Filia Studios & Apartments

3 readers found this review helpful

From the moment we arrived at Filia, we were made to feel so so welcome by Christos in particular, nothing was too much trouble and his English was superb so there were no problems with the language barrier. Just to refer back to the 'hill of death' that people have mentioned, the alternative route takes about two minutes longer and is absolutely fine to walk up, so please don't let this put you off. The apartments themselves are very basic, but cleaned every day and are more than adequate. The water is very hot contrary to previously mentioned and is more than adequate for an evening shower! Our only critism of the room, albeit personal preference is that on the middle floor the barrier between balconies is a partition made of an ornate type ironwork, therefore you are exposed either side to your neighbours, and have little or no privacy, however, I will mention that are neighbours were lovely and it wasn't a problem particularly, but I'm not sure that I would appreciate it if my neighbours weren't quite as pleasant... the views however are stunning and the balcony is a good size. The pool area is beautiful, the pool is a great size and the surroundings are well kept, colourful and clean. The seating area at the pool bar is lovely, with plently of shade and comfortable seating. The food is superb and reasonably priced. We didn't join in with the evening barbecue night, this was again just down to our preference, but a great time was had by all! The resort of Troulos itself is superb. There are many tavernas within walking distance, when you get to the bottom of the drive way that leads to Filia, don't make our mistake and turn right, there is nothing there! Off left you will come to Ratatouille, which is fantastic, also there are a few more that we didn't try, but had mixed reviews from other guests. It is worth a visit to Troulos beach in the evening - ask the rep or Christos for directions, the tavernas down there are lovely, but our favourite of all was Sunrise - (a mean lobster thermidor, which we had twice for 19 euros), which you can't miss if you follow directions to the beach from Filia, as you will pass it on the left. Bus stop 18 is where you will catch the bus for Skiathos Town, which is always worth a visit. There are plently of supermarkets all within walking distance. For those who haven't visiting Skiathos before, the bus service is fantastic, you never have to wait longer than 10 minutes and it is so easy to navigate along the bus route. All in all our trip to Skiathos was our second one, and we thought the first one couldn't be surpassed, however, Filia and Troulos gave us such a wonderful week, and we will certainly be back again.

5 readers found this review helpful

What a superb place - nothing is a bother for the owners of for the lovely family who run these apartments. From the minute you arrive you are made to feel so welcome, nothing is too much trouble and Christos, Filia, the lady who cleans the rooms, the guests - all were so nice because the owners create that ambience. They go the extra mile - and are proud to show off and promote their beautiful island. Their food is excellent - especially anything made with their free range eggs!! Their dogs - Lola, Ellie, Azore, Lekky, Bobo are absolutely delightful. The pool area was just right and the area immediately round about had some lovely restaurants - all very reasonably priced. The beach is only a walk away and the charming Skiathos town an easy taxi or bus ride away. Best Greek Island and holiday ever!

6 readers found this review helpful

Just arrived back from here and have had a lovely time. Our first time to Skiathos, Troulos and the Filia Apartments and it won't be our last. The travel brochure really undersells this place as it's very peaceful and much more well equipped than we thought it would be. It is really only a 10 minute walk through a track (easily accessible even with a pushchair) to get to the lovely beach. It's a 5 minutes walk to some great tavernas where you could dine somewhere different every day for a fortnight. The local bus service is better than where I live in the UK - every 15 mins from 7am until 1am - stop just 5 mins from the apartments. The bus in to Skiathos town is well worth it as it's lovely there. Yes the hill is steep, but it's short and we did it with a pushchair everyday and there is a longer access road that's less steep- but it affords the apartments the most beautiful, interrupted view of the sea and a very peaceful location.
The accommodation was great for us - 2 adults and a toddler - we got 3 wooden single beds (not a camp bed as other hotels often use for the extra) and there was plenty of room for walking around. Other people had 4 single beds in their larger apartments. There was a separate kitchen with small cooker, hobs, kettle, fridge, loads of cooking utensils; very large balcony; bathroom with shower; tele; desk; wardrobes and storage. The lovely pool area was never crowded even though we went peak high season.
Please don't book tours through your rep - we booked the round the island boat trip directly with the boat (they are all along the harbour in Skiathos town selling tickets for various trips) for 10E each less than the reps were charging and they use the same boat! The transfer fee through the tour operator is also quite hefty seeing as though it was only 20 mins from the airport (longest journey possible is 30 mins!)
It was lovely on the island - the most beautiful beaches - we went peak high season and it was not packed out anywhere - and we had a great time at the FILIA apartments.

8 readers found this review helpful

Just returned from 2 weeks at Filia. They have done a lot of work to tidy up the approach to this little oasis, and are in the process of refurbishing the apartments. It was lovely to see Christos and Filia again, who made us so welcome, and the Thomas Cook rep, Christine, was very helpful and friendly.
There are some beautiful walks in Troulos, to the monastery and Assilinos beach. Another lovely walk is from bus stop 13 round to bus stop 12, or you can stop at the beach and get a water taxi to Skiathos Town. Villa Rosa has a really good menu but we rather liked the new little taverna called "Ratatouille", part of Hotel Morfia.
Skiathos is our favourite holiday destination and, though very basic, Filia would always be our first choice for accommodation.

9 readers found this review helpful

Filia Studios is a great base for a relaxing holiday on the beautiful island of Skiathos. Set back from the road so is quiet. You will need to be reasonably fit as it is quite hilly. The rooms are quite basic but adequate. The pool area is lovely and quiet with comfortable sun loungers, we found it to be very peaceful which in August is amazing... Possibly because everyone seemed to migrate to the many lovely beaches nearby. Filia Studios are a family run concern and the family are very friendly, are willing to run groups to beach and Skiathos Town using their minibus if required. They run a great barbecue evening every week usually on a Wednesday which is not to be missed. Food at the bar is good, reasonably priced and ideal for a mid-day snack. For evening there is a large choice of local Tavernas where the food is traditional greek style and simply delicious. A bus service runs every few minutes to local beaches and to Skiathos town, the tariffs are very reasonable and it is a good way of seeing the island.

6 readers found this review helpful

Other than the shock of the cost of everything in Greece now, having not been for 15 years, we had a great holiday here. These sorts of places in Greece are 2 star, so you don’t expect too much, but what you get for your money was sure easier to accept years ago compared to now. The Filia has a nice pool and ‘garden’ which is more than can be said for many of the places you pass on the way down to the beach, and the path/road goes right past the pool of many of these. Because Filias is up the hill, nobody but guests go near. This also makes it very safe, as staff would notice strangers straight away. The hotels and Tavernas of Skiathos have none of the naïve charm of years gone by, the new generation of Greek owners and managers are clearly in it for the money. £5 a night for air conditioning! £8 for a sun shade on the beach! £3.50 return trip to town on the bus. £10 for a basic meal and drink. The shops are also expensive, ie more expensive than in the UK. There are two bigger supermarkets in Skiathos near bus stop 2, which are worth going to as soon as possible on your trip. So if you did the basics to make your holiday comfortable, you could easily spend £500 in a week in addition to the holiday cost. Double it if you have kids as there is very little saving for families. The saving grace for us was the two ring burner and fridge in the Filia room.
Troulos beach is great however, as are Koukanaries and Banana, but they both get really busy in the afternoon. Which is ok if you want that. Banana and Little Banana are very beautiful little beaches but there is hardly a square yard on either that the business men haven’t put a sun bed on, which does spoil the charm somewhat. The beds are right next to each other as well. Of course anybody can understand why they do this, with such a short season, but you do feel a bit exploited. There is no longer a meandering path through the pine trees to get to them, it is a bulldozed road. All these beaches are practically empty at 10am and still quiet up to lunch time, so if like me, you like to be up early on holiday, you can still avoid the crowds. Before the sun gets hot at 9am ish, you can easily walk to Koukanaries and Banana from Troulos, with great views.
Troulos is a great family beach, free shade if you want it, several tavernas, great snorkelling and easy walk from Filia using the short cut. Troulos is not a town or village though. I read somewhere that it was the second town of Skiathos, but it isn’t, there isn’t a second town on the island. Troulos is a beach and collection of hotels and mini markets. There is nothing built pre 1970-80.
I hope none of this sounds to wingy, as I had a great time here and was able to relax very quickly into my holiday routines, but of course, things ain’t what they used to be.

4 readers found this review helpful

I stayed at the Filia apartments for a week with 3 female friends and from the moment we arrived we were made welcome by the lovely family who run the apartments, Christos (whose personality is legendary), his mother, Filia and his father. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble for them. Christos, for example, took us to a nearby beach in the minibus in the mornings collecting us late afternoon when we asked him to. The Greek night was great fun with Filia encouraging us all to get up and dance (which we did). The hill which has been mentioned in other reviews is steep(in skiing terms a blue) but short (probably 200 yards)and we had no problems with it although there is a less steep route. The views from the apartments are brilliant and the gardens are kept beautifully. Although we only had a couple of late breakfasts/early lunches there the food was good and we wished we had had another couple of days so we could have eaten there at night. The mini bus was also used to take us into Skiathos which is a lovely place to wander around with lots of good places to eat and drink and watch the world go by. We also went on a boat trip to Skopelos and Alonissos for the day which was great and saw dolphins playing apparently enjoying the waves the boat made. We would definitely recommend Nectar and Ambrose restaurant in Troulos where we went twice. All in all if you want a relaxing holiday with lovely beaches, a pretty town to visit, lots of good places to eat and drink, very friendly people go to Skiathos. This is a truly magical island which I would go back to tomorrow if I could. AND STAY AT FILIA!

5 readers found this review helpful

We have just returned from a fabulous two week break in Skiathos.
Hearing so much about suicide hill filled us with a bit of trepidation before we got there.
But it had nothing on the hill that we had to climb when we stayed in Pefkos, Rhodes a couple of years ago. But I digress. Yeah it was a bit steep, but there was a back track that bypassed the hill and you could go up that way.
The appartments are run by Filia and her son Christos and the rest of the family.
Not to forget Marianne the chief cook and bottle washer who looked after everything and more.
The rooms are basic but comfortable. At the same time what more do you expect,if you want three or four star go stay in a hotel. We had a problem with the shower, but Christos being a plumber as well as the chief bartender sorted it out quickly enough.
The appartments are up on a hill with brilliant views of the sea, with the Taverna and swimming pool just below. They are far enough away from the pool and bar area that any noise from late night revellers would not disturb anyone.
Filia and Christos made our stay very comfortable and were helpful in the extreme. The family are so warm and friendly that we can't understand any previous reviews that said that they were rude and ill mannered.
Troulos itself is the second largest town on Skiathos, it is a bit spread spread out without a central area other than the main junction on the road. The regular bus service is 2 Euros no matter where you get on or how far you are going. Travel south and you end up on Koukanaris and Banana beaches, go north and the end of the line is Skiathos town. There are various beaches and coves along the way. We found that the best stop to get off for Skiathos town was Stop 4. This took you down through the old town and the main street shopping centres down to the harbour.
There are some very good tavernas/restaurants in Troulos itself. Villa Rosa we found was the best and ended up eating there at least 4 times out of our 13 nights. But The Troulos Bay Hotel, Paradisio, Vassili and the Victoria weren't far behind. Be warned there are no Macdonalds only Greek restaurants. The hotels however do cater for children, so you can always find chicken nuggets and hot dogs.
Unless you stay at the Filia, you are not going to stagger up the hill. If you did, Christos and his family do excellent food themselves, the breakfasts being particularly good. There is a Greekk night held on a wednesday night. Not to be missed, we had great fun. Filia leads the dancing, in the end everyone gets up. It's a great laugh.
So all in all we had a brilliant time. Chilled out days around the pool, hikes up to the dog sanctuary. Island hopping on the ferries. You won't get very far without some one mentioning or you hearing Mamma Mia. Skiathos and Skopelos are where the movie was made.
Hats off to all at Filia and Christine the Thomas Cook rep who certainly gave us a holiday to remember.
Why did we only give it 8 out of 10?
Because it can only get better.
Walter and Joan,
South Shields.

2 readers found this review helpful

stayed at filia for one week first time in greece hotel very peacefull and friendly lovely views bit of a hill to get to hotel food great pool lovely family run very helpfull
if your looking for relaxing holiday perfect lovely beaches to visit bus service very good to get about

2 readers found this review helpful

We first went to skiathos in 1994 and can honestly say that we were the luckiest people ever to have found filia. Chris was only a young boy when we first went and our daughters adored him!. We have carried on going always booking the filia as we found all the staff and the family wonderful and our apartment was cleaned and the beds changed regularly, we kept all our valuables in the apartment and never felt the need to use the safe's. We have discovered over the years of getting to know the family that they offer wonderful home cooked meals, the rabbit stafado is to die for and filia's calamari is the best i have ever tasted. I could go on and on singing their praises but feel maybe i should stop cause too many people will find our hidden gem