Grecotel Corfu Imperial

We stayed at the Corfu Imperial with my wife for a week at the end of August 2005. We enjoyed our stay in Corfu tremendously (it is a beautiful island) and this was due, to a large degree, to the hotel we stayed in. I agree that the rooms are in need of refurbishment. We booked a main building room but on arrival we were upgraded to a junior suite. Although large and comfortable the feeling you got was that this was a great room in 1985. Apart from that though everything else was perfect. The food (we tried only breakfast and lunch at the pool) was excellent, especially breakfast. The service (front desk, beach bar, restaurant) was by far the best we encountered in Europe (Europeans will never offer the service you get in the Far East). Everybody was very helpful in a very friendly way. The sandy beaches (the hotel has 3 private ones) were beautiful and relaxing. The location and the view... WOW! Have to see it to believe it. Overall a great hotel. I never wrote a review about a hotel before but I felt I had to after my stay at the Corfu Imperial. If only they could refurbish the rooms as well...

We stayed at the GRECOTEL IMPERIAL at the end of AUGUST 05 and were very dissapointed. At the time of booking, we reqested a double room in the main building of the hotel.When we arrived however,we were shown to a Garden room suitable for a family of 4. THE standard of this room was most definitely NOT 5 STAR-3 STAR AT BEST! We immediately returned to reception and expressed our disapointment.They did show us to a slightly better room with the promise of a move into the main building on the following Monday, 3 days after our arrival.We insisted that this was not good enough and eventually we were upgraded to a "superior" garden room at no extra cost.(Originally we were quoted 100 Euro per night) This "Superior" room was at best 4 star standard but as with the previous rooms,the decor was tired and shabby and the bathroom had rust round the taps in the sink and the shower and several cracked tiles. This is a very large hotel and with all the additional bungalows,if the hotel is fully booked then basically its at over-capacity-there are not enough loungers at the pool and as a result there is the tendency for guests to go down to the pool very early in the morning, leave a towel on a lounger and hogg it for the rest of the day! We managed to spend half of an afternoon at the pool and I almost found myself adopting everyone else's mentatilty!On amore positive note, the food was excellent and varied (although with so many guests there can be a bit of a scrum at breakfast) and , as were upgraded, we did have our own private jetty to sunbathe on and the scenery is out of this world. To summarise, if you are used to 5 star accomadation in Spain,Portugal etc then you will be dissapointed.

We were very lucky to get a free upgrade to a garden suite because our room was not ready. This was fabulous as it was so much bigger and had a seperate lounge area. The food was varied and superb-it catered for all tastes. One of our party is wheat intolerant and still managed to have a loads of choice.There were aprox 40 different salads and 20 hot mealson the buffet menu. In addition you can opt for a waitered main course with a set meal. The pool was cool but clean altho some of the German guests did the usual saving of the lilos and did not return until late afternoon. If you dared to move their stuff you received a massive barrage of abuse. We saw an elderly, disabled man bodily removed from one of the loungers onto an old chair. The only downside was that the cost of soft drinks and lunch food. At £2.00 for a litre of water it soon mounted up. Obviously things are much cheaper outside in Corfu Town but you needed to hire a car or travel on the local bus-aprox half hour journey. The highlight of the holiday was the boat trip aound the islands-arranged by Thompsons on Capt Theos boat .What a fab day out! This is a lovely Hotel if you want complete relaxation but if you are on a budget this is not the place to go.

The common areas was excellent but the bungallows we were stayed in were like a third category one. The bathroom was terrible and you had to keep all the time the window open because the room hand always the disgusting smell of the pipes.We pay for this room 268 euros (breakfast included) per night. Too much for such quality of the room. We make it clear from the first day but nobody responde to us. Finally the director of the hotel apologized to us when we have allready returned home.Tsianas Family from Greece

This is the second Grecotel that we have stayed in - last year we spent 2 weeks in the Gercotel Elounda Hotel in Crete. Although more expensive than its Cretan sister, the Grecotel Corfu Imperial in our view did not have the same sense of atmosphere, homliness or value for money. The Grecoptel Corfu Imperial is very large - I would have thought about 150 plus bedrooms and a new Grecotel (The Eva Palace) is nearing completion right beside it which will make this a truly vast complex. We stayed in one of the bunglaows for a week in June 2005 (we were a party of 3 - husband, wife and son). Depending on the size of your party, I would strongly recommend opting for a bunglaow over a bedroom. The bungalow we used slept 3 very comfortably - 4 at a push. It had a really superb (East facing) view of the ocean and also it's own jetty which was shared with one or two other bunglaows/villas so it was very private. The staff in the hotel were very friendly but, we found the food mediocre in quality and not very good value for a 5 star hotel (for example, a mediocre set buffet dinner at €50+ per person seemed a little excessive to say the least). Geograpgically, the hotel is a little reomte from Corfu town (15Kms) but that's a plus not a negative for some. As far as Corfu in general is concerned, having done a fair amount of travelling in the Greek Isles, we found in genral that Corfu is relatively more expenive, has a far less developed infrastructure (e.g. poor roads, totally chaotic airport) and is not quite as tourist friendly as we would have hoped for. Perhaps we were just too early in the Season. We'll try again soon !

We had a very enjoyable stay and the hotel is in beautiful grounds with very friendly staff and good food. It is a bit remote and a car is useful but there is a free bus to Corfu town twice a day. Avoid room 207 as view obscured by large tree. Even numbered rooms have afternoon sun. Definitely reccomend the hotel and we'll probably go there again.

The most beautiful place we have ever stayed. The rooms were delightful, very spacious, we enjoyed a week in the main building and in a garden bunaglow. Both rooms offered perfect views. The restaurant offered both buffet and waiter service, and the service very professional. We could not find a fault. The staff very polite and couldnt do enough for you. Private beaches were faultless. If we had to find something to moan about, it would be the evening entertainment, very, very low key, but then again the whole atmosphere of the hotel was about relaxing.

We stayed at the Corfu Imperial for two weeks in september 2001, we straight away loved the beautiful, peaceful location which in our opinion, is far nicer than the impression you get from the holiday brochures, after the always superb evening meal it was a delight to walk out, and take in the beautiful peace and tranquility of this wonderful heavenly place. The hotel itself is in our opinion, as with every Grecotel we have visited, absolutely wonderful, the rooms are comfortable, the food is brilliant with excellent variety, and the standard of service and attention to the needs of the guests exceeds almost all other hotels we have stayed in abroad over the years. Having raved about this place, it must be said that the location is most suitable for people who enjoy peace and natural beauty, rather than loads of nightlife etc. We intend to holiday at the Imperial again in 2005, we can"t wait!!

I visited the Corfu Imperial last month (August 2003) with my family on our first trip to Corfu. The hotel looked promising from the details in the brochure & it did not disappoint. In fact it was better than the brochure! The accomodation is comfortable & stylish although the gorgeous-looking hand-made wrought iron bed was a bit hard! The sheets were changed every day & the hotel as a whole was almost spotless. The furnishings are italian & the views wonderful. They even provide the mozzy killer you plug into the electric sockets to get the little blighters before they get you! We went at the height of the season & the hotel was full but the only time it felt busy was at dinner when there was a bit of a scrum around the main course section of the buffet. Other than that, the Imperial does not feel like a big hotel. Because of the extensive gardens and 3 separate small beaches there seems to be plenty of room for everyone & the pool area was not overcrowded. The facilites were very good. Our 3 children (ages 10 - 15) did not get bored. The swimming pool is huge, very warm in August, clean and only approx. 1.5m at its deepest, so relatively safe as well. The breakfast buffet was outstanding. Lunch at the pool-side snack bar was good although the choice is not huge. Dinner was usually very good, plenty of choice & of a very high standard. Every evening there was some form of musical entertainment, usually low-key. Overall, the holiday was great. We all want to go back there next year & that has never happened before. The hotel was lovely, very quiet & relaxing. I would recommend it to anyone. Top tip: Don't bother to pre-book a hire car like we did. The Greeks are crazy drivers & Corfu town is impossible to navigate unless you have lived there for years. It's all a bit scary & we hardly used our car. It was a waste of money. If you want to see Corfu, take an organized tour & if you want to go shopping in Corfu town, take the hotel courtesy bus. See you there next year.

Went to Corfu Imperial in October 2002. Lovely hotel, wonderful lobby and rooms were perfectly adequate with gorgeous view of the sea and other parts of the island from the balcony. The only complaint in regard to the room was the lack of english channels on the tv. (I know you don't go to Corfu to watch tv, but it would make a difference to have something to watch before bed other than the news channel). There are 3 separate private beaches at the hotel, all of which are quite small. We went in late season and literally had the beach on the far right to ourselves which was wonderful. The food at the hotel was lovely at the beginning of our stay. However, towards the end (as it being end of season) they stopped the al la carte waiter service and all evening meals were buffet. I found this rather disappointing as we had some really nice meals at first. Breakfast was great though with loads to choose from. The hotel pool was freezing and I only managed to get in it once. I had a really nice time, but would not choose to go this late in the season again.