Matoula Apartments

Me, my husband and our 2 kids were staying at the Matoula for a week in June 2007
it was great, the people are so friendly there and there is lots to do. Spiros the bar manager was great he went out of his way to help you if you were having any problems with anything or if you needed anything. Me, my husband and my dad stayed at the matoula for a week in 2006 also it was great thats why we returned in june 2007 with our kids they really enjoyed it too. Me and my husband are returning this year again in june (2008) with my sister and brother-in-law this time. It is a great place to stay and the people are great. They have everything you need to help you enjoy your holiday.

1 reader found this review helpful

We arrived home yesterday from the Matoula in Achravari. We were there for a week and we were right at the end of the season.
We tried to book trips with NSK and Ericos travel but found we couldn’t go on them because no one was booking to go and they wouldn’t just take us.
We found the apartments very clean but the bar shut at 6 o'clock every night which was quite disappointing.
We have a 7 year old and 1 year and there was nothing to do for them especially on a night.
Overall we didn’t enjoy our holiday as we went at the wrong time of year definitely nothing for young kids to do.
The locals are extremely friendly and the food was lovely especially in Woodys.
Would recommend to go in the summer because there will be more stuff for the kids, but would never go in October again.

Do not book this holiday at the end of season. My partner and I have just returned from 2 weeks here. On our arrival the apartments looked clean and well kept; we had 2 single beds lots of room for clothing and a small kitchen area with a fridge and 2 hobs for cooking.
The pool and bar area are well kept there are free sun lounges (covers are about 3euros) and the bar offer’s meals throughout the day.
The apartments are about no more than a 5 min’s walk one way to a beach, restaurants, and bars and 5 min’s walk the other direction to the main stretch of bars and restaurants and shops. We found the prices were quite cheap for the two of us.
We booked 3 trips with a local operator including horse riding, a boat trip to a beach and bbq and took a coach up to Corfu town centre for shopping. We also hired a car for 2 days, now this I would not recommend for the faint hearted drivers/ passengers. I even questioned if the Greek locals had driving licenses on several occasions. I wouldn’t recommend the car hire.
I read on this website that a lady recommended boots own brand suntan lotion with insect repellent, brilliant stuff!! Highly recommend it.
Now on to the good stuff the weather - not too sure where to start on this one.
The first day or 2 it was lovely and sunny then it took a turn for the worst. The weather quickly changed to hurricane like. It was horrible! The wind quickly picked up and started blowing tables, chairs, and sun loungers about the complex. We could hear the wind howling all night long. The rain was like nothing I’ve ever seen in England and you’d think we'd be used to it. It flooded our balcony and the whole resort; we were walking through small rivers everywhere we went. The thunder and lightning carried on throughout the night and for the following 10 days.
The boat trip and bbq we had booked on was a big let down due to the weather I had to buy a coat and umbrella from one of the local shops I got that cold. There was not much to do when the weather was bad we were stuck in our rooms most days. When we had the car it was not much good as most of the island was closed due to bad weather and it being near the end of season. We had several power cuts during our stay I would imagine due to the bad weather, we were left for a couple of hours without power.
Overall I would not recommend this for an end of season break away; you really do need the weather for this holiday. Although the apartments were lovely the weather really spoilt it for us. So if you are looking at this for a late holidays don’t make the same mistake we did, go in mid season.

Matoula apartments are excellent - very clean and spacious. Maid service daily except Sundays and we were never disturbed by maids although we were rarely out before 11.30 am.
Walls are very thin - we heard next door neighbours when they were using the toilet!
The pool bar was ok - we were there the first two weeks in October and they didn't serve food after 5pm and the bar was closed by 9pm. Spiros, the bar manager, had complained to fellow guests that people didn't use the bar - but as most people had gone out for a meal and were not returning before 9pm what did he expect? We had a few lunches at the bar and quality was fine - prices average.
The resort itself was very, very quiet. We don't like lots of noisy night life but the place was almost dead. Only a handful of people in the restaurants. The central bar had live music on a Friday evening which we were extremely grateful for.
Hired a car for 3 days and the island is beautiful. Corfu town was vibrant and colourful. Old fortress there offered spectacular views. Lovely sandy beach around 10 kilometres from Acharavi - called Kalamaki beach. Lovely and ideal for children.
Lots of lovely tavernas - beach front ones we found to be the friendliest, best value for money, and the best food - Faros and Woodys our favourites. Worst meal was at the Pumphouse - food cold, beef over cooked. Poor quality and over priced. I know it gets a lot of positive reviews, but that was our honest experience.
Mosquitoes are a problem. They are relentless! Still got bitten a few times despite being covered in tropical strength repellent, spraying the room at night, taking garlic supplements and using avon skin so softly! Some poor fellow tourists were covered in bites and one lady had an allergic reaction and was blistered.
Overall a relaxing holiday - spectacular thunder storms - but we won't travel near the end of season again.

I've just returned from a week in Corfu at the Matoula Apartments and seeing as I found this website so helpful before I went away, I thought I'd add a comment for future holiday goers.
The Matoula apartments are great. Clean rooms and spacious with a terrace/balcony. You did have to pay for the air conditioning but apart from that they suited us for what we needed. The only problem were the maids! They obviously wanted to get their job done but forgot the rest of us where on holiday! They knocked early and wouldn't take no for an answer - be warned.
Reception was friendly but closed on Sundays no good if you have a safety deposit box! The pool was clean and plenty of sun beds available. The famous Spiro's (the bar manager) was polite and friendly although we didn’t have much to do with the pool bar we went out and about every evening.
The beach was a 2 min walk away and was beautiful. You do have to turn to your right and walk for 10 mins to get sand but it is well worth the effort. Water sports and sunbeds and a very polite ice cream man made the trips to the beach very worthwhile.
We did venture to Aqua land near Corfu town for a day. The coach trip did take a while as it picked up along the way but the park was fun and a great day out. We booked through an agent in the main Street not our tour operator they were very good value for money; I just can't remember the agent’s name!
We ate at some lovely restaurants but our favourite was the Lemon Garden. It was beautiful. The surroundings and the food, you must eat here at least once. We never had a bad meal - we also eat at the Pumphouse, odyssey and the navigator.
Freedo's ice cream parlour is a must the girls were great and the desserts are to die for we went every night in the end!
We had an awful pick up time on the return journey, 2am! We were kicked out of our room at 12 midday so we booked a room at Faro's beach bar for 20 euro's! This way we could enjoy the beach, shower, and change, eat dinner, and even get some kip before we got picked up. Maria and Funis are very helpful and served great breakfast as well!
I would go back to Corfu and the Matoula apartments it was a great little holiday - Enjoy.

Just returned from Matoula again this year - and we do thoroughly recommend it. The owners have made some improvements to the facilities in the last year - now most if not all the rooms have a hair dryer provided, plus - -a big bonus - the safety deposit boxes are now free. The 'night watchman' is now an ex-pat Brit, so there are no problems with understanding about rooms and things when you turn up in the early hours, as many do.
The accommodation is good, clean, and well maintained. The rooms are the biggest we have been given in many years of going to Greece, and the maids are all friendly when they come to change linen, towels, sweep, and clean. The place is still effectively unstaffed on Sundays, which means you must have enough money out on the Saturday to cover you - but that is little hassle if you plan ahead.
The internet is becoming increasingly available there - although not the swiftest of connections, and subject to the odd power cut. Nireas apartments, next door to Matoula, offer it, as does Faros down on the beach road. I'm sure others do too, but those I noticed.
Temperatures this year were around the mid 30s - although we were told July had been a lot hotter. The wasps were a nuisance - not stinging us, but just coming around when you were eating - particularly things with ketchup on, it seemed! A point to note- 15th August is a festival day, so the large supermarket is shut or certainly has shortened hours. This supermarket Demetria is in fact a real boon - between that and the bakery we self-catered very nicely during the days, and ate out in the evenings.
Best lace we have found for evening meal was Faros down on the beach road near Fuego. A small place, run by Maria and Fannis, and 'aided' by their nephews/daughters(?!), but the food is wonderful and comes in generous portions. They are a lovely couple, and work really hard - and it shows by the number of returning customers whether English, German and Greek, that you see at the place.
Overall - a great holiday.

We have enjoyed Matoula so much that we have stayed here 5 times. Everything is just a stroll away. Restaurants are good and welcome children. Love it so much we have booked again. The staff are very friendly and Spiros is always working so hard to make your stay perfect. The apartments are cleaned every day apart from Sundays.
We have always enjoy our stay here, we have been to other places but nothing compares to the friendly people of Corfu and Acharavi. See you next year Liz.

My family and I have just returned from a great holiday in Acharavi. It was our first visit and certainly will not be our last. We loved the pace of life, the quietness, the weather etc.
We had a lovely 2 bedroom apt which was serviced every day except Sunday. The complex is of a high standard and its facilities were good. The one draw back was the lack of air conditioning - it was expensive at 6 euros per day! However, fans can be rented from shops for 1 euro per day.
The restaurants and bars are very good and always friendly - try Valentines where the 2 Costas will make you very welcome - good food and hospitality!
We will be back!

These apartment are situated close to beach and main street of Acharavi.
They are very family friendly.
They are clean and well kept - there appears to always be space around the pool too. We didn't eat there so cannot comment on the food nor did we attend any of the night time activities.
Apartment was decent size with all you need to make basic meals. Maids come everyday and safety box is free.
Achariavi is good for families with most places catering for children. Although Acharavi is not that small - there a good 20 or so places to eat and drink, it does seem awfully quiet all the time with only a handful of people in each place at a time. Maybe it will get busier through end of July and August but good for people who want some peace and quiet.
You can walk for 15 mins to the slightly livelier resort of Roda - which doesn't really have a beach though. And Sidari is a short car journey away.
It also gets some lovely sunsets.
Overall - friendly quiet place - low key night-life with only one bar 'Yammas' being busy after 12 ish. Roda appears to have a couple of places that stay open later - we managed to stay till about 2 ish one bar.
Oh and yes there are swarms of mozzies out there - we used that 'Jungle Formula' roll on stuff which seemed to work coz on the last evening we didn't put it on and got bitten dozens and dozens of times.

We booked the holiday as a last minute deal and had never heard of Acharavi, but the holiday didn’t disappoint. The Matoula was very good – large clean apartments with regular maid service, lovely swimming pool and bar with excellent host Spiros – don’t believe anything bad you have seen written about him, he works all hours, is great with the kids and is a credit to the place!
The Matoula is in an excellent location – 2 minutes to the beach in one direction and 2 minutes to the shops/bars/supermarket etc. in the other.
I would recommend it for all ages - there were young couples, older people and a lot of families and everyone we spoke to thought it was a great place to stay.
It is about a 30 minute walk to Roda where you will find lots more bars/restaurants. The town is more developed than Acharavi and seemed to cater to the “Brits abroad” a bit more, but is worth a look and is a nice walk along the sea front.
I would also recommend the bus service – the bus stop is right at the top of the road in the village and they were on time and air conditioned! We took the bus to Kassiopi which only takes 15 minutes, and was really picturesque.
In Acharavi itself there are quite a few bars/restaurants on the beach front – ones I would recommend are Valentines restaurant – to the left about 10 mins walk. On a Friday night they have Greek musicians who come and sing to you at your table, they are excellent!
Also if you walk in the other direction about 10 mins there is Maistros with very good fish. Just on the right hand corner as you get to the beach you will find Fuego Bar – this is open till the small hours (they threw us out at 4 one night!) and is an idyllic setting right on the beach.
Very friendly despite the fact that we were the only English people in there every time we went in – I don’t know why but if the Greeks go there then it must be good. The food is very good as well, I would thoroughly recommend this place.
In the village itself, the Acharavi Park was good and we ate there twice.
Take lots of mosquito repellent with you and you will have a great time – the mossies were out in force, especially on our last night!!