Nautilus Apartments

After reading previous reviews of these apartments, we thought they would be fantastic. They were ok but certainly need updating after being open for a few years eg:-the plumbing system, kettle (the one we had did not work, it was reported then supposedly fixed - it only worked after hitting the base a few times i became an expert in this!)rusty fittings in the bathroom, heavily mildewed shower curtain, broken draw handles - which were reported and not fixed. These gripes however, did not spoil our holiday Anaxos was a lovely quiet resort, we hired a car and explored this lovely island, loads to see, being keen birders, the saltpans at Skala Kalloni were a must to visit, lovely villages and beaches to see and the islanders were very friendly and helpful.

Just woke up from my 2 week nightmare. What the brochures do not tell you is that you could be placed in a basement. No view, no air con,Hot Hot Hot, dark dingy and on full view at all times. therefore we could never open our curtains. The owners were so unhelpful it was frightening. They were so unhelpful, they said that after a week we would be moved we waited all day they then changed their mind. The pool is very small never enough sun beds.
DO NOT RISK GOING HERE!!!!

Our room was a basement flat with no views. We had to keep all our curtains shut at all times as our bedroom window was on street level and people could see in.We kept windows locked and we had no air con.The only other window looked out on to the restaurant. We had no balcony or patio as such it was terrible. They said that they would move us after a week but nothing happened.In this day and age it should not happen, so WOULD YOU TAKE THE RISK.. The pool area was very small and never enough sun beds which was really bad. The owners were so off hand to the point of being rude. DO NOT STAY HERE

the apartments here are spotless, the owners are freindly and accomadating could not find a single fault with the place best holiday we have had.

This was the third time back in Anaxos for my friend and I. As the aim of the holiday is to get away for some peace and quiet and have some "quality time" we don't need entertaining. Anaxos ticks all our boxes in respect of peace, quiet, great food, the beach and friendly locals.
Paradise Apartments are a slice of rustic greece...everything you need, in a good location and clean. Owners are on site and are around but not intrusive....and how lovely to be left bowls of fresh plums for your breakfast! It is a small, shady little site which is accessed through a gate (this is closed at night) and felt very safe. We really enjoyed our week at Paradise and consider it to be really good value for money.

Just come back, brilliant place to stay.
This is the second time we've stayed in the apartments and I can honestly say that it is faultless. The apartments are just as clean as when it first opened. The food is great . The owners speak good english. They aim to please. The pool was spotless. Everyone who worked ther was polite and freindly. Above all it was professionally run .

4 readers found this review helpful

Dave,Lisa,Thomas & Ryan
You may read other comments for these apartments and see marks of 4/10 or 6/10 but what do these people expect.When you take a holiday to anywhere in Greece the rooms will be basic,everybody wants the largest pool and unless your accomodation is on the flight path to the local airport the transfer time will be too long.
That said this is the truth about the Nautilus Apartments - They are superb and cannot be faulted deserving in my opinion a 10/10 easily - anybody who gives less than 9/10 must have standards so high that they would give Victor Meldrew a run for his money.
The complex consists of 14 apartments located down a track from the main road (When I say main it is the road through the village but has very little traffic) which at the most can only be 80m long - The track leads to a dead end so you get no passing traffic or tourists and therefore the complex has a superb quiet location.
The family who own and run these apartments are superb they will do anything to cater for you and your family as nothing was an issue for them.
These apartments are spotless along with the grounds they are clearly not basic and have everything you need in a holiday apartment.
The 14 apartments are on 2 levels and during our stay we were allocated apartment A14 (Ground Floor).
The whole complex was like a family unit where everybody got on well and you knew all who were staying there,it was so nice and friendly that during the days where we spent time by the pool we would leave our patio doors open with no worries what so ever and it allowed the kids to pop in and out when they wanted.
The pool is NOT small (Previously Stated) but an ideal size to cater for the 14 apartments and at no time during our stay (ALL Apartments Booked ) was there an issue with the pool being crowded or getting a sunbed, infact even during the late morning there were always some available (Probaly because you were not permitted to stick a towel on a bed to reserve it if you were not there to use it)

The family served drinks from a well stocked bar and were NOT over priced as in some hotels or apartments.
Their breakfast was cleary the best available (Try the Baked Breakfast) and their meals were also superb and again priced very well.
Kids loved their milkshakes with a drizzle of chocolate sauce round the glass
These apartments are used only by First Choice and are clearly the jewel in their crown for this resort
The First Choice rep attending site for July 2008 was a lady called Jackie from Northern Irleland - Jackie liked to pride herself on her excellent service and willingness to help - again this could not be faulted as she was friendly,helpful and would attend the complex twice a day 6 days a week always greeting everybody as she passed the pool and doing all she could to ensure you enjoyed your stay.Excellent First Choice Rep
The beach is at the most 10 minutes away and that would be a very slow walk and once there you had plenty of choice of excellent Tavernas for you midday meal or drinks.
If you a thinking of staying at Anaxos and you want a superb family apartment run by a super greek family then the Nautilus Apartments would be my number 1 choice.
If you think it may be too far from the beach because you spend ALL your day on the beach and a 10 minute walk is too far then choose the Anaxos Hotel as this is only a stones throw from the beach.
When you have chosen your Apartment or Hotel please make sure you visit the Nautilus Apartments and see what you could have got for your money - Not to rub salt in your wounds but just to show that some reviews are really worth taking note of.

1 reader found this review helpful

Good Greek accomodation. Small but nothing wanting except perhaps some sun loungers for the patio.
Well serviced and clean. Friendly, unobtrusive owners who did their utmost to ensure that we had a good stay despite the language barriers.
These studios are quiet and well-situated for the beach. The beach is lovely and was not overcrowded at all in the first week of August. It shelves quite steeply and is great for swimming and snorkelling. Perhaps not a particularly good beach for very young children for this reason. Plenty of tavernas on the beach front and in Anaxos itself. Local, friendly supermarket. Swimming pools in local hotels are open to the public upon purchase of a drink (although we didn't feel the need and preferred the beach).
Bus services to Petra and Molyvos are good and regular. Both towns are well worth a visit. Views from the castle in Molyvos are spectacular although I was pleased that my young son wasn't with me - very steep drops from the ramparts with few or no barriers!
Lesvos is different from other islands that I have visited but no less beautiful - a combination of fantastic coastline and mountainous terrain inland.
A great holiday destination - I found it perfect for a quiet, romantic, "getaway from it all" scenario"

1 reader found this review helpful

We knew from their own website and the reviews on various other sites that the Nautilus would be good. But then someone else's idea of good might not be the same as ours! We were not disappointed.
You need to prepare for the coach journey from the airport, it is long (1.5-2hrs), slow and goes along mountainside roads which are high, narrow and very windy! Take some travel sickness pills if you are any way prone to motion sickness.
Once we reached the resort, we pulled up outside a little dirt track and made our way down. I had to say I didn't expect much but when we turned into the apartments we were thrilled.
We were met by Christos, one of the sons and were led to the bar. Then we were taken up to our apartments couple by couple.
We were in B4 which was so spacious you could have held a party inside. We had a balcony which looked over the swimming pool and if you opened the front door you had a beautiful view of the sea and the setting sun each night.
The facilities inside the apartment were excellant. We had a little cooker with 3 hobs, an oven and a grill - so toast for breakfast, a first for us in Greece!. There was all the plates, and utensils that you needed, a fridge that got really cold and the cleanliness was next to none.
The bedroom area was lovely with a great big wardrobe and drawer units, dressing table and lots of plug points. We had a hairdryer (but I had brought my own!) and the air conditioning worked even with the windows or balcony doors open. Our bathroom was basically a wet room (with no shower curtain!) but it was a huge area and it worked!
The air con was 5 Euros per day and the safety deposit box 1 Euro per day which I thought was quite reasonable. I would leave the decision about the air con until the next day as some apartments were so cool with the windows open a little that you didn't need it.
The family were fantastic. You had mum and dad who didn't speak much English and then the two sons, Christos and Ariste. Rita who was Christos' Canadian/Greek wife spoke perfect English and was so helpful. Mum, Maria cooked all of the food and it was delicious, the BBQ Chicken Pizza was to die for! The range of food at the pool bar was good, there was sandwiches, burgers, chips, salads, starters, pizza's and pasta etc. The prices were reasonable but you do pay a little extra for the convienience of not having to walk into the resort in the middle of the day.
They were so accomodating that when friends from another apartment invited us for dinner on their first floor terrace (which was huge!) they even delivered and served it up for us on the terrace.
Breakfast was great - I had the cinammon French toast and honey a couple of times which was unusual and came with fresh fruit - nectarines, water melon, grapes, cherry's and honeydew melon depending on what they picked that day.
They also held a Greek BBQ evening on Sundays which we went to. It was great. The food was excellant - chicken and sovlaki, bread and salad. They also had a brilliant bouzouki player who managed to keep playing the instrument with lightening quick fingers and still keep a cigarette on the go! The greek villagers came, some of the older ladies even got up and danced. But the girls who did the dancing were locals and not some imported greek dancers in national costume. These were people who cared but didn't get in your face when you said no. It was also a wonderful opportunity to people watch as well. All in all very relaxed and good value - with none of the usual tackiness of "Greek Night"
And then there was Susie, the family dog. She was wonderful and kept the goats in the opposite field in check and loved the treat of an ice-cube or two at lunchtime! Most of us wished we could bundle her home!
If we had any critism - the pool area was a little small - there were probably not enough sunbeds and not a huge area to put them in. The picture of the pool in the First Choice brochure is also a little deceiving as it is not as large as it looks. The water is also quite cold until you're in and swimming around but after that it's very nice and kept very clean. The beach however is not too far away, but the sand is very coarse and dark and it was pretty windy down there. Some of the restaurants were doing a deal whereby your bought lunch and their sunbeds on the beach opposite were FOC. These were limited though.
The resport itself is very Greek, although it is small and quite spread out. It's a shame that there is no natural harbour or square - it really is just a long line of restaurants along the seafront with some shops and more taverna's / grill houses along the two main roads leading to the sea front. More towards the back is some villagers houses and there are lots of field area's with vegetables growing.
We also saw lots of fruit trees, quince, pomegranate, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, nectaries and grapes.
The restaurants were very reasonable - we payed maximum 25 Euro's for 2 course dinner for two with a litre caraffe of house white, but some places did special deals for two. One of which was a grill house down one of the side roads - they did garlic bread and tsatski for two to start, then two plated gyro's (lamb kebab, salad, chips, tsatsiki, pitta bread) and half a caraffe of house wine for 14.50 Euro's. Bargain!
The Tropicana Restaurant was also lovely with a wide range of dishes. We went there on the first and last night.
Our rep Jacky Harrison was good - she was from Northern Ireland and a little loud, but knew her stuff. We booked up for the starlight cruise on the Saturday night as it was billed as romantic and it was our 10th wedding anniversary, but due to high winds it was cancelled. Disappointing but understandble - so we went into Molyvos (the nearest large town) for the evening and had a shopping fest instead! Some of the First Choice organised excursions were a bit expensive and they were not accompanied so you needed to make and pay for your own way to the collection point. (some were a 7-10 Euro taxi ride each way)
All in all a very relaxing holiday - excellant value for money. excellant accomodation and we were made very welcome. We would definately go back!

1 reader found this review helpful

This was our third visit to Lesvos and we will be returning again this august. We found the Nautilus to be the cleanest and most modern of any apartment we have stayed in.
The owners were extremely friendly and helpful. We had 2 children at the time (now 3) and found it a very child friendly enviroment. The pool and bar were of a great standard although a few more sunbeds would have been nice.
There wan't a direct route to the beach from the apartments, but to be honest it's just a case of a 1 minute walk to the main road and then 2 minutes back down to the beach. Overall I would highly recomend the aprtments.
Anaxos itself is a quiet resort that I think evolved from allotments to capitalise on the tourist industry. The beach is nicer than Petra's though.
Petra is a half hours walk away. You can either go accross the top road or round the coast, which is much nicer but can be a bit treacherous at one or two points.
Now, Petra is a loveley old town. A church sits perched on a huge rock in the centre and the village is built around it. Absolutely stunning.
Molyvos is further along the coast. You could walk to it but not with kids really. The heat can be intense. A taxi or bus is probably best. Although you can't beat the view of molivos as you get to the half way mark.
This is an ancient and truly beautiful town built onto the side of a hill. You really need to see this for yourself.
We tend to use Anaxos as a base and for the beach, and Petra and Molyvos to eat in.
Now, whats Lesvos like? Not many people in england ever seem to of heard of it, but it is without a doubt the true gem of greece.
Firstly, if you after a party i, stop reading and try Malia. If your cup of tea is English bars and egg and chips, then this really isn't the place for you. It suits families and people who want a quiet restful holiday.
This is as close to real greece as your likely to get. The island does not survive on tourism alone, it's main incomes come from the zillion or so olive trees that cover the island like a big green duvet.
The people are for the most part genuinely friendly, and since they haven't really been exposed to the uglier face of british tourists they are still very trusting. In fact, the bar at one apartment block consisted of an unguarded upright fridge filled with drinks. The owner told the guests to take what they liked , write it down and then settle the bill when there was someone around.
The food is simply amazing. It can be a real foodie heaven, but not every restaurant and taverna is of the same standard. The captains table ad the octopus in Molivos were fantastic. The only real problem was when the lovely owner of the Octopus served my kids a free mid afternoon Sambuca aperatif. Being too polite for my own good I drank them all while her back was turned. Not being much of a drinker I nearly fell into ther harbour afterwards.
Theres a restaurant in the backstreets of Petra. I can never remember its name but it's under the church on the rock and consists of a small balcony and a kitchen. The food there rivals anything I have ever eaten. Real greek home cooking. Then theres a cafe on the harbour to finish your evening with a cake and a coffee. The perfect place to watch the sun set over rabbit island.
Then theres the thermal springs. Eftalou is a couple of miles away. A couple of minutes in the roasting hot springs then into the sea. Do this a couple of times and you will feel amazing. I had the best sleep of my life aaftrwards.
The island is dotted with beautiful unspoilt villages.
The trips are tuthfully mostly rubbish.The Petrified forest is awe inspiring for about 20 minutes and then you realise that one petrified tree is much like another. The Turkey trip is amazing when you get to Pergamon then infuriating when you get railroaded by carpet sellers who think by locking you in a room and plying you with apple tea your going to by an overpriced carpet.
On the other hand the boat bbq was great. Swimming in a beautiful hidden cove and then bbq'd chicken as you chug quietly past the stunning scenery.
As far as bars go, I haven't got much of a clue as I don't drink. Except that on one of the streets heading from the main road theres a tiny bar opposite a mini market. The decoration is truly mental, It's a room/garden/jimi Hendrixes christmas tree with the owner sitting in the doorway playing classic rock from a cd player. Rumour has it that he does it to annoy his uncle who owns the mini market accros the way.
Theres a lot more bars at Erressos. This is the birthplace of Sapho and so is a destination for lesbian tourists from all over the world. This is a paradox for the orthadox christians of lesvos. One local told us that sapho never expressed love for women in her poetry and that it was a myth. However they do bring in much needed money to the island. The truth is that the island has been a matriarchal society since antiquity. (sorry to get serious for a moment) and women have always had at least an equal role in the community. The detractors are a minority and the objections are religously based. Expect to see plently of ladies "holding hands" and sometimes even kissing. If you have a problem with this then Eressos isn't the place for you otherwise it's just a slightly more liveley place with a great beach.
Anyway, I could go on forever about this amazing island. To sum it up, if you like beautiful, stunning ,quiet ,family friendly,laid back , relaxing holidays and are looking for a touch of the real greece sprinkled with a touch of mentalness then this is the place. The majority of visitors return year after year, prepare to be addicted.