We stayed in a one bedroom apartment at the end of August/beginning of September. On arrival we were greeted by the lovely Irene, who gave us fresh juice and showed us to our room. The apartment was well equipped and very clean, though the bed could have been a little more comfortable, but nothing to worry about after a night drinking plenty of local wine! The pool was lovely with amazing views out to Zante and even though it was shared by all the villas it was relatively quiet most of the time. The best part of staying here though was the friendliness of the family who run it, Irene invited us for coffee before we left which ended up being breakfast, it was lovely. Its in a good location in Lourdas, being a short walk to some lovely restaurants, namely Olive Lounge and Casa de Blue. There is also a path from the villas down to the beach - it does take a little longer than the 5 mins stated on the sign post and the road is steep, so only attempt if you are a good fitness. Overall we loved our 9 days there, if we went back I would try book a 2 bed apartment, just because they are on the top floor, so you have a slightly better view.

So glad I chose this place for the first week of our holiday in Kefallonia.
The villas were modern, clean and spacious and just 2 steps from the edge of the pool.
Great views over to Zante from the terraces/balconies where you could sunbathe, have a meal "al fresco" or just sit and do nothing but admire the view and tranquillity of the place.
Lots of really good restaurants within 15 minutes walk.
Perfect distance for the digestion!
The nearest beach was a very steep walk back uphill which even my 15 year-old son said was tiring but as we had our car with us, we normally visited beaches further afield so not a problem.

Having had the luxury of a private villa with friends last year, we were slightly apprehensive about having an apartment and sharing a pool with others (will it be noisy, will there be lots of kids, will we have any privacy etc etc) but we needn't have worried. Garbis Villas, after weeks of searching online, turned out to be the perfect option. You would not think there were 13 apartments, as it was very quiet for the majority of the two weeks and if you wanted to keep yourselves to yourselves, you could. The drive from the airport was very straightforward, thanks to the fantastic directions that Nick Garbis sent through in advance and Irene the owner was there to meet us on our arrival. She showed us into the one bed apartment, which she had stocked with water, tea, coffee, cake and a lovely fruit salad. Ten minutes later she appeared with ice cream sundaes for us (SO delicious) and left us to check out the stunning view of the bay below and Zante in the distance, from our secluded garden terrace. The accommodation was kept spotlessly clean by the lovely Alexandra, everything was in working order and the pool area was always immaculate. Irene is a very kind and hospitable lady, occasionally appearing with offerings of coffee and cake, or ice cream and she always asks if everything is OK, but then she leaves you to it, striking the balance just right.
The little village of Vlachata was a five minute stroll up the hill and we ate in most of the tavernas, before finding our favourites which we then returned to a few times. The best, in our opinion, were: Olive Lounge, La Mer and Casa de Blue. Petros supermarket has everything you could possibly want in terms of food and toiletries etc and their freshly baked croissants and bread rolls are great.
Lourdata beach, a steep 15 minute walk down the hill (or a five minute drive) is good, but if you hire a car there are some really beautiful coves and tucked away beaches not far away (try Koroni and Spartia). Snorkelling was fun, lots to see and generally the sea was lovely and calm and always warm enough. Myrtos beach is a bit of a drive but well worth it as it is so beautiful.
Express car hire was the best value I could find online and the car was fairly new and nippy enough. They picked us up on our arrval and took us to their office next to the airport and we dropped the car back at the airport before our flight home and they were there immediately to take it off our hands; no hassle, no problems at all.
On our last day Irene let us keep the apartment on for a few hours past the 10am checkout time, as we had an evening flight.
All in all, a fab holiday in every way and I can highly recommend Garbis Villas if you want a peaceful break from it all.
NB: If you don't like cats (I love them) bear in mind that there are a few at Garbis Villas- if you do like cats and you book to stay there, please look out for a ginger cat we all call Garby- he's very affectionate and would appreciate a bit of food and company!

Garbis Villas is too good to share with other people otherwise they will want to come as well!
We have just returned from Garbis and would have welcomed the airline going bust, a strike at the airport......anything to delay our leaving. We had a wonderful time. As seasoned travellers we pay a lot of attention to Trip Advisor, but till now we have never actually got around to writing a review. So here goes;
We are a semi-retired couple who treat ourselves to good 5* only holidays and do not need to look for bargain-basement deals.
We flew from Bristol and arrived in Kefelonia mid-day. We got a taxi from the airport (35€) and were surprised to find that despite being 25 minutes away, the driver instantly knew the address. When we arrived at Garbis Villas, Irine Garbis met us and showed us to our accommodation. We had a one bedroom apartment with sea view and overlooking the pool. Essentials were in the fridge and within minutes Irine was back with some Greek coffee and sweets. This was to set a trend throughout our week, of daily offerings of Greek coffee and treats. She is a lovely lady. A retired jeweller (the best quality on the island) her sons run the shops and she lives in one of the apartments herself and generally looks after everything on site, but is never intrusive. The apartment was not huge, but perfectly adequate for us. An indoor seating area which we never used, a small kitchen of sink, fridge and 2 ring cooker. Not for major cooking, but fine for our pasta and sauces and making sandwiches. The bathroom is a toilet, basin, hairdryer and shower. The bedroom has a good sized bed, the usual furniture and was very comfortable. This opened out to our own patio which was quite private and in the shade. We were concerned about the website saying it was in the shade, but boy, were we glad it was! Stepping out from the patio, we were in the sun and very close to the pool. I think there are more loungers and chairs than people, so no problem there. The pool was fantastically clean and tested every day by Irine.
The local beach is not far but down a steep lane which is difficult to return up on a hot day.
We were told to expect hot weather (it never dropped below 31c and we are told reached 46c) so we rented a car from Express, a local renter in the village which is 10 mins walk away. We had the tiniest of cars (but perfectly ok to tour the island and with aircon) and make sure you haggle a bit. We got a great deal which included leaving it at the airport at the end.
All the beaches we visited are beautiful, but if you intend to swim, pack some water shoes as on most you have to walk over stones to get to the crystal clear waters.
We sometimes found it very relaxing to just sit on our patio in the evening soaking up the view and eat a very basic supper, but several nights we ate out. We chose the Olive Lounge, within walking distance, and stuck with it all week. The food was as good as any multi-star restaurant in the UK, but not for the same price. We found a 2 course meal with drinks and wine varied between 29€ and 35€, total bill for the two of us! A real bargain, English well spoken and really nice owners.
The island is still quite un-comercialised without lots of grockel shops selling tourist junk....such a relief. There are actually few hotels. Of course there are the usual mini-market shops selling everything for holiday-makers and locals alike. We never felt we were ripped off.
Will we return? Yes of course, and back to Garbis, unless you lot have got in first and booked it all up!