Maria Anna Hotel
, Lourdas
Maria Anna Hotel reviews
- Board Basis:Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Operator:Olympic Holidays
Was this review helpful? Yes
My partner and I arrived to find we'd been stuffed into the smallest room I have ever seen a double bed squeezed into with a view of the car park.
This was despite specifying a room with a sea view. I immediately asked to be moved and didn't even bother opening the suitcase.
To their credit they managed to find us another room for the night and promised to review the situation the following day. We ended up with a top floor room which was really nice.
The hotel was a bit tatty to be honest and it was apparent in many areas that a bit of maintenance wouldn't go amiss. That said the rooms were clean and the beds were changed regularly.
Food was basic but tasty - especially the salami and feta sandwiches which were a treat with an ice cold beer! Breakfast was a joke really and not worth the effort. If you have the option of not paying for B&B then give it a miss.
The hotel next door is run by someone who likes to fire his shotgun out to sea at 11:00pm at night. Don't ask me...
Lourdas is quiet and I mean quiet. Apart that is from some idiot on a motorbike who turned out to be the English guy Ross who worked at the hotel! Lovely bloke but shouldn’t be let anywhere near a bike, or car for that matter.
Lourdas beach is a pain in the butt to get to without transport and is not that nice when you do get there.
Loads of family run taverna but stay away from anything with a big screen TV or loud music. Food is generally excellent and well priced. Not cheap mind - for that you need to go to Turkey but fair and the portions can be massive!
A car is ESSENTIAL and you must allow for the cost when pricing up your holiday. I suggest you go and see Martin at CBR. Lovely lovely guy who will bend over backwards to help. DO NOT bother with a jeep unless you want to go up the mountain.
There are very very few roads you can't go with a normal car and trust me, I did over 800 miles in two weeks and covered most of the island so I know what I'm talking about!
Try and get one of the little green or yellow Fiat Panda's - absolutely the best car you could use on the island and easy to get to grips with in LHD guise.
Be warned it takes AGES to get anywhere because the roads are so twisty. Also DO NOT for God's sake drive anywhere if it rains as there is no grip whatsoever. If you think I'm kidding ask Martin!
Assos is gorgeous, Myrtos beach is downright dangerous to swim from - be warned! If you want a lovely quiet and safe beach head for Antisamos. You will need to be shown the way - its near Sami but it’s worth it.
I have never spent such a relaxing holiday as I did last year lying on that beach or swimming in the cool crystal clear and calm waters. Take bread and a snorkel to feed the thousands of fish!
It's the beach where the Italian camp was located in Captain Corelli. Not sandy but trust me you won't care one iota once you've been there for five minutes! Make sure you visit Forte' in his little cafe' at the nearest end of the beach and have one of his lovely Nescafe'!
Argostolli Town is lovely at night and The Captains Table is a nice place to eat up by the entrance to the docks.
Be prepared to face the odd day of rain in September - it's why the island is so lush.
Fiskardo is pretty but very expensive - £4 for an iced coffee. It's also full of the sailing set and worse off for it.
Poros was not very nice and not worth the agro getting to it IMHO
Skala was a cracking beach but can get very very hot and the noisy birds will quite literally drive you to distraction!
Overall probably the best holiday we've had but as previously mentioned, allow for car hire and fuel in the price of your holiday.
- Board Basis:Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Operator:Olympic Holidays
Was this review helpful? Yes
It was toward the end of the season, so the hotel was fairly quiet. The first room was extremely small and we were lucky enough to be able to move to a ground floor sea facing room.
The room, like the hotel was clean, although the sheets were never changed. Breakfast was basic but ok. Staff were very friendly.
Car hire is a must if you want to leave your hotel complex.
- Board Basis:Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Operator:Olympic Holidays
Was this review helpful? Yes
Just returned from two fantastic weeks in the sunshine at the Maria Anna in Lourdas. The hotel is traditionally Greek but one of the cleanest I have ever had the pleasure to stay at! The staff are really friendly and helpful, as was the Olympic rep, Rhiannon. The bar and pool area is superb, we definitely felt like we had chosen to stay at one of the top hotels in the resort.
Lourdas itself is the perfect place for unwinding and relaxing, so if you're after brash nightlife look elsewhere. The Blue Flag beach and crystal clear sea is wonderful, although it is recommended you catch the bus back up the hill! There are many nice restaurants to choose from and we cannot recall a bad meal in all the time we were there.
Many friends and wonderful memories were made during our stay and we would almost certainly book to stay at the Maria Anna again!
- Board Basis:Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Operator:Olympic Holidays
Was this review helpful? Yes
Maria Anna was pleasant and very clean in rooms not much choice in breakfast but what you got was enough, pool kept very clean/staff very entertaining Ross, Leonardo).
beach was ok. trapezaki beach miles better plenty of local restaurants, excellent food eg, tricolor, spirios good places to eat. kleftiko very nice yum yum.
Would advise you hire a car, very cheap and plenty of nice
places to go. very cheap ouzo and Bacardi at lidl on the way to Agostoli
- Board Basis:Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Operator:Olympic Holidays
Was this review helpful? Yes
My partner and I stayed at the Hotel Maria-Anna in Lourdas, Kefalonia from 28 June - 12 July this year. The hotel is two star plus bed and breakfast accommodation offering basic rooms which are cleaned daily and a breakfast consisting of a choice of cornflakes, toast or bacon & eggs with orange juice and tea or coffee.
The resort of Lourdas is very hilly and I would not recommend for families with small children or the elderly/unfit. The main beach can be reached on the daily bus service or for the more athletic you can choose to climb a steep goat track, despite the effort this is definitely worthwhile the scenery is absolutely stunning and there are plenty of photo opportunities.
The resort is very quiet and ideal if you are hoping to get away from it all, there are no noisy clubs or bars, however many of the restaurants, which are all superb offer a late drink. I would particularly recommend Spiro’s, which is a family, run affair with plenty of charm.
If you want to explore there is plenty of cheap car hire available we drove on the left for the first time and found the island quiet and easy to navigate, the Melannissi Lake is definitely worth a visit as is Myrtos beach, which is truly breathtaking. We are planning another visit very soon.
- Board Basis:Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Operator:Olympic Holidays
Was this review helpful? Yes
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We spent a week's holiday at the Maria Anna Hotel in Vlachata, Lourdas. We were given a downstairs room which was large enough for the three of us, having a large double bed and a single bed for my 8-year old son. Some maintenance work needs to be done to the wardrobe in the room but otherwise, we were not fussy about the furniture in the room as we were out during the day and only returned to have a shower or swim in the pool and then we were out again for dinner before returning to the hotel.
On arrival, my husband found that the fridge which was supplied in our room did not work and as soon as we mentioned it to one of the staff, it was promptly changed to one which was working perfectly!
The hotel is situated down a slope about 80 steps/paces from the main road. Be careful when walking down as it is not an asphalt road until you turn off towards the hotel proper. Not recommended for someone with difficulty in walking especially the frail or very young children. Even if you brought a wheel chair, one would have difficulty pushing it back up to the main road. The hotel has an adequate sized pool which is kept clean and maintained by the staff. The room is cleaned daily and towels and bed sheets changed mid-week.
The boss and her team of staff were really friendly and helpful and welcoming and made our stay there a memorable one. We got on well with the staff there that were helpful but not intruding. We also got to know some of the other guests there who also recommended restaurants to try along the main road of Lourdas as there were so many to choose from. I personally would recommend the Olive Restaurant as the food was delicious. I must say that I am partial to the lamb kleftiko which is lamb baked in the oven with feta cheese, some vegetables and potatoes. The Casa de Blue does a lovely lamb kleftiko. The owner of Casa de Blue is an enterprising man, very friendly and before you know it... you are in his restaurant! For the children, they do a lovely chocolate milkshake as my son insists on having two, when he goes there.
The Maria Anna hotel has a weekly BBQ on a Thursday and it is worth the 10 euros per person. Besides the main course, whether you choose fish or meat, it comes with Greek salad and roast potatoes. There is a quiz after the meal, one euro for everyone participating and the prize is a bottle of wine as well as the total amount of money collected for the winning team.
Lourdas is a pretty little place with its very own Mount Aenos and Aenos means 'eagle'. It's been said that there are some wild horses up in the mountains as well as some eagles. We rented a car for 3 days of our stay there, drove to all the main towns and sight-seeing spots, and signed up for a coach tour to Argostoli by night and to Ithaca, the sister island of Kefalonia with Olympic. As it was our first time to Greece, it was worth the trips driven by experienced drivers who were the 'ace' with the hilly and hairpin road bends. The views of the sea, sapphire and turquoise colour and the mountains were spectacular and one which we will treasure always when we think of Kefalonia.
As most of the reviewers have written that car hire is a 'must-do' and I echo the same view. We walked to Lourdas beach from Kelani beach and then walked back up the winding hilly road and to be honest, it is only those on holiday that will attempt this feat. It's no joke walking mainly up the hill for about 45 minutes if you take the sensible route which is the main road back to Vlachata and in the hot sun. I won't even contemplate the shortcuts if any. Walking downhill is never a problem. I never saw a single taxi on the way up and it is not that simple getting a taxi either as I've tried. Perhaps it was the wrong time of day and it was sheer determination that got me back to our hotel with many short stops for breath along the way with just 30 minutes to spare to shower and change before our coach trip into Argostoli.
Rhiannon, the Olympic representative is a lovely lady with a great sense of humour. I must remember to bring her 'chocolate fudge cake' if I am in Vlachata again! Hope she reads this review! In fact, Olympic Holidays has a great team there with very many friendly staff with a good attitude towards making our holiday a memorable one.