rushed off her feet & forgot one of the items we ordered! Service at the hotel was very friendly but I definitely think they needed more staff, it was the same lady at reception & young teenage girl who tripled-up as bar-maid, waitress, cook and general all-round helper.

I would say the hotel merits its 3* rating but no more as the rooms are a little bit rough around the edges, comfortable enough but certainly not plush. Our room was one of the first located down a corridor to the left of the entrance, close to the entry doors/stairs and unfortunately we experienced some external noise as well as noise coming from floors above & below. The hotel had a resident (menacing = effective) guard-dog who parked himself at the entrance in the evenings and because our room was close by we could hear barking at odd intervals; no biggie but combined with the scraping of furniture against greek floor tiles it did get a little loud at times. Try and get a room on a higher floor if you can.

My main reservation about the hotel is that it is located in quite a remote area; it is surrounded by Greek countryside with olive groves and cypress trees but I would stress that it is isolated with only a local supermarket further up the dusty track (please don't buy the shop's cheap cork-screw, we did & it snapped off our bottle of prized locally-produced Robolla!) and two tiny tavernas in St. Thomas's catering for tourist needs. You DEFINITELY need to hire a car to get around, even the local tourist area of Trepazaki is a good 15 mins drive away. The good news is that once you get a set of wheels, Karavados is an excellent base for exploring the island, with the capital Argostoli, Sami, Poros, Lassi, Myrtos and even Fiskardo all accessible for day trips. Apart from a small region in the east, we managed to see most of the island during our stay, and enjoyed returning to the relative peace of the hotel at the end of a long day sight-seeing. Bearing the hotel's location in mind, it was still great value for money & the region a sight for sore eyes!