Matoula Apartments

well it was really good 2 be there weather was hot spiros is really great he lets me play pool nice food nice clean rooms hope we come there soon we met freindly people coming bk in august 2009

4 readers found this review helpful

This was the worst holiday that we have ever been on, I wouldnt Recommend this resort or First Choice holidays, It was so bad that its the only holiday that we have had to make a formal complaint about.
Please read the below complaint letter that we sent to First Choice, make your own judgement about this resort. If you want to waste your money, then go ahead and book this. Finally, we have received a response from First Choice. It doesnt answer any of our complaint other than stating that the resort has good feedback from other holiday makers so it must us then and not the resort!!!!
The Complaint letter is below:-
I would like to complain about the above holiday I booked with yourselves recently. This is the worst holiday that myself and my partner have ever taken as there were problems from the moment that this was booked. I will list the various problems separately as they occurred.
1) Firstly I booked the holiday directly at the www.firstchoice.co.uk website. Upon deciding which holiday I was going to take, I found I was unable to delete the in-flight meals for the chosen holiday resort, even though I was able to do this with other resorts that were leaving on the same flight. I found this bizarre so I phoned the contact centre to see why this was the case, the representative there checked this for me and told me that it was because of the resort I have chosen, when I pointed out that different resorts in Corfu on the same flight were able to have the in-flight meals deleted , she said she couldn’t understand this and that she couldn’t help. I then went back to the website to book the holiday and had to take the in-flight meals at £40 in total for the 3 of us travelling, even though these were not required due to the time of the flight.
2) On arriving at the check-in desk, my partner, my 5 year old daughter and myself had a horrific experience with one of your staff. What can only be described as a young, rude, inexperienced boy with grammatical challenges was to be the one to check us in. Whilst on his personal mobile phone, he asked “ Have you got your tickets and passports yeah? “ I might add there was no eye contact at all during this process. My partner placed the documents onto the counter and waited at least 30 seconds for the boy to finish his text before he grunted “ Your not on the system.” Immediately we panicked as we had booked as a late deal (If you can call it that) and had no reassurance from the boy as to why we wouldn’t be on the system. It took my partner to ask how we could possibly have the tickets but not be on the system before he again started to text on his mobile phone. At this stage, after no eye contact and no customer service my partner asked “ Do you need to be on your phone whilst dealing with us?” The boy then replied “ That’s got nothing to do with you yeah, its personal.” My partner then commented to me just how rude the boy was and the boy then decided he wasn’t checking us in. We asked to speak to his manager but he told us there were no managers on duty that late on a Friday evening and when my partner asked to speak to someone superior to him he replied “ There’s nobody superior to me, and even if there was they would agree with me.” We were very shocked at this as surly a company as well known as First Choice would not allow such a young boy to run an entire department on what you would think to be one of the busiest months of the year. I tried to diffuse the situation and after a few minutes of the boy refusing to check us in, he decided he would.
After completing the check-in, we walked over the desk where we previously had picked up our tickets. I asked if there was a manager available and low and behold I was speaking to him. We told the duty manager of the dreadful experience and he was very apologetic. He made a few phone calls to confirm the boy didn’t have a company mobile and this came back as correct. The boy really was making personal texts on company time.
3) Our flight was suppose to leave at 2250, at roughly 0015 we were told that the flight was cancelled and we would be flying the following day at 1110. Initially we were told that it was due to cabin crew problems and then later it was a problem with the aircraft. We queued at a terminal to be told we would be staying at the Radisson SAS, for the evening and as a good will gesture from the duty manager we had been upgraded to a suite due to our horrendous check-in. We asked the lady on the door if we were to collect our luggage from the carousel and she said “ Yes, its been on the carousel for hours so it should be there waiting for you.” My question would then be if the luggage had been off for hours why weren’t we told that the plane wasn’t leaving so we could at least have got a decent nights sleep? My 5 year old by this stage was extremely tired and therefore unsettled as well as disappointed making it even harder for us to understand why we had been stuck in the terminal instead of a hotel. Although the hotel was nice, we had to call down to reception twice to get bedding for our daughter to sleep on as she was to sleep on the sofa. Finally at 0245 we got to bed.
4) On finally boarding the plane (later than expected), what seemed to be the senior member of the cabin crew was disturbed that she seemed to have a shortage of plastic glasses. We know this because we were sat at the front of the plane, surrounded by 9 empty seats that were being used by the cabin crew to organise there stock. The lady had told the gentleman delivering the supplies that it was imperative she had more glasses. The plane finally took off at 1215. Over an hour later than estimated, but yet no reason was announced to the passengers.
5) After a terrible start to the now 6 day break, we arrived at the resort. Tired and unsettled we decided that the room was not adequate to cook in so we had no choice but to go out to find a restaurant. This was disappointing as we booked specifically a self catering holiday as my partner is 5 months pregnant and my 5 year old has special dietry requirements. 2 camping rings a rusty fridge and a sink that smelt of dead people is not what we had in mind. This room can only be described as Room Only. The electrics above the bed made up for my daughter were bare wire, exposed and highly dangerous. Not acceptable, please see the enclosed photos.
On returning from the meal we had a note left by the holiday rep stating that we had missed the welcome meeting but as we were told by the rep on the transfer we would be greeted by our own rep the following day at 1100, we didn’t mind too much. 1100 came and went on the Sunday, no rep. We later were told that she didn’t work on Sundays and we wouldn’t be having a welcome meeting. After a few days we gave up on the idea of seeing the rep and at this point the holiday was nearly over.
6)The Thursday into the holiday my family and I requested a late check-out as our pick up time had been delayed from 0030 to 0245 in the morning. The answer was quite simply “No”. There were no rooms available to keep on even though we were prepared to pay. This was even more frustrating as the room next to ours had been empty all week and was still empty when we left. Later that evening we were getting ready for bed when 4 wild dogs appeared on the veranda trying to enter the room. As the veranda was open with no walls or fencing we were disturbed to find that they could have entered the room at anytime as we usually had the doors open. My daughter was hysterical at this stage and we were worried the dogs would return through the night hence we had no choice but to close all the doors making it very hot and uncomfortable in the room. This was now a grave concern as we had nowhere to stay from 1200 midday to 0245 in the morning. We finally met the rep on Friday (the day we were leaving) and expressed our concerns about this. The rep simply said “ Well there will be 17 of you waiting around” Like this was a safety net. The rep also said that the hotel had never offered a late check-out. Surly this should be noted in the brochure or internet as we definatly would not have booked if we were aware of this. We were that eager to go home we asked of there was an earlier flight that day as to not put ourselves at risk that evening. It wasn’t just the dogs we were worried about it was the fact the entire complex was covered in graffiti and not much else. The whole place had a strange feel to it and was not safe at all.
7) We spent the last day around the pool, where we were told by a member of the hotel we were not allowed to drink our own bottled water by the pool. We had to purchase any beverages from the pool bar. We couldn’t understand this as we were booked there as self-catering. I told the lady to have her manager come and speak to me about it, he never did. This again added to our delightful stay at the Matoula Apartments.

1 reader found this review helpful

Matoula Apartments are lovely, clean, big and airy. Two bedrooms is a luxury for a family of 4. The maid service was friendly, regular and very good, we even had our pots washed on occasion. We bought mugs locally to supplement the crockery but missed having a microwave. The only other slight drawback with the apartments generally is the size of the shower, if you are more than about 8 stone wet through you can't bend down to pick up anything.
Being specific, hope you don't get room 122 like we did. It backs onto Matoula entertainment and pool lounge and from the side window you are next to the entertainment for Nereus apartments . So if one doesn't keep you awake until the early hours then the other will or on some nights BOTH! Then of course, the people returning home not so quietly wake you. When we finally fell asleep it was only to be woken up by the van delivering to the pool bar, with engine running every morning around 8 oclock and as mentioned in previous reviews the builders were working across the road bright and early. Just a short note about the road, it is a minor road to the beach but unfortunately between 10pm and 3am it is also a Formula 1 racetrack for the locals on bikes and in cars. Fortunately because we were on holiday and didn't have to get up for work it didn't matter quite so much.We would love to stay at Matoula again sometime if we could guarantee a room on the other side of the apartments away from the road and overlooking the sea.
The area is beautiful,the sunsets spectacular, local restaurants great particularly 'Maestro' 'Navigator' and Angelos Creperie. Hire a car (if you dare!) and go to the monastery on the top of Mt Pantokrater ,917m high, for unrivalled views of all Corfu, Kassiopi to drink by the harbour and to Sunset Beach at Peroulades .

1 reader found this review helpful

We have just returned from a week at the Matoula Appartments. We did have a nice time. The appartment was basic but clean and spacious and we had a nice view of the sea in the distance. The pool and surrounding area was very clean and there were plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas. The food served in the pool bar was good and reasonably priced. We found some nice Greek Tavernas to eat in at night either on the sea front, were you could watch the lovely sunset, we especially liked Navigator, or on the main strip. We liked Lemon Garden, lovely surroundings and food and the staff were nice.
We took the East Coast Cruise, which we booked from a shop on the main strip as the tour operator's trips were a bit expensive. It was a lovely day, friendly boat staff and very reasonably priced. The hotel is in a convenient setting, close to all amenities.
We did have a couple of gripes, firstly, the air conditioning which kept dripping all the time and left pools of water on the balcony. Also, the maids insisted on knocking quite early, well before 10am, which is early for us on holiday. They weren't happy to come back later, which I have never experienced before, and it did spoil things a bit for us. Spirios, the barman was really nice and welcoming, however, the receptionist had a bit of a chip on her shoulder as did one of the pool bar staff, which we felt was a bit unnecessary. Spirios explained that it had been a bit of a hard season, so maybe their attitude could have been attributed to that. Also, there seemed to be a real lack of atmosphere, most of the activities at night had to be cancelled, due to lack of interest Spirios informed us, which was a shame as the Greek night would have been fun.

Just arrived back from Matoula on 15th august.Weather was absolutely baking at 42 degrees.Apartments were very clean and very spacious.We had a 2 bedroom apartment on the ground floor facing the pool which was great until builders started work opposite around 8.30 in the morning even on sunday.As the air con was 10 euros a day for 2 bedrooms we thought this was rather steep so we opted for leaving windows open and shutters closed at night and it was really cool until you got the wake up call from the builders.
The rooms were big apart from the shower which was a cubicle and so tiny.If you dropped the soap you couldn't bend down to pick it up.The kitchen area had a 2 ring hob a mini oven and a fridge and various plates, cups, etc. Enough for the bacon sarnie on a morning.
Went down to the beach every afternoon.Just a couple of minutes walk on the left of apartments.Kids went in the sea while we had a drink at Woodys.Very friendly bar and excellent meals.A couple of nights we walked to Roda,about 20 minute walk along beach front. Went to Chinese Garden restaurant which was great and a couple of bars before returning to Matoula to keep Spiros company.
What a man he is...gave kids free games of pool,got the odd discounted or even free drinks. He certainly came to life when more people strolled in around 10.30
Overall a great holiday although rather hot.. would had given 10/10 if shower had been bigger.Spiros is a star man..keep up the good work

2 readers found this review helpful

Apartments were lovely- Really clean and bright with great big doors opening out onto the balcony. The resort is about an hour and half away, the coach was air conditioned so pleasant journey, which is very mountainous and pretty so worth staying awake for.
The pool area is great- can use inflateables in the pool which is very much needed in the heat! They serve food all day in the pool area and there is quite alot of english food on the menu including a full english- what more can you want
There is everything you need within 5 minutes walk of the apartments including- Local shops, supermarket, bars and tavernas. The beach is a 2 minute walk which is mainly pebbles but it is still nice and not too busy. There is a bar on the sea front and we went there every night and watched the sun go down- drinks not too expensive and very chilled out. Good service.
The Greek food was not to my taste- it was quite boring and dry but i think thats what Greek food can be like- nothing to do with the resort.
Overall i thought that this was a perfect resort for a perfect holiday- went as a couple for a chilled out week and thats exactly what we had.
PERFECT ALL ROUND

1 reader found this review helpful

The hotel was ideal, decent size rooms, expecially for family apartments. Kitchen not upto much, take a corkscrew. Very clean and staff are friendly. It was pretty basic and some simple changes would help (somewhere to hang mossie nets), a few more pots and mugs. I did cook quite a few times and it was really frustrating with a small milk pot and one that could have cooked a pot of soup for 10.
Overall the hotel and pool was ideal and its 5 mins to an excellent beach, 5 minutes to main area of Acharavi. The sea is wonderful with shallow beach and excellent waves. Supermarket is also handy for carrying water and other essentials.
Dissapointed with the food, expensive and bland. Not much happening in the hotel or the resort, which overall lacks any atmosphere, especially with a main road running through it. excellent ice cream shop (Freddo's). Being near Hyropolis its worth going for the day but not enough life guards so you need to watch out for teeenagers and numpties.
20minute walk to Roda which helps break up the monotony of the resort, with a chinese, mexican and wider choice of restaurants. Nice pub, the pirates bar. Felt more relaxed and a holiday resort. nots as good waves though.
Bus to Kassipoi for a change and wonderful sea is also worth it, 15euro for taxi back as bus stops early, would recommend. Nice wee fishing port and you can book boat trips direct there.
Still had a great holiday as we go for sun and sea with two children 5 and 7, not looking for lively night life but some atmospehere would of been nice.
First Choice OK, but like all tour operators only need them when things go wrong and we had a very realxing holiday with no probs.

The apartments themselves are fine. Clean and BIG. I didnt like the resort. very limited things to do. Do go to Corfu town, had a lovely day there.
If you want a hols for good weather and beach/pool then the Matoula is for you. Location wise couldnt be better.
Staff all friendly apart from the odd maid wanting us to be out by 9.30am.
I didnt book any trips through First Choice but did it through a company in the resort which was cheaper.
I was there for a cheap get away and it delievered. i cant say i will be going back.

The apartments, though basic, were very clean. The pool area was exceptional and closeness to the resort centre was it's greatest asset.
The resort of acharavi is very peaceful and is ideal for a couples holiday. There are many exceptional greek tavernas offering traditional greek cuisine at very reasonable prices.
Overall it was a fantastic holiday that was made good by the standard of the accomodation and welcoming nature of all the local residents.

I have just been looking on this website to review a couple of apartments I've been looking at for my holiday this year(2008) and I must say that I cannot believe that anyone could rate the matoula at less than 10/10. These are without a doubt the most spacious, clean, modern apartments in acharavi and have fantasitc staff. they are literally a stones throw from the beach and heart of resort.
I cannot believe that people have left poor reviews because they went to corfu at the end of the season....wot else to they expet? I can only imagine that people who give acharavi and roda bad reviews have been to Benidorm for their holidays for the last 20 years!
I have been to Acharavi/Roda for my hols for the last 5 years. My partner wants to go somewhere else this year but i'm stuggling to find somewhere I would enjoy as much.