The apartment we stayed in was very clean, basically furnished but adequate although the beds were very hard and gave us a few bad nights sleep which we soon caught up on during the day on the beach. We did have a couple of bad experiences one of which was waking up to being flooded out caused by a blocked drain and heavy rainfall on the balcony. The owner of the premises eventually arrived at lunchtime and with a few hand gestures we were able to communicate our problem to him. He made a few frantic phone calls then set to sweeping the water out – after giving my husband and neighbour a broom too! If it wasn’t for our lovely neighbours, Bev & Kev, who helped and put us up in their room until everything had dried out we would have been stuck.

The second occasion was a few days later when after showering we noticed water flowing out from the bathroom. One of the sons was at the bar that day and quickly took action. Without going into too much detail an earlier resident had flushed loo paper down the toilet, this eventually blocked the system hence the dirty water coming up through the bathroom drain in the floor. The owner dealt with the problem quickly and made sure everything was thoroughly disinfected and to our satisfaction.

Because it was very hot we paid the €6 per night for the air conditioning which was certainly needed. The main unit was in the kitchen area and did eventually work its was through to the bedroom but it was a shame the large ceiling fan in the bedroom was only for decorative purposes as this would have helped circulate the air.

The pool was about right for the size of the place and kept clean. Whilst we were there the tour rep carried out an inspection. The sons who run the bar are very friendly and you could tell who was on in the evenings when you looked out the window - one would put cushions on the chairs, light candles and play soft music whereas the other didn't but was very good at card tricks! They would never accept a tip when offered.

Sun loungers/umbrellas were mostly €7 per day on all the beaches and the bus fare was €2.80 return to get into Skiathos town which was well worth a visit. The beach at Aghia Paraskevi is lovely but does shelve quite steeply in places and you have to walk back to the road to get food or find a taverna. The supermarkets in the town were on the whole much cheaper than those in the village. Green Park was our favourite restaurant but you need to starve yourself before going as the meals are really lovely -large but very reasonable.

The hill – whoever said it wasn’t a problem – it was! We are relatively fit but found the hill daunting, particularly after an evening meal when you’re full up and if you have one too many to drink – either sleep on the beach or take a taxi – which some did (costing them €4 to get from the bottom of the hill to the top)! We made sure we packed up everything we needed each day so we wouldn’t have to go back up that hill. However, once you get to the top it is a little oasis and was nice to be able to have the peace and quiet of the hillside after an evening in the hubbub of everything.
Would we go again? – if there was a mini bus service to take you up the hill we probably would!