Five Star Greece

I disapprove of publishing guest book comments or client feedback –  I mean who would  ever publish one that said “The villa was nothing like what you described, the beaches were dirty and your service sucks”  And why would any of you believe  the rave review from  “Mrs M”  when for all you know she … Read More

Wind-stranded in Sami, the pretty port of  western Kefalonia  – Babis the water taxi captain who looks like  a pirate out of Tintin, has said we have to wait for the sun to set and waves to subside, so 4 hours to kill   before meeting guests and going to the airport for Ryanair flight … Read More

There are some dodgy yachts afloat, and it is a matter of years of experience knowing which ones they are. Inspecting a yacht at a boat show is one thing – most yachts  can put on a splendid show, so, unless a  yacht vomits a whole lot of jetskis and other rubbish into the bay … Read More

Let’s start with the bad news; the bad news is that the scheduled ferry services to Ithaca have made such losses over the last few years, that no-one wants to run the ferries, and the government is too poor to subsidise them, so getting to Ithaca by car is almost as much of an epic … Read More

  The Panaghia Spiliotissa, or the Panaghia ton Vlachernon as it is properly known, is a little magical site on the hillside of a mountain on Ithaca. The path winds up through peaceful fields and smallholdings that Homer’s Laertes , the father of Odysseus whose farm is supposed to be around here, would have probably … Read More

Like a young girl who misbehaved when she was 17 and has been given funny looks and avoided ever since, Ios sits,  largely avoided by   “those who know”,  half way between Mykonos and Santorini, connected to both, but unvisited  and resigned to an unjust fate – The party scene on Milopotas beach which was … Read More

Sometimes, the prospect of inspecting villas on Mykonos is less alluring that you might think –  another white house with driftwood mirrors, no bedside lights, a pool and  pergola with  built-in barbecue, a dark basement room masquerading as a “guest suite”  and  an owner telling you proudly that she or he doesn’t need a/c as … Read More

The Times – A Greek lesson for Britain’s chancellor Philip Aldrick writes for the UK Times – article  on April 11th  “After six years of painful austerity, better times are finally coming for the bailout nation Take two countries. One will have the fifth worst budget deficit of the International Monetary Fund’s 32 “advanced economies” next … Read More

        Karpenissi is one of Greece’s last undiscovered corners; tranquilly enfolded in the arms of its pine-clad mountain slopes and snowy peaks, it hangs in the azure air in a world that hovers,  all on its own,  above the hubbub of the coasts.  To the the East  lies the sparkling Aegean and … Read More

No-one has written a better guide to the Greek islands than Dana Facaros – “The Cadogan Greek islands  Guide.” Erudite, funny and soulful. We have cribbed from it so often, that  to make amends, we  have offered Dana a platform here whenever she wants,  and  are honoured  whenever she accepts!  She writes this time about … Read More