Olympic House Villa
, Assos
Olympic House Villa reviews
- Holiday Date:Aug 2010
- Advice: Great village. Sub standad accommodation.
- Good For: Beach
- Board Basis:Room Only
- Tour Operator:Thomson
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6 readers found this review helpful
We have just returned home from the Olympic House - this being our third visit. Once again we leave reluctantly - Assos is one of life's very special villages of outstanding beauty and tranquility.
The Olympic House must hold one of the best locations in the village. It is situated on an isthmus - a narrow strip of land linking the mainland to the headland. Consequently, one has magnificent views from both sides of the house - of the open sea and coastline at the front, and the village and lagoon from the back.
The house comprises two twin-bedrooms with more than ample cupboard space; a bathroom housing bath/shower/toilet/wash basin separates the bedrooms. The ground floor houses the salon, second toilet/wash basin and the kitchen/dinette. The house is simply furnished but well equipped and spotlessly clean (a lady comes twice per week to clean the house and change the linen). It is so designed that, when the French windows at various points in the house are open, a welcome breeze circulates throughout. The balconies are spacious - particularly that which runs along the lower part of the house opening onto both kitchen and salon.
My only criticism (which prevents me from awarding the house '10') is that the salon is more of a museum piece displaying beautiful, traditional Greek furniture which is not designed for comfort. This has never mattered to us because we have always experienced beautiful weather. However, it would pose a problem if, for whatever reason (including bad weather), residents wished to remain "at home" because there are no comfortable armchairs or sofas on which to relax. Nevertheless, it is not enough to prevent us from returning, which we shall do - many times. We love staying there.
Finally, I cannot end without mentioning Stavros, the owner of the house. He is a delightful man - kind, thoughtful and welcoming. To illustrate his thoughtfulness ... on the first evening of our first visit, there was a rainstorm whilst we were in the taverna. It lasted only for an hour but Stavros came down to the taverna in the middle of the storm just to bring an umbrella for us - a typical gesture from him.
In summary, if one is looking for unadulterated luxury then the Olympic House is not the place to choose but, if you are seeking a good basic house, spotlessly clean and with all amenities, in a truly magnificent location, then look no further - the Olympic House is ideal.
- Board Basis:Self Catering
- Tour Operator:Thomson
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1 reader found this review helpful
Let me be clear, the 2 stars (and, if anything, this is generous) are for the accommodation itself, not its location, which I would give maximum marks for, being as it is a stone's throw from the beach, having a brilliant view and being within a few minutes walk of all the tavernas in the village. A previous reviewer waxed lyrical about the accommodation but I honestly don't see why. Potential holidaymakers need to know just how grotty the internal living accommodation on offer is. Literally all internal fixtures and fittings were in dire need of replacement, the lighting was dingy and some aspects of the accommodation were downright dangerous; I had a shock when pulling a plug from a fan out of one of several loose sockets in the property. If there were such a body as HSE in Greece they would have a field day in terms of the electrics alone, and there was also an all-pervading sewage smell, which seemed to emanate from the downstairs toilet. To add to the list of woes there was a colony of ants which had taken up residence in the kitchen and they seemed to be able to smell out any dropped food, no matter how insignificant a quantity.
If this was a house for sale it would be considered "a project".
The other reviewer mentioned the furniture in the living room being uncomfortable but you really do need to be aware just how utterly unusable this is. We were fortunate to have good weather for 13 of 14 nights of our holiday and on the 13 good days/nights we were able to spend time on the main balcony, which extends to the full width of the house and is by far the best feature, not to say saving grace, of the accommodation as a whole. However, on the one night when we had poor weather and weren't able to sit outside we had no alernative but to retreat indoors and to give you an idea of the inadequacy of the furniture we preferred to sit in the kitchen rather than the living room.
As I've already said, everything, and I mean everything, is in need of not just refurbishment but total replacement. It seems to me that there has been no expenditure on this accommodation for a very long time indeed and although this was from Thomson's "simply travel" arm I believe it's not unreasonable to expect much better than this.