We stayed at Villa Thea for the last two weeks in September 2011. The weather was wonderful, with just a single day when it was stormy and a bit wet (towards the beginning of our stay funnily enough!), just perfect, not too hot and lovely and cool in the evenings.

The villa location is absolutely stunning, I have never stayed somewhere with such views!! There are two large terraces (one with a pool) that look out in different directions, pool terrace towards the sea and the fort and the front terrace towards Assos village (this is the terrace to sit out on for the sunsets!!) - absolutely fabulous! The front terrace also has a terrific built in bbq to cook your dinner if you don't fancy strolling down to the village.
The village is a very short stroll away (no more than 10 minutes) where there are a variety of really good tavernas (all excellent, especially Platanos and the one at the very end of the harbour whose name I cannot remember! Try the shrimp pasta in the latter) and a very well stocked little supermarket.

Beware that on the way back the last bit of the road back to the villa is VERY steep, but saying that, we are not very fit and managed it at least once a day and I am still around to tell the tale!! And I guess hill and view go hand in hand!

During our stay we did not find anywhere more beautiful on the island than Assos (though if you go and fall in love with it and think of retiring there, forget it! One house on the beach front is currently up for EUR2.25m!!!). An idyllic place to relax, unwind and indulge in some very good food and wine (though if you are after nightclubs and lots of excitement you might prefer somewhere else!)

Anyway, enough about weather, food and house prices!! You want to know about the accommodation!!!

Villa Thea was absolutely fantastic, the accommodation is spacious and immaculately well kept (as is the whole, small, complex). You will find everything you need, even down to a small cool box to take to the beach. Bed very comfy, slept very well, no shortage of hot water and good water pressure in the shower, happy days! Inside, outside and the pool were cleaned every day, fresh towels every few days etc. All in all it is like staying at an upmarket hotel, but with loads of space and private pool and terraces (and you can grab a chilled 500ml bottle of Mythos beer that cost 1 euro from your big fridge rather than paying 5 euro + at the tacky poolside hotel bar!). There is a television but very limited channels so well worth taking a few DVDs (there is a DVD player) to watch in case you get a day or two of bad weather.

We read somewhere that you could hire boats in Assos but found this not to be the case (unless they had already packed up for the season, we never really got to the bottom of it). No big deal though, as this gave us the excuse to visit Fiscardo (20-30 minutes drive) a few times and hire boats to explore the coast and visit the neighbouring island of Ithaka. Go to Regina's boat hire (follow sign to Ferries), better boats and about a third cheaper (avg of EUR 60 per day + avg EUR 20 for fuel, depending on the size of the boat) than the first place we used!!!

If you ever come across something about the "Festival of the Fish" in Ithaka (it was on the 1st of October this year) and are wondering what on earth that is all about....we went, and effectively it's a bunch of locals getting together for a bit of a jolly to drink local wine and have a sing-song. I think they bring wine and food down to the beach (Polis Bay) and share it all between themselves, so it's not really something you can get involved in, though it is quite fun to watch for a bit! So, worth a look if you are heading that way anyhow, but not really worth making a special effort for!

A car is pretty much essential here, if nothing else, you will not want to be lugging bottles of water and beer up the hill!

Lastly! Do not let the walk up to the fort/castle in Assos put you off (especially given the hill up to the villa!). Even though it is at least twice as high as the villa the road up has a very gentle gradient and it takes no effort to get up to the top whatsoever, much, much easier than going up the villa hill, just longer! There are plenty of benches along the way, but these are more for stopping to admire the incredible view rather than resting! We did the walk at about 10 in the morning, not sure I would want to do it during the mid-day heat! Take your little cool box as there is nothing there!

So, we LOVED it!!! Not a single bad thing to say and cannot recommend it enough!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did if you decide to go!