Marina Bay Studios & Apartments

1 reader found this review helpful

Let's be clear, the Marina Bay studios are small, basic and the beds are "firm", BUT hey, welcome to Greece. On the plus side there's a small 'fridge, a kettle and a toaster all fairly new. The bathroom is small but clean and the location is perfect, centre of town but quiet. All in all you get what you pay for and I'd go back again.
The small town/village of Scala is ideal for me. The restaurants are first class offering much more than the usual tourist greek food if you shop around.The beaches are perfect and there's some great hiking into the hills behind if you like that sort of thing.
ps. Take some deet with you for the mozzies in the evening!

3 readers found this review helpful

very basic the hot food nots so good. staff always arguering.rooms very poor.

3 readers found this review helpful

Marina Bay Hotel is ideal if you are looking for a quiet holiday in an unspoiled location.Our room for three was basic but kept spotlessly clean every day. We were provided with a fridge, 2-ring hob but no pans or utensils for catering, and not enough cutlery. Staff happily provided these when we asked. The restaurant staff - Spiros, Malou and Larisse made us extremely welcome. The inclusive breakfast was very basic; restaurant over-priced. We found the best value lunch/evening meals in out-of-town roadside tavernas, which are plentiful. I can particularly recommend the O Ainos Grill House in the plaza opposite the ferry port in Lixouri (terrific saganaki & stuffed pitas) the Old Stone House in Antipata and the Siroco Cafeteria opposite the supermarket in the main street in Skala.
Marina Bay is perfectly located, situated right on the beach. Turtles nest there, and house martins swoop and dive over the pool. Great swimming in calm, clear shallow sea - ideal for children, and a small but clean freshwater swimming pool on-site.
Unfortunately my holiday was overshadowed by the theft of my son's i-pod which he had handed to the hotel Manageress to be recharged overnight. Next morning it was 'missing', never to be seen again, and the Manageress not only denied responsibility for its loss, but put the blame on my 8-year old son for leaving it with her in the first place. The ineffectual attitude of the Manageress and poor customer service we received in relation to the theft has put a blight on what otherwise has the potential to become a superb holiday destination.
Please be warned - do not be lulled into a false sense of security. Keep valuables locked away and do not entrust them to the hotel management as you will receive no help if anything 'goes missing'.

Skala is a must!
Me and my boyfriend went to a skala for a week with olympic holidays and went self catering,however we never cooked once the restaurants and food were too nice to resist!
The Marina Studios were well situated and had everything you need. They are two minutes from the sea and from the center of town.The studios are well situated and quiet especially considering they are behind a restaurant.
Having never been to a greek island before we were unsure of what to expect,but it really was fantastic!
We recommend dinner and PIKIONA on the beach front staff were fantastic and the food was lovely, this being said everywhere we ate was great.
Our rep jeanette was fantastic and always available if needed. We went on two excursions which we reccomend. the first was a tour of the whole island which was great and secondly we did a 3 island cruise which was fantastic. We visited meganissi and Leftkas and also swam in a private bay of of Skorpios island owned by aristotle onassis.
The studios have no pool but there are pool bars everywhere which are free all they ask is you buy a drink or two. We used the pool opposite socrates taverna which was lovely. Very friendly staff and very yummy food.
Overall the holiday was amazing and we would urge everyone to give these studios a go!!
5* Holiday! A week just wasnt long enough!
Our only complaint is that our towles were not changed but we took our own so this was no issue for us.
Andrea

We have just come back from 1 weeks stay in beautiful Skala n the lovely island of Kefalonia however the Marina apartments are far from acceptable and we could not wait to get home.
The room we had was very small with limited space to hang your cloths and only 1 small draw to put cloths in.
There was no difference in the temp of the water that come out of the hot tap to that of the cold tap and only had warm water once all week which was when it was overcast and raining so they put the imersion on.
The beds were hard and uncomfortable and if you intend to cook anything but very basic food you will have trouble as there is no serving space and the only table and chairs are outside on the balcony.
We also paid 40 euros for air conditioning for the week but were only able to use it sparingly as water gushed out of the unit and all over the unit and into the electrical socket.
When we asked our Olympic holiday rep is we could change rooms, her reply was "this is Greese, what do you expect".
Overall the holiday was lovely but the accommodation spoilt it.

My girlfriend and I stayed here during May 2010. On the whole we had a good experience. The hotel/apartments are slap bang next to a fantastic beach with warm sea where you can swim all day and sit in the sun.
The first thing that will strike you about the hotel is its isolated location and this will cost you so bare that in mind when you book! You will DEFINITELY need a hire car if you stay here unless you're prepared to walk 45mins up steep hills to Skala or take a taxi (Around 12 euros for a return trip to Skala). I'd recommend Greekstones car rental firm in Skala who seem to do better deals than other hire companies likes CBR.
A sewage smell in our room was a major problem when we were there. It seemed to disappear during the day when the hotel residents were out but return in the evening when people came back to use the toilet and shower. I ended up having to block up all the plug holes to prevent the smell coming back up through the pipes. I can't emphasise enough how unpleasant this was and led to both myself and my partner feeling very unwell.
Despite that the rooms were cleaned everyday and all the staff make you feel welcome.
I would agree with other comments that the breakfast menu is a little basic.
I really don't understand the point of having cooking facilities in rooms without providing pans and enough plates and cutlery to use! Completely pointless!!!! A pan or two please Marina Bay!

7 readers found this review helpful

My family (myself, husband and 2 children aged 7 and 5) have just returned from Marina Bay after enjoying a fabulous 2 week break. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. The location is seconds away from a lovely sandy beach with clear shallow water which is ideal for children. The views are spectacular and the restaurant offered a good choice of home made and fresh food ranging from pasta dishes to fresh fish and featured a "special" each day.
The resort is very quiet as it is located in an area where turtles lay their eggs and so there are limitations on the amount of development allowed there so if you are looking for a lively base Marina Bay isn't for you.
We hired a jeep for 4 days to see more of the island and visited Argostoli (good for shopping), Lassi (great for nightlife) as well as some other beaches including where Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed but I can honestly say the beach at Marina Bay was by far the nicest, quietest and safest to swim.
I don't think I could say anything negative about Marina Bay and would definitely recommend it for that "escape from it all" holiday. We hope to return next year.

1 reader found this review helpful

We have just returned from a 1 week stay on a b+b basis. A fantastic setting, with friendly staff. You do need a car. The accommodation was adequate. We did have to report a fault and it was not repaired for the duration of our stay. I do not recommend having your evening meal here, as the food is no where near the standard it should be to compete with some very good restraunts in Skala charging similar prices. The breakfasts do not vary at all and are very simple. If they manage to sort out the chef/cook problems this would be an ideal holiday destination.

1 reader found this review helpful

Our 1st visit to this hotel was in July 2008. We had such a good time that we made this return trip in October 2008. We found it just the place for a relaxing holiday, Sun, sea, pool, good accomodation and terrific sea views.
As in July we found all the faclities excellent.We hired a car to get out and about in the daytime but as the resturant was so good we ate in every night.
Spiros the Food and Beverage Manager is a credit to the hotel with his friendly and efficiently run resturant. The quality and standard of the food and service was far better than expected from a small 2** hotel.
I would certainly like to visit again.

1 reader found this review helpful

I booked Marina Bay purely on reading the reviews and coments of previous holiday makers wanting a quiet holiday and give it full marks. The room (334) was very spacious, comfortable and spotless with fantastic sea views from the balcony. The beach is in a conservation area due to the turtles which I watched emerge from their nests. The food was homely, cooked by mama Katerina. All the staff including the new boy (started the day I arrived) were genuienly friendly and helpful. The breakfast was basic but enough to set you going. The hotel is on the beach, there were plenty of sunbeds in the gardens and around the pool. It is very quiet so to explore you do need to hire a car. Skala is 45mins walk along the road, the beach way a bit hairy scary for me so didn't attempt it. I got a taxi from the airport for 48 euros but negiotiated a return trip for 90 euros. Taxi's into Skala 6 euros one way if you can double up it is still the same price. Restaurants in Skala top recommend The Pines then the Italian then the Flamingo didn't get a bad meal in any of these. Sunbed hire on the beach is 6 euros for the pair of sunbeds and an umbrella. I had no complaints and would certainly return.