Sands Studios

4 readers found this review helpful

We recently returned having had a wonderful week at The Sands. The accomadation was good and clean, ideally situated and Laertis the owner is a star. He is friendly, great to talk to and an altogether fantastic host who works so hard but still has time for you and to enjoy himself. The BBQ evening was great and well worth the 18 Euros. We had 2 18 year olds with us and they also thoroughly enjoyed the night.Laertis's Greek dancing was top draw - pity the bar broke!99% of the people staying there were so nice and friendly, many go back year after year. I think we could be doing the same. We loved Nidri and Lefkas. Most restaurants were great including Pinewood & El Greco and we took a taxi ride up to Dimitris in Paleokatouna, a little village in the hills with great views.Taxi costs 7 euros each way but it's so cheap up there it still works out costing probably less than it would down at the harbour. We went on a boat trip on the Odyseus which was great and a real day to remember and also had a go on the water sports which are situated on the beach literally across the road from the hotel. The only bad thing about the holiday was that we were only there for one week!! We feel we need to go back as there are places to go that we didn't manage in a week. Nidri is fairly busy with lots of restaurants and nice bars but it's not tacky. We have had some fantastic holidays in Greece but this would definately rank among the best.

3 readers found this review helpful

We have just returned from 2 weeks at the Sands, I had been really looking forward to this holiday and had high hopes, unfortunately I felt disappointed and would not return again.
There are some very good points about the Sands, the location is good - roughly 7 minutes walk from the port of Nidri where all the shops etc are, across the road from a small beach (where you can hire boats for the day), the best resturant in Nidri - The Pinewood, and the sands has a good swimming pool.
The ways we felt let down at Sands, well it wasn't self catering as you couldn't prepare much. There were 2 cooking rings, which the curtains rested on but that didn't matter as they didn't work. We had only wanted to heat up soup, or boil an egg - the egg was boiled in the kettle. We had 1 knife, this was for food preparation and between the 2 of us to eat with!
The food that we had at the hotel was nothing to write home about, a breakfast with 2 sausages was merely 1 sausage cut in half (rounded sides up to look like 2), streaky bacon and a desert spoon of beans, not worth 5.5 Euro's, we had breakfast there once only! We did try again, and I had a meal late one afternoon - the chicken was so dry and salty (yes salty - whjen it was just cooked on a skewer) I believe it had been reheated from the previous day.
The BBQ was 18 Euro's each, I refused to pay this amount per person for a BBQ. Instead in the 2nd week we found the Pinewood, a resturant across the road. This place was simply wonderful, the setting on the beach, and sophisticated not rush rush busy busy as in the port and other resturants, great choice of food beautifuuly cooked and nicely sized portions. The menu at the front did not give the prices and had put us off the first week - what a shame - it cost no more than the other returants, had much more to offer and even with a starter and main meal plus drinks still was less than the price of the BBQ.
There was a chage of 45 Euros per week to use the air conditioning and a charge for safe deposit boxes. We were able to get around the AC charge, as the front panel on the AC unit lifts and if you push the aux button (this is how the AC engineers test the units), you can have AC without cost - a saving of £90 for 2 weeks - as te Euro = thepound currently.
We had asked for a quiet room, it was quiet once the last person had left the bar and it had closed for the night.
Would we go again - NO. Would we recommend to friends - NO

We have just returned from two weeks at the Sands Studios, and we had a great time. The Sands is in a great location, just across the road from the pebble beach and a short walk from the center of Nidri.
The Sands is run by, Laertis, who is great fun, not only does he own and run the Sands, but also runs, the bar and does the cooking, do not miss the BBQ night great value.
The accommodation is basic but very clean, as are the grounds and pool area. We would recommend the Sands to, adult couples or singles travelling without children, and we will certianly be visiting again.

We had a fantastic time at the Sands Apartments.
The accommodation is more than adequate and the rooms are cleaned daily.
Laertis is a fantastic host - don't miss out on his weekly BBQ. Prepare yourself by not eating all day as there is lots of food!
My only small comment is that he should employ someone to help out at busy periods as he does everything. Mind you, my husband made this comment to him (politely) and he wasn't impressed!
Even so, we had a great time, met lovely people and would definetely go back!

This was recommended by my colleague from work as he has been back to resort time and time again. Hotel is small which is good as the pool area does not get packed. This is a self catering holiday but don't expect to cook or prepare meals in the room as the small cooker and lack of work space stop you doing this! The main road at the end of the hotel is very busy and noisy especially in the morning and the motorbikes roaring up and down can dampen your relaxation. The hotelier Laertis is very helpful and works very hard but don't take any food or drink around the pool area as he likes you to buy from the hotel. Our rep said we must not take food or drink back to the hotel but we thought this was self catering? Anyway we had a great holiday and food in restaurants at the harbour was fantastic! Room was small but cleaned frequently but with a great choice of food around resort the lack of cooking space didn't really matter. A great holiday though.

The whole purpose of this holiday for me and my girlfriend was to have a cheap week away in the sun, so our expectance levels for this holiday where pretty low. But I can truly say that this holiday was well above what we expected.
The hotel was thoroughly cleaned from head to toe everyday. There were no problems getting a sun bed by the fantastic pool and the food severed round the pool was out of this world (and the price was too!) Many thanks have to go to the brilliant hotel owner who never stopped day or night.
A super holiday would recommend for anyone.

We booked this as a late booking after reading the previous reviews and having just returned have to agree with everything that's been said before.
Laertis is a great host, always on duty, nothing is too much trouble, he provides a good point of contact for any questions and with helpful advice on the area and we spent a few late nights chatting with him at the bar (worth trying one of his cocktails).
We had a room on the lower floor which was really nice and cool first thing and was cleaned on a daily basis by his mum and her helper, towels and sheets changed regularly.
Pool is superb, possibly the best I've experienced in my travels in Greece and we spent a lot of the first week chilling by the side of this!! Beach is just a short stroll away; mostly pebble, as are all beaches on this side of the island. Nidri centre is a short stroll away, the harbour area worth a visit in the evening to sample traditional Greek cooking and hospitality.
Would definitely recommend hiring a car to tour the west side of the island, Vasiliki well worth a trip, spent a really enjoyable day here watching the watersports and had a nice stroll around the town and harbour area.
All in all a really great holiday, would recommend the Sands Hotel to all.

we booked this holiday just two weeks before we went. being great greece fans we were confident we would like it and we weren't disappointed. the hotel is in a great spot just at the end of the main road so it was nice and quiet. double glazed with fixed mozzie nets.
we had a side room on the top floor which had a huge balcony which was nice and cool when we came back from a hard day on the beach. the hotel owner, laertis worked so hard and always seemed to be on duty. we couldn't get the air condioning to work and he came up staright away and sorted us out. also we had a broken lightbulb and again he was there straight away. what a hard worker. my husband asked him when he slept and he said in the winter!!!!!
the hotel was right opposite the beach which gently shelves into the sea.
the pool at the hotel looked nice although we aren't pool people.
the bar was nice with yummy cocktails (served by laertis, the man who doesn't sleep!).
just one negative thing for me........we went to the hotel bbq which i thought was rather expensive by greek standards at 18 euros each. we didn't get our dessert or loads of free shots as advertised.

We booked this through Olympic Holidays possibly a week or so before leaving in June 08. The idea was to use the Hotel as a cheap base to see some of the other Islands and maybe even get over to Italy for a bit. However, once there I was so impressed we stayed the whole two weeks!
Great Hotel 10 out of 10! (And believe me I am picky). I would highly recommend this to everyone.

sands appts. are situated in an ideal spot [the quiet end of nidri] yet a few minutes walk from the harbour where there is a great choice of
restaurants and bars.
the sands appts. are very clean, and sheets/towels are changed on a regular basis.
mine host laertis is second to none, nothing to much trouble. his mother
and one staff do the cleaning, laertis in the evening is the perfect host
joining in with his guests if need be. [a place for all ages]
how do my wife and i know this?
we have stayed there for the last six years, 2 wks. june 1 wk. sept.