Filia Studios & Apartments

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We can recommend Skiathos as a holiday destination, but would urge people to avoid Filia apartments. The standard and location of the accommodation, along with the sullen staff, made our stay unpleasant. They only give a smile when you are spending money at their bar. We were told we would have a view of the pool, instead our ground floor studio's balcony looked out onto thick, uncultivated bushes. I have a phobia of snakes and so sitting on the balcony caused some anxiety.
When we immediately requested that we be moved to a room on a higher floor, we were told we would have to ask the rep the next day. He was sympathetic and when he found that all the rooms were booked he suggested to Filia's Christos that he put up a net. He promised to do this but didn't put one up until two days before our departure and only after the rep had reminded him. Thankfully, two cats adopted us and so I felt safer sitting on the balcony. These cats were clearly uncared for by the staff, so we fed them. The rep, Dan, was good and gave an interesting and humorous presentation about the island, but he appeared to have little influence on the Filia staff. There was no safety notice by the pool, for example, despite his reminders.
The studios are reached by a ridiculously steep hill, the bar is just a shack, the pool is child-sized and the rooms very basic. We had torn sheets, a noisy fridge and rattling pipes. There was a charge for the use of fans and even the safe! We hadn't realised we had to vacate the rooms by 10 am (almost six hours before the coach was due to collect us) and Christos banged on our door and told us to pack and leave immediately. He and his miserable family should not be working in the tourism industry. If we go to Skiathos again it will be through Sunvil and not Kosmar because Sunvil seems to have the best accommodation and for not much more in terms of price.
All the studios on the island seem to have small swimming pools; only the hotels have pools an adult can actually swim rather than just take a dip in. Troulos is the least desirable resort on the island. The beach was a 20 min walk away from the studios and the bus stop 15 min away. The beach was covered in litter and the tavernas were of a poor standard. All the other resorts, especially Skiathos Town, Koukounaries and Kolios, were very good. Koukounaries has the best beach in Greece, according to the travel agency, but what actually makes the beaches in Skiathos pretty are the pine trees that line the coast. The sand and sea are nowhere near as nice as the beaches around Protaras in Cyprus, or on Mykonos. Our favourite beach was big Banana Beach, where the bar plays music, bathers dance in the evening and you can sit on comfortable sofas and watch the sun set. Little Banana Beach next door is for nudists who sometimes drift out of their territory, which would be unwelcome for some families. Vromolimnos is another good beach for its opportunities to snorkel and actually see some fish.
The taster in scuba diving at the Kanapitsa Bay resort was pretty poor for the money, but the taverna there is good. The food generally was unexciting, with far too much non-Greek cuisine on the menu. If you love the food in Cyprus, don't expect the same in Greece. There's not much in the way of a meze option, for example. And don't assume the fish is fresh; even by the harbour most of the fish on the menu was frozen. The only restaurants we can recommend are in Skiathos Town: 1901; Windmill; any along the harbour front. The town was a delight, especially in the evening. The architecture and the decor of bars and cafes is tasteful and classy. And the shops don't sell tacky things.
For bars, we can recommend Chocolate for great live music. The music at the clubs along the 'club strip' in the new port area is not to London standard, so if you are particular about that kind of thing, you may be disappointed. Skiathos Town is not like Ayia Napa or Ibiza. Entry is free but drinks are expensive. They have great seating areas opposite each club. Clubs open at 11pm but things don't get going till 1am. There is one bus service in Skiathos, along its one main road. Buses run till 1:30am. After that taxis are the only option. Taxi drivers drive too fast and don't always have seatbelts on the back seat, but they don't rip you off. If you are an animal lover, you may find a trip to Greece upsetting. Greeks appear to worship their children (there are plenty of spoilt brats) but neglect animals. You'll see dogs and horses tethered on short ropes and lots of stray cats, many of them sick. There is a dog shelter, tellingly run by foreigners, where you can walk the dogs, make a donation and even arrange an adoption. But there is no cattery.
There is a very good riding centre in Koukounaries (bus stop 25) where you can arrange a group ride along the spectacular coastline. We can recommend the boat trip to Alonnysos because, if you are lucky, you will see dolphins along the way. Three dolphins followed our boat, which was one of the holiday's highlights for us. The trip Kosmar arranges is basically the same trip you can book at the harbour, but they provide a coach for an extra few euros. The Swedish guide, Victoria, knows her stuff, after 12 years over there, but the coach trip she recommends from Alonnysos port to the old town' isn't worth the effort.
Dan warns against hiring scooters, saying tourists are not insured against personal injury. However, our enquiries with scooter and car hire shops told a different story, saying that reps often tell their guests this because their agencies' have deals with the big car hire centers. We would recommend shopping around for car hire, as we found a few offering daily hire at 15 euro less than the rep. Make sure you ask that hire is for 24 hours, as some shops only offer 12-hour hire. Try and avoid the timeshare sellers, who approach you with scratch cards and swear on their mother's life they don't work for timeshare companies.
Finally, the people. The Greeks are quite friendly, but they are business people first and foremost. The Greek Cypriots on the other hand manage genuine openness and hospitality. The tourists are mainly Greek, British and Italian. The Brits visiting Skiathos are generally not the beer lout types and Sky Sports/karaoke bars are few. In summary, Skiathos is worth a 7-day trip for sun-worshippers, but if you want good accommodation go through Sunvil.
If you want great beaches, the best food and friendly, hospitable people, then it has to be Protaras, Cyprus every time. I've been to 10 Greek islands now, plus the mainland, so do know what I'm talking about!

Stayed at Filia Apartments in Troulos. Ran by very friendly couple. Very basic rooms although very clean and spacious. Cooking facilities non-existent although weren’t too bothered as ate at local restaurants every night. Pool excellent. Kids well happy. Hired a jeep to get us around, you’ll need this to get up to your room as its like climbing Mount Everest. Definitely not suitable if you have dodgy knees or other foot/leg problems. Good sky sports bar next door. At night you catch watch the Greek tradition of watering weeds ( well! I couldn’t see any flowers!!!) Catch the local bus which runs from one end of the island to the other. (15 mins). Bus run by local friendly chap Theodopulos Wildebeeste and his trustworthy accomplice Robin. Watch in splendour as driver collects his money while bus runs on autopilot. Skiathos is the place to be at night if you want something lively. Koucanaries if you want something less lively, Troulos if you want complete tranquillity. Smallest airport in Europe so the pilot slams the old anchors on as soon as wheels hit the runway and when you go home you have to take off with half a tank of fuel so refuelling is necessary at the Greek military base of volos. I would avoid beaches on the north side of the island as they are very windy. South beeches are small but lovely and quiet and shallow. I heard Tina turner and cliff Richard live here but I never saw them. Mind you the last thing I want on holiday would be old cliff burst into song while i'm halfway through my lamb kleftika! Think that covers most things. Jeeps and scooters relatively cheap to hire. Didn’t see any police at all when on the island but who knows, if there’s trouble maybe crocket and tubs would come flying round the corner in their Ferrari lol ;-) Baccy not much cheaper than England. Fags alot cheaper. Booze fairly cheap. Lots of mozzies at night so take necessary precautions otherwise you will end up coming home looking like Cameron Diaz without make - up. Anyway you enjoy yourself, I always say its not the place its up to you to make the holiday. I enjoyed it but probably won’t return.....................D.H.