Kefalonia Garden Village

I booked this holiday in June 2007. I had only been able to find 2 or 3 reviews before i went so went with a very open mind!! I went with my Husband and 2 Daughter's aged 13yrs & 10yrs. You can see KGV from a great distance away as the hotel is huge and like said on other reports is built into the side of a cliff. If you have any small, minor walking, heart or fitness problems DO NOT go to this hotel!!! We were on level 4 and i go to the gym at least 4 times every week, but by the time i had climbed the 'cardiac hill' i was out of breath!!
HOTEL STAFF;
Here is where our problem began and finished. We arrived on Tueusday 5th and went straight down to the pool, which is huge and fantastic. We all loved sitting round the pool, the views are wonderful from wherever you sit! The only strange thing is that the small pool backs onto the deep end of the main pool, although not a problem for us, it would be a worry if you have young children in the small pool.
Day 2 we went down to the pool and then at 10.30am my eldest daughter went back upto our room. She came down to tell me her mobile phone had gone missing. I checked our room and it was nowhere to be found. The strange thing was that her bed was the only one unmade. I immediately went to reception to tell them what had happened. I was taken in to see the accomodations manager, she was trying to accuse my daughter of misplacing her phone (anyone who has a teenage daughter will know they do not misplace their 'lifeline' mobile phone) I then told her i would go and re check the room. I did so and then came back again to tell her it most definately was not there!!!!! Fortunately our rep was still in the hotel so she was in the meeting with us, she said she had not known of this happening before. The Thomas Cook rep (Becky) was very good she told us not to worry and that she would see the manager the next day as he was away on business. We were in room 428. i saw our nighbours from room 429 and told them what had happened. I saw him again 10 mins later and he told me his daughter had checked her purse and had found 60euros missing. He also told the acc manager, again she really wasn't very interested. After a meeting with the manager he told us this has happened before, but as so many people have access to our rooms it is impossible to tell who could have done it. He offered us a trip by way of an apology, which we accepted as there really isn't anything more you could do. PLEASE GET A SAFE & PUT EVERYTHING OF ANY VALUE AT ALL TO YOU IN IT!!!!!!We did have a safe but have never had to put mobiles ect into them. Later on in the week we were talking to another family who thought they had 50euros go missing from thier room, but could not be sure so never reported it. Another family from room 415 had 145eros go missing and a gold necklace. This family went to the police, who took a written statement and were disgusted that KGV were not doing more about this problem. On our 2nd week my daughters wanted to stay in the room so i told them to lock the door. At 4.30pm there was a knock at the door, but by the time they had got to the door a key unlocked it and a maid came in (bearing in mind our room had already been cleaned and she was not our maid) when she saw my daughter she stuttered and asked her if she had found her phone (strange or what?????) she then went out and locked the door.
APARTMENTS;
The apartments were probably the best i have stayed in. very spacious, very clean and very comfortable beds. The bathroom was also a very good size, with a bath and shower unit which was adequate, although if you wanted a bath you had to fill it from the shower, which for us wasn't an issue at all. We spoke to some people who said they had a jacuzzi bath in their bathrooms, and none of them worked!
There was a fridge and a microwave in the first room, although there was nothing to use in the microwave, and we had taken some noodles to cook for the girls. We took a small bowl from the dining hall and cooked them in stages ( lots of fun !!) All of the windows have green shutters on the outside, which keeps the apartments lovely and cool, although there is air con we actually didn't need to use it very much.
RESORT;
There is absolutely nothing surrounding the hotel!! If you want to go anywhere then you have to get a bus or taxi into Lixouri, as there is nowhere to walk to at all!!
BEACH;
We are not huge beach fans, but did walk down to the beach one day. A very small quite rocky beach, the sea isn't very nice as it is full of seaweed and rocks, so take some shoes to walk into the sea with.
FOOD;
We are not fussy eaters by any means, but i have to say the choice of food was extremely poor. This is our third time AI and by far the worst food!!! If you have been AI before then like us we have always had a chef at the back who does speciality food, well this chef cooked batter balls in fat every night apart from 2 nights when he managed pancakes!!!!! You will find food to eat but please do not expect any more than that!!!!