Hi
Anyone been to these studios? We are off on 3 July, not been to Halkidiki before and would appreciate some views on these studios. We have been to several Greek islands and found them all great with friendly locals. Any advice on best places to eat and drink?

this is the best hotel in greece regards cosmas , maria

i want to go there is it nice

Hi, my boyfriend and I stayed in the Olympic Kosmas two years ago and it was our first time in Greece. Its best to read reviews of the hotel (try [www.holidaysuncovered.co.uk]). Although hanioti isnt the best place for everyone because a everyone has different tastes I'm sure if you are looking for a calm holiday you will love it. If you are looking for a packed holiday like Ibiza with nightclubs and parties then Hanioti isnt really the place. But don't worry, its not like a granny resort with nothing to do (this is what we worried before we went).

Ok firstly, in your room at the Olympic Kosmas you will probably get complimentary sweets. I would recommend eating these straight away or throwing them out otherwise they attract the ants from outside in a matter of hours! The rooms are very basic, bed mini kitchen (if you are self catering) couple of seats and the bathroom. Theres plenty of wardrobe and drawer space but you might need to take a couple of clothes hangers with you as you only get about 10.

the rooms all have either a balcony and terrace. if you get a balcony overlooking the pool (i think most of them do) then don't expect to get an early night as they play music till about 1am or they have themed nights like bbq and greek style entertainment. but to be honest, you probably wont be back in your room until about 1am anyway.

I hope I don't put you off or totally gross you out but nobody told us that you aren't supposed to put toilet paper down the loo as it gets clogged easily and the rooms have a little waste basket in the bathroom that gets changed everyday by the maid. what we did was everytime we went to the local supermarket to stock up on food, we took a handfull of carrier bags with us and we changed our own bathroom bins about 3 or four times a day because I was grossed out by the thought of a dirty bathroom. Please don't be put off by that though, it isnt as bad as it sounds. theres some garbage dumpsters out the back of the hotel that we used to dispose of our bags or leave them neatly near the cleaners stations for them to take away.

it takes about 5 minutes to reach the main square (if you don't look into the shops along the way), which is made up of bars and restaraunts that I'm sure you will find somewhere that you enjoy. I'll not bother recommending places to eat as thats a personal choice. What I will recommend is the hot goblin. it is a tiny little "restaurant" (if you can call it that) just outside the square. It is owned by an English man and his greek wife and they do english breakfast (using proper english food like Heinz baked beans), jacket potatos and bagette sandwiches. I hear now they have a new fish and chips service but that wasnt there when I visited last. its quite cheap and very useful for afternoons when you just want a snack instead of a meal or if you want to take a sandwich to the beach with you.

Wherever you plan to eat your main meal, it is best to wait till the sun goes down. we made the mistake of eating our evening meal the same time we would eat in england, usually 5-6pm. It is far too hot to eat at this time and even if the restaurant has air conditioning, we found that there were a lot of flies around at this hour, making it very annoying to be swatting them away from you while you try to eat. Try eating at about 7-8pm but any later than that and you might have to que for a table.

If theres anything else you would like to know, don't be afraid to ask. My boyfriend and I are going back to hanioti in June and we love it, we are only 20 and we find that theres plenty of nightlife without it being too hectic.

Hope you have a great time and hear from you soon
xxx

have you got any rooms self catering available in may if so how much a night stayed with you 3 times before how is george

what date in June and where will you be staying this time

hello i am armenian and i have been in your hotel1997 in augost; thanks a lot it was very nice time that i have spent;
hello to Panajotis bar men hello to administration;we ll come back soon;my name is Hovhannisyan Kristina in your book ihave a signature;

Hi, not been to these studios but we know Halkidiki very well having been going there for over 25years. Hanioti to us (we are oldies, 51 and 49!) is very busy and a great place to people watch. We like to go there a few times a week for a beer or two, but in the main we prefer the quieter places.

If you have been to the Greek islands and like the quiet places, try to hire a car or get a taxi and try out Paliori for lunch (little Greek village square with just a few tavernas and nothing much else, but lovely to sit under the trees and eat). Loutra at the end of the peninsula, try Villa Stassa for fantastic views over the sea while you eat. These two places mainly attract Greeks, but there are a few tourists too.

If you fancy a quiet beach (the Hanioti side of the peninsula is quite busy during July and August) try the other side, drive along the road and you will see lots of little pathways down to the sea. The beaches are a bit more pebbly in places, but once in the sea it is sandy, and just outside Skioni (which is a nice fishing harbour village with lots of tavernas) on the way to Mola Kaliva there is a lovely beach near where we rented our house for the whole year. This beach never has more than about 20 people on it, and most of the time only about 3 or 4 and it is quite a long stretch!

Another nice beach is at Siviris. If you drive down towards the village and keep left, you go along the thin road next to the sandy beach. It is fairly quiet here, but if you turned right instead of keeping left youwould get to the busier side with a larger beach. Bassos just near the jetty is lovely for a frappe or beer, and has lovely pastries and chocolate goodies.

Hope this helps. You now have two points of view. Ours is from oldies who like it quiet and from our visits to various islands we found these to be quiet (we have not been to the main tourist islands though like Rhodes, Corfu etc.)

Hi, not been to these studios but we know Halkidiki very well having been going there for over 25years. Hanioti to us (we are oldies, 51 and 49!) is very busy and a great place to people watch. We like to go there a few times a week for a beer or two, but in the main we prefer the quieter places.

If you have been to the Greek islands and like the quiet places, try to hire a car or get a taxi and try out Paliori for lunch (little Greek village square with just a few tavernas and nothing much else, but lovely to sit under the trees and eat). Loutra at the end of the peninsula, try Villa Stassa for fantastic views over the sea while you eat. These two places mainly attract Greeks, but there are a few tourists too.

If you fancy a quiet beach (the Hanioti side of the peninsula is quite busy during July and August) try the other side, drive along the road and you will see lots of little pathways down to the sea. The beaches are a bit more pebbly in places, but once in the sea it is sandy, and just outside Skioni (which is a nice fishing harbour village with lots of tavernas) on the way to Mola Kaliva there is a lovely beach near where we rented our house for the whole year. This beach never has more than about 20 people on it, and most of the time only about 3 or 4 and it is quite a long stretch!

Another nice beach is at Siviris. If you drive down towards the village and keep left, you go along the thin road next to the sandy beach. It is fairly quiet here, but if you turned right instead of keeping left youwould get to the busier side with a larger beach. Bassos just near the jetty is lovely for a frappe or beer, and has lovely pastries and chocolate goodies.

Hope this helps. You now have two points of view. Ours is from oldies who like it quiet and from our visits to various islands we found these to be quiet (we have not been to the main tourist islands though like Rhodes, Corfu etc.)

which company has taken over this hotel? it used to be golden sun but they went bust!

Sorry guys,but I've never been before in a such a dirty place,with a such a bad service,food and employes.I'm from Romania,and I was to this hotel in august 2005 and I was very very disapointed.All inclusive ....food with dirthy socks taste (and never enough),cheap drinks,dirthy rooms,dirthy towels,etc.Employes are russian or bulgarian and they dont speak english.....
About food....how can I eat spagetti with cips or fish with beans?Or...how can I eat a lounch without meat??Coffe....a nightmare.Breakfast....everiday same food....salads....all the time the same.If a salad is not good to eat today....they will give u tomorow....maibe finally somebody will eat that @!#$.
The pool is verry small and full of children.If u espect to make some baths in that poll....better forget it.
IF U PEOPLE WANT A NICE HOLLIDAY....DON'T CHOOSE THIS HOTEL !! AND MY EDVISE.....IN GRECEE CHOOSE SOME HOTELS WITH 4 STARS MINIMUM.
PS:sorry 4 my bad english.

Hi! I and my family are planning to spend our summer holiday on Halkidiki. We've been to Hanioti before and liked it, but we haven't seen the Olympic Kosmas hotel. My husband and I saw their offer and it seemed very attractive. However, we read so many different comments from people that have spent their holidays there, so that we have doubts about choosing this hotel. We cannot afford ourselves to make a bad choice because we have two little kids (age 3 and 1) especially with hygiene and food. Please give us your advice.

last year O.K had gone all inc. There were very little (15) English speaking guests there when we went in Sept. Apparantly the hotel guests were mainly Russian and they stayed in the hotel as opposed to getting out into the village. This allegedly made the hotel very noisy, especially at night.

I have it on good advice this hotel is now owened by Russians so not to sure if it is sutible for an English family with young children. Also Strand & Grand, Strand Village, and Olimpic Lackiss are also owened by Russians. I am not saying there is any thing wrong in that but it may be better to book into one that is used by British tour operators. I have used and going back (8 June ) Hanoti Palace so would recomend that as ideal for familys. Booking through internet have paid £45 per night half board for two pepole. Thre are othere good hotels in Hanoti go through these pages and you will get honest and genuine advice. best of luck.

Have a look at the Holidays Uncovered website regarding this Hotel. The most recent comments aren't very complimentary.

Alanapp,

Where did you get your advice as I spoke to the owners last month and they did not give me any indication they were/had sold. indeed they were there early this year as they were replacing the furniture.

my parents have booked a trip to halkidiki and they are going to stay at
this hotel. the reviews from last year look horrible. has anyone been
there this year? maybe there is some hope!
thank you in advance.
alexa

we have holidayed at this hotel many times and always enjoyed ourselves. we loved it so much we bought a house there. from kosmas.
what you have to realise is that if you are paying cheep prices for your holiday, the travel companies pass this on to the hotel owners. so don't expect 5 star treatment if you have paid peanuts for the holiday.

the owners are a good family and work hard with the payments they recieve, the reason that there are a lot of russian holiday makers is that most of the english companies look for reasons not to pay there bills to the owners.
just imagine, footing the bill for food and staff etc for a whole season and then not get paid.

if you want 5 star treatment you have to pay for it. you don't get anything for nothing....

anyway, your going to another country so expect to meet people who arn't english.

we have always taken our own towels and it takes no time to push a broom around the apartment.

all the hotel rooms surround the pool area, great for sitting on the balcony and watching the loons at the bar or go down and join them. kosmas, maria, evie and costas will always help you if you have a problem.

or you could always go to butlins where everyone speaks english.

the best part of a holiday is the adventure of not knowing what you will find when you get there. if its not what you were looking for then blame your travel company for sending you there, not the hotel because they are all working hard to help you have a great time.
if you don't like the food. eat in the village.

yassoo kosmas and maria

john joanne and lauren
see you all 27th july for three weeks...

thanks a lot for the fast reply.
the problem was not the expectation of a 5* hotel, but the insecurity of
the place. the people were complaining that they were stolen and also that
they were treated not quite polite. i can agree that this is not too
relevant
since they could have also been rude to the personal.

and asking for a clean place, shouldn't be too much. this doesn't mean
other towels every day or changing the sheets, but a clean room the moment
you enter.

thanks again for the answer. the place doesn't look so bad anymore.
alexa

meanwhile my parents were there and they were quite happy with the
accommodation. for the prize they payed, they received very good services.
the place was clean (towels were changed every day), the food enough (and
one had some choices). there
was
nothing to
complain about.
so, if you want good services at a low prize, they
recommend you the place.

p.s. to JohnCole
if you see the family running the place, please send them thanks and
greetings from some satisfied tourists!