The Lagoon Hotel and Apartments

5 readers found this review helpful

My boyfriend and I went to this hotel on a last minute deal in July 2006 and have to say we were very impressed.
We arrived at about 3am and after a very stressful journey (all down to me leaving my passport on the plane by accident) we were shown to our room. It was very spacious with a living area and a big kitchen aswell as an ample sized bathroom and bedroom. There were also two balconies which looked over the pool. And as it was on the ground floor we could just hop over the balcony to the sunbeds in the morning. It was right next to the bar area and I was very worried about this being a noise issue but it was fine - we normally had a nap around 6ish and the music from the bar was actually quite soothing as we were sleeping - even though by the end of the week we had memorised the entire playlist and knew which song was coming next!!!
The pool area was well kept and as a previous reviewer stated; it was cleaned daily and obsessively! It was a nice size and fine for all ages to swim in (there was a shallower bit for kids). There were always plenty of sunbeds and nobody did that putting-your-towel-on-the-sunbeds-at-6am thing!!!
The staff were great, especially giving me advice about corfu town where I had to go to twice to get an emergency passport. (For the record Corfu town is a buzzing place with lots of good shops and restaurants....the bus journey there is fine if youre lucky enough to get a bus with air con...one of our trips back we got on one without and I nearly fainted from the heat!!)
We ate in the bar a few times and the food was nice. Loved the cocktails - I seem to remember getting extremely merry on the "Lagoon Special"!!!
The resort of Sidari itself is a little tacky as you get alot of strange people that want British comforts when they are abroad. However, we did have a few very nice traditional meals whilst there. The Three Little Pigs was fun....I thought they were squirting washing up liquid on the walls then soon realised it must have been alcohol or something because they set fire to it!! There was also a lovely resaturant across from the hotel and down a dusty road...Its a bit diffficult to explain but its tucked away abit and its not on a road you would really walk down but its 2 minutes from the Lagoon. Sit outside in their courtyard there its really pretty. The staff at the hotel might be able to explain where it is!
The nightlife isnt too bad - there are a few nice bars and one or two nightclubs Bed was good. Although at a certain time some of the bars had to turn their music off due to licensing which was a bit weird! It might have changed now though.
The beach was ok - nothing special but fine for a days sunbathing and a few watersports. We met another couple at the Lagoon and went on the Flyfish with them - Ive never screamed so much it was really fun!!!
All in all it was a really good holiday, as relaxed or as fun as we wanted it to be and I thought this was the best hotel in the resort from what I saw.

3 readers found this review helpful

Me, my boyfriend and 2 other couples, aged 20 and under had all gone to these apartments on the 16th May – 23rd May 2008 in Sidari, before we left I made sure to check up on a few of other peoples reviews from other websites, and I found an amazing website which contained everything that is available in Sidari, from the restaurants you can eat in, to the clubs and bars, even all of the hotels and apartments are listed on there with lots of reviews, I recommend anyone to check it out. http://www.justcorfu.co.uk/Corfu/HTM/L0409.htm
We had approximately an hour journey to the apartments from the airport, which was o.k. As we arrived at the apartments first impressions was good, it looked clean and well kept. We had an afternoon flight and didn’t arrive at the apartments until 10:00pm, at this time the reception is completely closed but a very friendly lady came to greet us and showed us to our apartments, we stayed in a studio which was very spacious, I would say one of the biggest studios I have stayed in, it contained the obvious kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The kitchen contained all facilities anyone self catering could need, and it was very clean ( I am very fussy when it comes to cleanliness). The bathroom had a shower and a half bath which was fine as me and my partner don’t take baths so we were not to bothered by having a small bath. The downfall of bathroom was that when you had a shower water went everywhere as there was no shower curtain to stop it, even though it was equipped with a drain on the floor for any water, it was a pain, we was always getting the toilet roll soaked ( Oh you only get toilet paper on Thursdays, if you have used it by then you will have to buy your own, they will not provide you with anymore, but toilet roll was quite cheap supermarket sold it for 80cents for 2 rolls so was not to much of a bother). Bedroom had 2 separate beds which are easily pushed together if you prefer it that way. I’m very fussy when it comes to bed covers as well and I am pleased to say ours was immaculate no stains what so ever. You have a hairdryer and dressing table, plenty of storage space and a wardrobe.
Cleaner would come round everyday and clean the floors and bathroom and make the beds, no matter how much of a mess you made it would always be fantastically clean by the time she had finished. Bed covers were changed once a week. A downfall with towels was they are only changed once a week, which to me is not enough, especially if you’re showering every night.
They do provide safety deposit boxes which are free, they are situated in reception, they open at 8am - 10pm, so on the evening you need to make sure you have enough money on you, if you decide to keep it all in there, otherwise if you run out there is no way of getting anymore out, you will have to wait till the mourning.
The Swimming pool was not huge but big enough. One end was 1m deep the deepest was 3m and there was a baby pool, also had a slider at the shallower end. The pool is a free pool which means anyone from outside can just come in and sunbathe and swim etc, it was like that at all of the swimming pools at the hotels, which I didn’t go much on as I quite like having an exclusive swimming pool, we were told by one of the PR’s that Lagoon has the best swimming pool in Sidari so is very popular, and I would expect in peek season it could get busy, seeing as we went at the start of the season it was very quiet, we pretty much had the pool to our selves. The swimming pool was kept immaculately clean the guy who had the job of cleaning the pool on the evening was very obsessive, which was great I would not complain, me and my partner was sat on our balcony one evening and he was so precise with the sunbeds he made sure they all lined up, we were waiting to see if he was going to get a ruler out, but that would have been a bit extreme.
The bar was also very well kept, we only ate there in the mourning and sometimes for lunch, we didn’t spend much time there, but the staff are very friendly, and the young man behind the bar even remembered what drink I would like every mourning, which was great, they also had plenty of variety food wise, and was reasonable priced, we paid 3 euros for a full breakfast, but there drinks were slightly expensive, for a coke it was 2.50 euros and for a pint of cider/ lager was 4 euros, you could find other places that were cheaper around sidari for drinks, but the food was good value for money.
All in all the Lagoon was fantastic, and Sidari has a lot to offer, especially to the younger generation, I have been told that in peak season it can be very hectic, so if you prefer the quieter side of life, where you don’t have to wait in queues at the bar or to get in to clubs etc, I would recommend you go before or after July – September, as we were told queues for certain clubs go miles back, and there clubs are not huge so I can imagine it would be very crammed. Oh and if you want to do the whole checking out the greek way of life etc, I wouldn’t try to find it in sidari it’s a typical English type place, with football played everywhere, cheesy karaoke and Sunday Lunch.
One couple who we went with loved it so much they have already booked up to go this September, there hoping to catch the last part of the peak season to see what its like.
Would recommend it to anyone, top place.
And as I said at the top, check that website it contains lots of information, and it is very accurate.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed in a 2 bed studio which was clean and spacious with modern fittings. There were free safety deposit boxes in the apartment's reception, which was open in the morning and evening. We also got an 8pm checkout for 25 Euros extra which was great as we had a night flight. Our only complaints were that you were only given 1 lumpy pillow each and although the bed sheets were clean, the main covers on the beds were a bit stained and musty. The pool area was very nice and was cleaned and tidied thoroughly without fail every evening. There were also plenty of sun beds and the pool was a good size (but very deep). The pool bar was also lovely with a good choice of snacks available.
The evening entertainment consisted of karaoke, bingo and quizzes but we never really stayed in the apartments at night to find out what this was like! The Lagoon is in an excellent location, the nearest supermarket is practically next door, and the beach and main strip of bars, restaurants etc is 2 mins walk away but the apartments are set back from the road enough for them to be fairly peaceful at night.
Sidari itself is obviously geared up to catering for the English, every bar was advertising karaoke, English films, English breakfasts and every menu was in just Greek and English. The main street in Sidari has a big choice of bars and restaurants, some of which were very lively, and there are a couple of clubs. There are a lot of PRs working outside every bar which could get annoying, but they were all friendly and we ended up out on the town with a few of them!
Restaurants I would recommend are Pancho's Villa, Sea Breeze, The Magic Wok and Three Little Pigs (we really enjoyed their Greek night!). There are also some great bars, we liked bed bar, Falcon bar and Palazzo. Being in our 20s we wanted lively nightlife but if you're looking for somewhere peaceful don't book accommodation in the centre of Sidari as people do party all night!
Sidari beach wasn't very nice, we never sunbathed there, it was covered in seaweed and rubbish and the sea was very murky. I was also disappointed by the beaches at the Canal D'amour end of Sidari. There are a lot of stray dogs running around on the beach and in the streets so if you're scared of dogs beware, they're all friendly but they will approach you! We went on a day trip to Paleokastritsa and Bella Vista, which has some stunning beaches and caves (we booked a boat trip here with Captain's club on Paleokastritsa beach which I thoroughly recommend) and the views from Bella Vista and the old Monastery were amazing.
There are lots of places to book trips in Sidari, our advice is to shop around and barter as prices vary a lot. We booked ours through Travel Spot. I would also recommend the horse riding trip in Roda, its a great way to see the countryside, which is beautiful.
The Greek people were all lovely and made us feel very welcome and there was plenty to do in Sidari, but it is definitely not the most attractive of resorts. It rained for the first 2 days of our holiday and there was an almightily thunderstorm on the second night which left nearly a foot of water on the road outside our apartments (according to the locals this was only a baby storm!) Luckily after this the weather was glorious but beware the mosquitoes which are vicious! All in all we enjoyed our holiday and would return to Corfu but probably not to Sidari.