Marbella Corfu Hotel

Hotel was terrific!
Staff - very pleasant.
Big room, with big beds. Nice terrace.
Nice and clean pools.
Food: if you like Mediterranian food - you will enjoy it!!! Good and healthy.
Go for it!

At our welcome meeting the young rep confidently announced we were in a 5* hotel. Having stayed in several 5* resorts in Europe and Canada over the last few years we can assure him with equal confidence that he is wrong. The hotel, our room and patio, the grounds and the staff were indeed excellent but for a hotel pretending to be top-rated, where were the bathrobes, the 'turn-down' service, the quality smellies in the bathroom ...? It's those little extras, the attention to small details which make the accommodation stand out - or otherwise.
However, the greatest let-down was the restaurant: We had both so looked forward to dining at an outside table, overlooking the sea but our first (and only) meal there was throroughly spoilt by the persistent attention of up to half a dozen wasps.
Generally the restaurant seemed as if it were suffering from end-of-season fatigue; food presentation/display lack creativity and imagination and, I would say, pride. Furthermore there was no 'show cooking', virtually no shellfish and what roasts there were were limited to one joint per night.
Fortunately we prefer to dine early, just as well for on the one evening we did not we found the most popular dishes gone and not refreshed.
Having said all this, my wife and I wanted a quiet, relaxing week in a pleasant location far from the madd(en)ing crowd. Our stay at the Marbella was all that - and, on a positive note, we found the staff uniformly pleasant, friendly and very helpful.

My wife and I had the great pleasure of staying at this wonderful hotel for our 27th wedding anniversary. The public rooms are very elegant lovingly furnished.I found all the staff very friendly and helpfull we stayed in a seaview room on the 4th floor of the main building I would recommend booking a seaview room as some other rooms are in a quadrangle so the only view you get is of someone elses room, the food was buffet style, breakfast was very good with a good choice on offer. The evening buffet was good but not as good as it should have been, being a 5 star hotel.The whole site is kept clean and tidy at all times it has to be the cleanest hotel your ever stay in I would recommend this hotel to all my friends.

Have just got back from a week in the Hotel Marbella in Corfu. Overall had a really good time with my gf, weather was amazing - in august we didnt see anything apart from 100% sun about 35 degrees every day. The hotel is good - I'm quite picky about hotels and having stayed at very good hotels around the world it was interesting to see how the Corfu 5star rating matched up. Rooms were quite spacious. We had a twin double which has two double beds in and was plenty big enough for us. Was a little disappointed with the bathroom quality and size. Shower curtain didnt reach the floor so the floor got very wet after a shower - just a little on the cramped side for my liking.
Hotel had 2 pools, both salt water so be prepared. Loads of sun bed available for use and beach towels provided by the hotel. There's a pool resteraunt as well as a resteraunt down by the hotels private beach which again has plenty of seating and umbrellas should you need them. Easy access into the sea and easy access to the water sports area which is a little walk down the beach - parasailing, speed boats, jet skis - so much fun to be had there. We went up on a parasail and you get amazing views of the area - plus they take pics of you when your up there so you can also by the cd with images on if you want.
Anyhow - bad points of the hotel.
Food was a little disappointing. Mass catering for everyone in the hotel who is half board. Plenty of food, served in a buffet style. I'm sure it was all perfectly healthy and clean just sometimes food presented in a 'mass catering' way didnt appeal. Food hours 7-10 breakfast and 7-10 dinner meant you could always find a quieter time to dine. Waiter service very good, and very attentive. Just pay for your drinks as you require them. However, you wont go hungry.
Unf, as a few other reports have said, there is a wasp problem around the hotel. Not major at all but they always seem to find you when you get food out. We found this when eating outside at the beach bar and main resteraunt (obv only outside). The locals dont seem to mind them but was a little annoying when you want a quiet meal in the early evening. Dont let it put you off but they did annoy me a bit!!!
Steep walk up to the hotel - not rlly suitable for disabled or elderly. They really should make more notice of this in their adverts
No close towns. Nearest decent town in benites which is about 4km down the coast - approx 10 euros taxi ride.The hotel is a little in the middle of nowhere which is nice but also when you want to venture out not so convenient. There is a car / bike / quad bike hire at the bottom of the hill right by the hotel which is useful - but benites is a little bit too far and the greek drivers are a little eratic!!
Good points
Friendly Staff
Good maid service, even if you do get up at 1pm..eeeeek
All european languages catered for.
Childrens activities provided for in the afternoons.
very quiet relaxing environment
Overall good hol but - i would say food and wasps were the main draw backs!!

Just back from a wonderful stay at the Marbella with my girlfriend and have to say I was pleasantly surprised having read some of these reviews before going. The Hotel is beautiful and set in a stunning location overlooking the Ionian Sea. The Room was wonderful with a fantastic sea view and cleaned everyday. The only negative here is to be prepared to be disturbed by the maids if you're not out by 10ish, (there were no d.n.d. signs!) The food was lovely, we were b&b, the selection ranged from cooked to delicious healthy fruits and Greek yoghurts, the staff were chatty to us and quite helpful.
All in all a lovely week, I can really recommend this hotel to couples that just want to chill for a week or so.
Yassas!
Jeremy and Zara

This was my third visit to this hotel and feel now I would not return. The majority of staff are wrapped up in their own world with little time for chatter not like the old corfu. The Hotels communal areas are really attractive but unfortunately the rooms do let it down badly. They are drab with dark wood and colours and aften smell damp.
Rooms are cleaned every day and sheets changed more than once a week. They have now added another pool where the entertainment stage was. The bellowing of entertainment staff doing aerobics in the pool is no good if you want a quiet holiday.
The beach is manmade with a nice beach bar the food is good and fresh. They have removed the wooden platform for restoration, this gave easy access to the next beach plus easier access to the sea. It is a shame this was not dealt with before the season started. I understand it took just 20 days to install the new pool.
The food was not so good this time and often there was little of it after the early birds had ascended.
I also noticed rats in daylight enjoying the facilitites around the lower pool, I also acquired a cockroache on the last day in my room.
This is supposed to be a five star hotel, I have to say not in my book it isn't

Fantastic Holiday. We stayed here for a week for our honeymoon.
Very clean, the Hotel, pool, gardens, and beach are fantastic.
All staff were very helpful face to face and over the phone, my sister in law took a holiday there last year following our recommendation and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We are considering going back again this year.
Entertainment for both adult and kids is great.
Food was good and the variety showed. The a'la carte restaurant was really special, you sit on a platform raised over an outside pool, when lit at night it is truly fantastic.
Highly recommend.

4 readers found this review helpful

After reading various reviews had some concerns about the Marbella Hotel. However, I am pleased to say that most of those concerns did not materialise.
My husband and I were allocated a room that had a beautiful view across the grounds and over the sea - on a good day we could see mainland Greece. The rooms are not 5* star - however, they were exceptionally clean with TV, fridge, toiletries, hairdryer and air-conditioned. Bed linen and towels were changed daily.
The swimming pool was salt water and all one depth. There were plenty of sunloungers and umbrellas. Beach towels were provided and could be changed daily. The man-made sandy beach again had sunloungers and umbrellas.
The restaurant was busy as reports stated. You just need to time your arrival - we never waited more than 5 mins for a table. As this is an international hotel you found that some of the other guests were not as considerate as you would expect (either in the queues or in at the buffet tables) - but by the end of the holiday it all became part of the experience of dining!
The hotel does have a lot of steps so not for the faint hearted. A point to note is that the hotel is at the top of a steep hill and other than your arrival and departure, tour company buses or trip buses picked up and dropped off at the bottom of the hill.
Overall we had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday and were not ready to come home at the end. The hotel is lovely but located in the wrong place if you want a traditional Greek village/town holiday experience. Although there is two tavernas near the hotel (bottom of hill) their prices are similar to those in the hotel - expensive i.e. 29 euros for 4 drinks. We found that if we paid the price for a taxi (10 euros including tip) to the nearest town Marakitha you could get the same drinks for 12 euros and had plenty of traditional Greek tavernas or english bars - and still saved money. We found a bar called Harry and George run by two greek men who made every effort to make you welcome and took time out to talk or entertain guests. A very friendly and entertaining bar with both Harry and George providing information about the island and providing any help you need with local information.
As for Corfu - it is a beautiful island full of history and places to see.

We returned from a lovely 1 week vacation in Corfu island, at Marbella Corfu Hotel.
The hotel was great, the staff very polite, everything organized to the last detail, the room spacious and clean. The sea view was actually sea-mountain view but that was OK too.
The food was excellent. You could take your breakfast or dine outside at the terrace if you did not mind the bees that were attracted by the food. If you light a cigarette they disappear at once.
A romantic piano bar every night amused us and relaxed us. Other dancing and singing shows also took place.
In general the hotel was the best site in the island. Apart from that, Corfu sea is very cold and most of the tourists preferred to take a sun bath rather than a water bath.
I would definitely choose this hotel again.

This is a large hotel with plenty of facilities - a lovely swimming pool (salt Water) with best view that you can imagine as it is elevated. We were worried about the road between the hotel and the sea - but the road goes through a tunnel which you walk over to get to the man made beach. As a pretty garden had been built on top of the tunnel you didn’t notice the road. There are a lot of steps here - not an issue for us as we are reasonably fit.
Our room was great - air con and close to the top pool with a lovely view and balcony - I saw lots of rooms with horrible views of inside courtyards etc so you pay your money and take your choice.
The hotel is very clean and hit teams of cleaners were busy swabbing the hotel in the mornings. We had no insects in our room (hooray!)
Down the hill is a good supermarket where you can buy your drinks etc to put in your fridge - the drink prices in the hotel are horrendous.
Our 16 year old son had a great time using the entertainment provided by the Entertainment team (Animators) and made lots of (French) friends- he was sorry to see them go! His French improved no end by the end of the week! And this hotel had very few English/German guests but lots of French, Italians and Eastern Europeans. This was a surprise but not a problem at all - the French we met were very friendly and they were quite happy to try out their English on us!
The problem here is the restaurant - I called it the canteen. For a 5 star, this is poor. The quality and choice of food was fine, but the restaurant is far too large and the waiters can’t cope. They were overwhelmed and you struggled to get a table and get it laid. But the meals (all buffet) meant that you could choose your own quantities and it dint take all night. Wasps on the outdoor part in the morning - but fab views outside at night. I guess it was the lack of service we missed.
The evening entertainment by the animation team was loud and fun and free! We watched it every night and the team put there all into it although miming to the music detracted to the live aspect!
The man made beach with free loungers and thatched umbrellas made the best of a not very good beach frontage. No paddling here! But we did like getting into the med and swimming in the sea.
All in all not a perfect hotel - but not far off it.