Apollo Apartments Skala

Visited the Apollo for our family holiday this year and had a brilliant time. The Apartments were clean and well tended, but they were very basic with only two electric rings to cook on and a decent little fridge and free air conditioning which we needed because it was very hot! Because this is a small family run complex there is always space around the pool with plenty of free sun loungers. The pool is Salt water and is very clean and regularly maintained. It is however a 30-40min walk into the town which can be quite a way with chilkdren in the heat, there are however a few places to stop off and have a drink on the way. If you dont want to walk it is a 5 euro taxi ride into town, I would recommend that you hire a car not just for the trip in but to explore this beautiful Island. I would recommend you visit Poreos, Lourdata for the sandy beach, and Anti-Samos, also the Missilani undergrond lakes are amazing! The beaches on the island are quite pebbly with only one sandy beach at Lourdata. Skala itself has many reasonably priced restraunts to eat in, and numerous little tavernas. This is not a party place and is very quiet and family friendly. The owners are lovely, Christoph, Natasha and her two sons Alex and Thanos who made us feel very welcome. All in all if you ant a peaceful quiet relaxing time I would recommend that you visit! We enjoyed it so much we are thinking of returning next year!I

3 readers found this review helpful

well, what can i say...staying at the apollo was the best holiday i have had, i went there in 2008 with my mum and nan, we enjoyed it so much we went back this year, the main thing that drew me back there was the family who run the hotel, thanos, natasha, christos and little alex :) they were always so helpful, and i enjoyed all of their company in the evenings, we would play games of cards lol. the view from the apartments is so beautiful..pure sea, and also you can see the pool so if you have any kids that you want to keep an eye on you can feel safe just by watching them from the room, no problems are ever there. the rooms are basic, but you only need basic if your there for a couple weeks. skala town is a 30min walk depending how fast you are, but we usually get a taxi for 5euros straight to town...there are many lovely restruants in town, there is a place for everyone, and the waiters are helpful and cater to your every need, they are also hot which helps lol. there are some trips if you like that kind of thing, we didnt do any trips this year or last year as we have done them all before in other greek islands. we are planning to go out there next year as thanos and his family would like to meet my dad, so that should be fun...also i am planning on going there in may to look for work until oct, what can i say...i just love it there alot, and i advise people to go there if you want to relax and enjoy the breath taking views and lovely hospitality, you will enjoy, if you dont then there is something wrong with you . georgina revell xxx

We booked our holiday through Thomas cook we asked for an apartment near a nice beach. Prior to going i looked at other reviews and seen that it may be some distance but we no way expected to be as far as it was.
Literally in the middle of nowhere - No shop nearby a good 15 min walk to the nearest Mini Market. 30 min to Skala as for the beach pebbles not sandy as stated.
The apartments are run mainly by a 15 yr old boy who cooks the limted snacks that are available which are poor standard and very expensive which you have no option to pay if you want a day by the pool. The reception closes between 5pm - 7pm so no chance of phoning a taxi to town.
The rep was no use. Towards the end of the holiday we discovered the hotel nearby had a mini market and you could go for evening meals - Which were excellent dishes and reasonable costs - Saves 10 euros in a taxi or a 30 min walk - Sometimes late at night pitch black on bad roads.
The only good thing was the pool good size and somedays more or less to your self.
As a family we would not recommend this unless you want a pool holiday , hire a car, pay over the top prices for a plate of chips - 4 euros and want to be stick in the middle of nowhere with no amenties nearby. Really they should lay on a courteousy bus like the other hotels did to town or improve the food on offer.Not really recommended for children

As i used these reviews to choose my accomodation I thought I should contribute. Myself and my partner went for a week to the Apollo last week and we had a wonderful holiday. We were particularly lucky in our room allocation, we were on the corner of the building so had an extra large balcony and sea views on two sides.
We had a studio which was more than large enough for the two of us for a week. There is a large fridge (including an ice box) two rings and quite a good slection of pans, the utentials and plates/bowls were not numerous but we had enough to be able to cook overselves a few decent meals.
The pool area is gorgeous with plenty of sunloungers and parasols, when we went it was never that busy round the pool anyway. You can get down to the jetty but it is a pretty steep path and difficult to get into the sea, your probably better to just swim in the pool or walk down the round to the beach.
I was worried when looking on the map as to how far away the apartments were from the resort however it's really not an issue, i would recommend you take a torch for walking there and back at night (i believe its 5 euro for a taxi but we never used them) The nearest supermarket is a 15min walk away, the bar at the hotel sells bottled water for 1 euro so if you don't have a car it's not too expensive to buy your water from the apartment.
To get into skala proper it talks about half an hour, there several resturants nearer to the apartments. On our last night we ate in a restuarant set in a boat (it's on shore) which not only being a novelty serves excellant food. A bit more on the pricey side than some of the tavernas it offers loads of choice, good service and excellent food.
I would recommend hiring a car, we had one for 5 out of 7 days, I'm not a regular driver but i coped with the roads.
Everyone (guests and staff) were really friendly at the apartment and you are free to do your own thing or get to know people at the apartment which ever you prefer.
If your considering whether to go for a week or a fortnight I'd really suggest you go for a fortnight there is enough to do and the Apollo is a good base.

1 reader found this review helpful

What can I say? We had an excellent time at the Apollo (myself, partner and sons aged 9 and 13) Room was fab with one bedroom and two sofas/beds in lounge area.
The kitchen cooking facilities are basic, two electric rings, minimal cutler and pans etc, but you make do, we managed to cook a few meals in the room which were nice. Large balcony with sea and pool view, free air conditioning that made room extremely cold at times! Had to switch it off to sleep. We had room number 12, although a few rooms at top had no view or balcony to speak of, but owners Natasha & Christope were accomodating and would move you if another room became available and was what you had orginally ordered (ie one bedroom or studio apartment). Owners had two sons same age as ours and were very chilled. Easily best location, outside of town and SO peaceful with quiet pool and amazing views over sea. Our rep Hollie really looked after us and gave great advise on area. We walked into town most evenings (take a torch if you plan to walk back) Its not far about 20 mins or you can get a cab for 5 euros or the little train which stops just past the apollo for half its usual fare of 3.50 euros each (as normally does a tour of town, takes you up the hill and back to town again). There were a few little coves nearby where you could snorkel and swim or take to the local sandy beach , where you can sit with the rest of the crowd or find a quieter spot alone. The restaurants were great, we had a tasty meal at the boat Penelope restaurant just a short walk down the hill from the Apollo, mussel stroganki, 8 huge mussels in a pan with tomatoey sauce, or the Penelope Lamb pie, comes in a large white dish with a tender leg of lamb, a pie crust?, potatoes etc. Another faviourite was the Pines in town, Kelafiko and mixed grill were fab. Theres a bus which passes the hotel at 11.30am and picks you up at the Porto Skala hotel (2 mins up the road) and for 1.50 euros each you can visit Poros for the day (bus returns from Poros at 4.30pm) Poros is more typically Greek with a quiet harbour and is backed by beautiful mountains, we swam from the town beach and had lunch there (food prices cheaper than Skala, especially the fish). We went on a Jewels of Kefalonia coach tour, visited the Drognati and Messlini caves, also the winery and the chapel where the local saint is laid to rest, we were luck enough to visit when the casket was open and saw his amazingly preserved body! We had lunch at Assos and went onto Fiskardo, the only part of the island to survive the 1953 earth quake, if you are lucky enough to have Marina as your tour guide thats very fortunate as she is very informative on the history of the island and we learnt lots, ask her about her addition for the film Captian Correlis Mandelin! We met some really friendly people and organised a BBQ on the last night, Christophe was only to happy to lend us his and apart from 12 of us sitting down to eat we also invited Christophe and his wife and children to show the how much we appreciated their hospitality! If you are looking for somewhere quiet and peaceful and are happy with walking into town to eat or drink and swim in the crystal blue seas then you cant get much better than this.

The Apollo Apartments are an ideal location with fantastic views. The rooms are clean and tidy with air conditioning inclusive in the price. TV reception is poor so BBC World services is the best you can expect. Also, little or no reception for mobile phones if you can't live without. The pool bar serves the usual menu but is very reasonable. All the staff are extremely friendly and helpful.
The apartments are a long way out of town. It's half an hour walk, but at night time it is very dodgy, so be prepared to hire a car or pay the 5 euros for a taxi. There are couple of coves close to the apartment which are great for snorkelling, but not sunbathing, as there is little or not shade unless you sit in the cave. Can also recommend the scuba diving from Agia Efimia, had fish eating out of my hand, terrific. All in all, an excellent base if you fancy somewhere quiet.

Fantastic apartments, the best I’ve ever been to! Thanos and Natasha are both brilliant. I will definitely be going back there.
I would recommend these apartments to anybody who was thinking of going to Kefalonia, even though the walk into Skala was a bit long (25-30 mins) it's in such a nice location! Thomson were very good, even though the rep did tell us some wrong information and their sun cruise was brilliant!