The Hotel Galaxa is a converted captain's house with a beautiful (and "beautiful" might be an understatement) view across a small harbor to the town.

Galaxidi itself is a charming, friendly town and was one of the highlights of our trip to Greece. The hotel manager, rightly, called it "an island you can drive to." January was a perfect time to visit. It was cool, pleasant weather and almost deserted (there were only a small handful of tourists in town, and as far as we could tell we were the only native English speakers around).

The town is a great place to walk around. There is a line of restaurants along the port road. Fishing boats drop by in the evening to drop off fresh fish directly into the hands of restaurant owners. Some restaurants are better than others-- be sure to look at the menus and go to the ones that advertise fresh fish. At one, sorry but I didn't write down the name, they allowed you to pick your own fish and shellfish, and we ended up having one of the best meals of our trip-- simply prepared, moist, tender, and generally excellent.

Galaxidi is known more as a tourist destination for Athenians rather than for foreigners, although this will inevitably change as more people find out what a nice place it is. I am sorry to contribute to the sad process of spoiling an unspoiled town. We used the town as our base for exploring nearby Delphi.

Back at the Galaxa, rooms 4 and 5 have balconies and a five-star, 180 degree panorama view of the town and harbor. The other rooms also have nice views, but not quite as good, I think. There is a very nice outdoor patio and bar (the bar is closed in the winter) with fresh fruit, including oranges and tangerines, left out for you to take.

The room was large and comfortable, with good cross-ventilation. There was a small refrigerator and tea/coffee making facilities, which meant a lot to us.

As a converted house, the guest rooms are close together, and wooden stairs can mean noise at night as people return. One night was noisy, the next two were very quiet, so it depends on how quiet and polite other people want to be. There was no street noise at all.

Breakfast was very good. The food was fresh and tasty, including special New Years cookies. The breakfast room was smoky, although (thankfully) no one smoked while we were eating breakfast. The manager and staff were nice, and spoke fluent English (he also spoke French and Italian, I think). Most of the shopowners and restaurateurs also spoke at least a little English, so no problems getting by.

We loved Galaxidi and enjoyed the Galaxa.

We wanted to go to Delphi, but did not want to stay in the town. Galaxidi sounded like the perfect alternative. After reading the reviews, we reluctantly booked this hotel, realizing what it would be like. Now, I will admit that I like comfortable accommodations and don't mind paying for them, but this hotel did not provide my number one requirement - cleanliness. The owner is charming, and we got one of the balcony rooms with a view over the harbor. The room looked as though it was longing for a bucket of water and some strong soap. Some of the walls in the bathroom/shower had strange brown marks, and I started to clean, but then realized it would take days to clean it. The bed was basically on the floor, and the blanket had some spots encrusted on top. The sheets, which looked freshly ironed, turned out to be made of a rubberized material - never needing to be ironed and always looking fresh. (Let me point out that as a student in Europe, I did a lot of backpacking and staying at iffy places, but the cost for this hotel put it above the typical student range.) Having read the review about the mosquitoes, we closed the windows and used the wicks while we went out to dinner. (Good thing - there were about 10 dead mosquitoes on our return.) Going in the bathroom after dinner, I found we were not alone, and after killing two cockroaches, we decided to leave the next day. As we left we noticed a supply of clean towels had been delivered, but no sheets. How often might they be changed?

The reviewer "GetOutOfDodge" from Tucson has it exactly right -- we could have written his/her review ourselves. In sum, almost everything about the place is recommendable except the accommodation itself (although the bed was, as also noted by another reviewer, fine).

We too had one of the first-story rooms with balcony, and with bathroom as described by the Tucsonian. In our case, however, we had the added thrill of the flexible tube to the handheld shower head detaching itself from the faucet fitting in mid-shower, resulting in a truly impressive geyser (the water pressure definitely is up to snuff). Attempting to screw it back down, we realized that the threads had previously been stripped and the connector simply hammered down, but apparently not very hard. The upshot was that one of us got a shower that morning, the other didn't.

The sleeping room also was quirky, with different floor areas on different levels, maybe 4-5 inches difference. But the balcony was a pleasure to have. And the breakfasts were very good, as described by others.

Our other disappointment was that when we arrived by car at about 3 pm, there was no one on the premises to let us in. So we sat and read for an hour on the lovely breakfast terrace mentioned by the Tuscson reviewer. When 4 pm came and still no one, we decided to drive over to the monastery at Osias Lukas to see the mosaics, and by the time we returned at 7, a caretaker had finally arrived. We never did see the owner, who was said to be "away" for the entirety of our 2-night stay.

That same caretaker, who evidently comes in each morning to prepare and serve breakfast, also was unwilling to do so earlier than the standard 8 a.m. hour on the morning of our departure. Quite a contrast from our experience at the Aetoma in Nauplion the previous day (see the reviews of that establishment to learn what a small Greek hotel can be).

Having said all that, we still would stay in Galaxidi again rather than in Delphi (or Arahova). The town is quiet, charming, and has several good tavernas right on the main waterfront. And even if there's a better-qualiity small hotel in the back streets down in the center of town, I still might opt for the view from the balconies of the Galaxa.

I was disapponted with this hotel, largely a result of misleading information (TripAdvisors, Michelin, various Greek travel sites) that left me expecting more.

We wanted to stay in Galaxidi, as opposed to Delphi or Arahova, to avoid a "touristy" town. Galaxadi is a wonderful town on the water, with good restaurants and shops. No problem with Galaxidi, if you don't mind the 30-minute each way drive to Delphi on some curvy roads with nice views.

Hotel Galaxa is just the basics, folks, but with wonderful views if you request a view over the harbor (second floor). The bathroom did not have a separate shower stall, but just a hand-held spay at one end and a floor drain at the other end of the very small bathroom. So when you took a "shower," the entire bathroom floor remained wet after you were through. I wasn't expecting this. The towels were very thick and soft. There was no hairdryer. No toiletries except a bottle of liquid soap.

The room and bathroom were clean, with the exception of some bound pieces of carpeting in the room, which really should just be removed. There was some wiring that looked pretty dicey to us. It was wonderful to open the French doors at night to let in the breezes and view the town across the harbor. But we paid dearly for this when the mosquitoes swarmed in later that night (this is the only location of our 16-day trip where we encountered mosquitoes at night). Ah, that's what the mosquito wicks in the corner were for. We didn't use them, skeptical that they would work.

Breakfast was served in a lovely large patio area (again, with those great views) right across the narrow street from the hotel. It included toast, jam, butter, hard boiled eggs, orange juice, packaged soft cheeses, and coffee. The owners are nice people and were most gracious, willing to help at all times.

I wanted to say that if you want to pay less, this hotel might be OK with you. But frankly, comparing it with other places we stayed, I think it is overpriced for what you get.