Hotel Romvi

I stayed at this hotel with my husband for two weeks in September this year. Usually when we holiday in Greece we stay on the Islands but this time we decided to give the mainland a go. I had read in the brochure that the hotel was popular with returning guests and that it was family run, I saw this as a positive sign so we booked about 2 weeks before departure. Although not our preference we were only able to get a rear view room, but that was acceptable to us in view of us booking late. I also requested a low floor room at the time of booking.
On arrival we were greeted by the owner who began showing the handfull of arrivals to their rooms. The main entrance was the rear of the hotel and you enter at this level on the 1st floor as the ground floor is below street level and the front of the hotel is directly on the beach. The ground floor consists of a large bar area, bathrooms and an open terraced restaurant with maybe 5 or 6 steps down directly on to the beach. The 1st and 2nd floors are bedrooms only.
As we were staying two weeks the owner (Adonis) said we would be better taking the room on the 2nd floor as it was larger and would be more comfortable for a longer stay. I declined due to walking difficulties and so he showed us to our small room. First impressions were that the room was dimly lit and decorated in very dull brown and mustard yellow colours with dark wood furniture, creating an even darker atmosphere. The room absolutely stunk of cigarette smoke and he wasnt kidding when he said it was small. There was about a foot gap between the end of the bed and the cabinet which housed the fridge. Not enough room for either of us to pass each other without the other one moving out of the way. There was one wardrobe and no suitcase stand. There was so little floor space that I was wondering where we could even put our two cases during our stay when the owner appeared and gave us the key to the room next door as well at no extra cost. So..for the two weeks my husband kept his case and all his things in the room next door and I kept my case in the bottom of the wardrobe in the room we were staying! This had its benefits, we had two bathrooms so could both get showered for dinner at the same time. The bathroom's were extremely small, the one in my room (i'll call it that) was so small you had to go in and then close the door before you could use the toilet as the door opened onto the toilet. The shower itself was the smallest I had ever used, although the water was always hot and the pressure was good but the cubicle space was a joke. The other thing was there was this duct system that came down into the bathroom ceiling, this carried noise from the adjoining rooms. I could clearly hear people's conversation, coughing etc just like they were in our room and so at night I used to shut our bathroom door in case anyone in the room the other side of us got up to use the toilet in the middle of the night as apart from the noise, when they turned on their bathroom light a beam shone from the duct in our bathroom and out into our bedroom.
Rooms were cleaned and beds made daily, all bedding was clean and white and the room had a portable TV but no tea and coffee making facilities. The room had French doors leading out on to a balcony but this was a French style balcony, wide enough only to get two bistro chairs and a bistro table. When you sat on a chair one elbow touched the railing and the other the French doors. As we were on street level there were people out for a stroll walking right beside us and of course could see directly into our room. No chance of one person getting changed inside while the other read a book on the balcony due to this, and the bathroom definately was not big enough to get changed in. So anytime you wanted to get changed the French doors and the curtains had to be closed.
On the plus side the owners were very friendly and helpful and Poppy (Adonis mum) was an absolutely fabulous cook. Her Courgette balls and Tzatziki are to die for. Everyday you could see fresh supplies arriving into the kitchen, everything was home cooked and every meal I had was fabulous. In fact we never bothered going out to eat anywhere else in the evening and we took a lot of lunches there unless we were out for the day.
Sunbeds and parasols on the beach were free to hotel residents. There was a small jetty just in front of the hotel and most residents moved their sunbeds from the beach to the jetty in the afternoon. The Romvi has its own "boatman" who will hire you a motorboat for an hour or two or for the whole day. No need to pre book unless you want to, the boats are just subject to availability, they seat 6-8 and have a sun canopy. If you want the Romvi will pack you a coolbox picnic complete with a bottle of wine. The "boatman" can be found most mornings sitting in the terraced restaurant awaiting customers.
While we were there we hired boats about 4 or 5 times as there are lots of little coves where you can moor the boat directly outside a beachside taverna. We also hired a car for 3 days and went exploring the area and on a long drive to Stoupa. This took one whole day. Lastly we hired a moped and drove all around the mountain roads which was a great experience!
If we were to go back to the Romvi I would book well in advance and secure a 1st floor room with sea view, the rooms on this side were much bigger, brighter and the balconys were huge. I know because I asked another guest if we could have a look.
I can see that this hotel is so popular because of the friendly staff and good home cooking. I could imagine if you had a sea view room you could have no complaints at all. I would recommend this hotel to middle aged or older couples or people with a toddler as the beach is gently shelving. I would not recommend it to people with walking difficulties (there is no lift) young adults, or families with teenagers as it is not lively enough for them. The rear view rooms would definately benefit from a makeover or perhaps knocking two into one to make them more spacious.