Hara Studios & Apartments

5 readers found this review helpful

we stayed in a bungalow sept 12th -19th fantastic holiday! Hara the owner works extremely hard keeping the apartments and the pool and gardens clean and well maintained. She welcomes you when you arrive and says farewell when you leave and makes you feel you are staying with her as a member of the family.The area is surrounded with citrus trees olive groves plum trees etc. The cats are lovely and if you go please feed them! they do not intrude but are grateful for some cat biscuits or some feta cheese!!! There is also a chicken, sheep, geckos, frogs and bats, totally rural!!!!!!!! Katelios itself is a very friendly place we liked Jerry Elinkos and Messogios for food, and cozy bar alitis bar, nemisis and music bar for drinks. The airport is an experience as they say this is greek time!!!we would recommend this holiday to those who want to relax and watch the world go by and we will return!!!!

2 readers found this review helpful

We loved the Hara Studios which are set in a beautiful & peaceful location just a short walk outside of Katelios. The apartments are kept spotless and the kids loved the pool surrounded by a well kept garden.
You'll love your stay here, but please feed the cats as they tend to get neglected in Greece.

2 readers found this review helpful

Peaceful, relaxing, friendly, made to feel very welcome.
First visit Sept 2005 now go back twice a year June and Sept, all booked for this year too.
Basic accomodation but very clean, as only 8 rooms, 2 Bungalows it's never busy, sometimes you have the pool and gardens to yourselves.
BBQ area addition last year with stunning picnic bench for 8, we squeezed 10 of us on it as over the years we have met,made new friendship and returned with them.
If you are looking for a busy.lively, hectic nightlife then Katelios is not for you. It's a place to relax only.

6 readers found this review helpful

This was our 2nd visit to Kefalonia, having previously stayed in Lourdas.
Hara apartments, pool and surrounding gardens are absolutely excellent... clean, tidy, peaceful and set in a fabulous rural location, some 10-15mins walk to the beach and tavernas. Katelios itself is full of excellent tavernas and the beaches are great for snorkelling or boat hire.
The accomodation is ideal and provides for all the basic self catering requirements. It's clean and tidy, and decorated in a quaint and homely style.
The pool is fabulous and cleaned daily, and is surrounded by lush vegatation separating it from the buildings...with mountain views around. There a few cats around, but they certainly didn't bother us or appear very often.
The owner is very friendly and takes great pride in keeping the place looking lovely.
Without doubt this is a fabulous, unspoilt and beautifully located holiday retreat, perfect for those seeking peace and quiet and a rural setting. The walk to the beach is virtually flat, so no great effort involved - a torch is a good call.
As far as we are concerned it was a 5* holiday for us!
Chris & Liz

3 readers found this review helpful

This was our first time at the Hara but do not think it will be our last. What a wonderful relaxing place this is. Peace and quiet. Has to be the last place on earth where you can get away from everything. Some days we had the pool to ourselves.
Would suggest that you take a torch with you as the main road lacks street lighting. Would also recommend a car if you want to explore the island. We did not, but found the trips very good. Would recommend a visit to the island of Ithaca as the scenery is breathtaking. However on the negative side stay away if you are not a cat lover and remember that if you feed them the people after you may not like them and could get pestered.
Great place and look forward to going back again.

2 readers found this review helpful

We booked via Olympic, big mistake, the flight was 3 hours late, the coach transfer (no aircon) took 3 hours, with a trip via Lassi and Lourdas resorts to drop/collect other travelers.
The Hara studios are nice, with a small kitchen, and a slightly under stocked utensil array - 1 frying pan, 1 casserole pot, various knives/forks and a few cups/plates.
The quantity of feral cats is too high, they are scraggy items, and happy to attack with claws should food be offered, I’m not sure they are free of fleas either.
The rooms have aircon, Hara herself seems reluctant to hand over the controls, even though 75 euros in cash was to be paid, other arrivals had to wait 2 days to get the aircon, in 40 degree heat it is required!
Also the pool seems to get many dead flies/wasps on the bottom, maybe if the pumps ran all day instead of for a few hours this wouldn’t happen.
Take a torch, the road route to the village is busy, and at night unlit, as is the track to the 4 brothers taverna/nemesis bar/mythos pool area.
You will be self-catering at the Hara Studios, but more likely eating at tavernas every night, allow 20 euros per person per meal, that soon adds up, there are no fast food/snack outlets.
There are no ATM machines in Katelios, the one in Skala works part-time, though 1 supermarket in Katelios will do you cash off your visa card, for a 5% charge.
There is no chemist/pharmacy either, and the Skala chemist can be shut with no reason.
We didn’t hire a car, maybe we should have, but if its a chill-out holiday I don’t wish to dodge and swerve with all the Hellenic powermax brigade and lunatic bus drivers.
Would we go again? No, we would rather visit Zante where we had a much better holiday before, at a better price and paid less through the stay on extras, but I suppose Kefalonia has other resorts too.

5 readers found this review helpful

Hara Studios is an excellent and relaxing place to stay. Hara herself is extremely hospitable and generous.
She maintains the apartments to a high standard. Many people who stay here are returning customers. The gardens are beautiful, and the pool is never busy. I would recommend car hire from Venus Cars for the duration of your holiday, as the best beaches are 10 mins drive away.
It is a very quiet area with good places to eat, and is not for those who want a clubbing holiday! The island is beautiful and there is no better place to be based other than Hara Studios.