We was in the fires in Pefkohori, on monday we ended up leaving our accomodation Ioli Village as we (3 adults and 3 kids) had no confidence in a Thompsons rep which was the only rep that appeared when we needed guidence. Please note this is not a dig at the Thompsons rep, as she was the only rep that appeared.
What i do have a problem with, is the fact that our rep (KOSMAR) did not appear at all on monday. I guess you only find out how good your travel company is when something like this happens.
Our journey on that horrible night was 2 hours on foot and then we was picked up by a very freightened Greek female business owner traveling from Pefkohori to Fourka on the southern peninsula. I only wish i had got her name to thank her for getting us out of a sticky situation. We found an apartment in Fourka and stopped the night away from our holiday village in pefkohori.
The next morning we could still see the smouldering fires from the northern area (about 25 KM away).
We finally managed to get in touch with our rep, who instructed us to return to Pefkohori as it was safe to do so. We arrived back at Ioli Village at about 13.00 on tuesday, 2.5 hours later we were told that we were being evacuated.
We were then taken on to Thessalonika. a group of about 18 couples were dropped off at a hotel just outside the city, with a swimming pool. We was dropped off at an dirty unsuitable city centre hotel with no pool. I called our KOSMAR rep who after a short conversation hung up on me. This is totally unacceptable.
Maybe there was much panic about monday and tuesday but there is a way that travel company's should deal with it.
I loved ioli Village and Anna the lady on reception, our holiday for four days was great and i would go back there despite our experiences.
With the way KOSMAR dealt with us and many more people we talked to, we would never use them again.

Thanks for the very good information you have supplied,it is veryuseful,we stay at the Hotel Angelo every year for the last four years now,they have become good friends of ours but we have not been able to get in touch with them & we were a bit worried so it is good to know there was no serious damage, thanks again, see you all next year,
Regards Glyn Owen.

Neil Greenough

We are going out on the 11th as well and staying in Hanioti. We are also with Thomson but we are at the Strand Apartments. Like you I contacted Thomson who were no help. I don't think they have much in the way of information and don't want people to change thier plans. I know we won't. There are worse things in life than a bit of smoke and we are still looking forward to visiting Halkidiki. Fancy a pint!

Roy & Becky

Wise66, thanks for your reply. We are not planning on changing our plans, however we just want to know if we're staying in the hotel we booked for and if not, what hotel we'll be staying in. As some reports state our hotel has burnt down (as it's located in a wooded area), out holiday has not become an Allocation On Arrival. I think I'll give Thomson a ring on Tuesday (when they open) and ask for a definite answer regarding the hotel.

Hi
Does anyone know how the fire affected Polichrono, it was mentioned in all the reports but most of the damage reported was Hanioti. I am due to travel to the Royal Kostas Apartments at the end of September. We are still going to give our support to the area, it would just be nice to know what we are going to encounter. As other people have mentioned Thomson are not giving anything away.
Thanks
Dawn

Polichrono was not damaged any damage you will see in the area will be the woodland.The villagers got together in all the villages to clean any ash that has fallen.
You will have a great holiday so don't worry

Jane,

Never got up the corage to go & see Amanda before the proverbial hit the fan. I'm quite shy really! I hope they were OK as I know the fire was quitre close that end of the beach. Thanks for all the advice and ideas before the holiday it helped me a lot.

Graham

Now water...Can somebody from Hanioti tell me whats going on there? We are trying to change our location for holiday but in agency tell us that everythig is ok in Hanioti. Latest pictures tell us totaly diferent story...

GLYN OWEN

Have just come back from Apts Angelo, the only damaged they sustained was the roof of the restaurant.
Have fun

Hi myself and the better half are due to fly out on the 7th Sept and we are soooooo looking forward to seeing Halkadiki - hanioti but we had reports back from 1st choice that there is a problem with health & safety issues at the Lesse Hotel and we have to wait until this thurs to find out if we are able to stay there or if we will be found alternative accomodation! Does anybody know or has anybody been told anything re this issue??
Hope everything is okay though :-}

Garry,

We too experience no end of grief from Kosmar. Kosmar Reps ( when they appeared ! ) were rude especially Vanessa ( who we found out is the rep manager for the whole of the island ). I will be making a HUGE complaint about them. We also heard reports from other holiday makers that a Kosmar rep ran down the beach on monday night shouting 'we're all going to die'. I certainly will never being travelling with them ever again. Especially as they have 13 properties in Kassandra and only 3 reps!

Hi we are travelling to the Ammos Apartments in Polychrono on 21 September can anyone tell me what these apartments are like and if they have been damaged by the fire.

Sue

Hi.

Just got back from Fourka, Staying at Aristidis & Kaneilis. This area has not been touched by the fires at all, so if anyone's planning to head out there - don't worry it's all fine. The only evidence of the fires there is a small amount of black ash washing up on the beach, but unless you were looking for it, you probably wouldn't see it!

On the holida, we took the bus over the peninuslar to Kalithea. Again, there was no sighn of the fires there so rest easy if you're heading out there.

It was a bit of a tense time for us as we landed in halkidiki on the night the fires started. No one knew much or even if we were going to be able to get through to Fourka as most of the roads were jammed with emergency vehicles getting through. All the news was (obviously) in Greek so all we could do was look at the pictures of fleeing tourists without being able to find out where the fires were or were headed. Thompson weren't much help in the first few days - we didn't see our rep until the friday (arrived on monday) - can't really blame them however, as all the reps were very buisy looking after those staying in Hanioti etc.

Anyone with any questions on Fourka, please feel free to email me: bjjones_22@hotmail.com.

Cheers.
BJ

Got back from Pefkohori last night,stayed 5 weeks, The fire happened.....It is over. I shall be going back next year,Nature has a knack of repairing it's own damage rapidly,the rain brought fresh, lush grass almost instantly..KASSANDRA IS ALIVE. Please enjoy it.

my partner and i were in polichrono when the fire started. it started about 4.00 pm on sunday .i have pictures on my camera and video camera from 4.22 pm.it was very scary as the wind was blowing in all directions fanning the fire.we wre staying at the nemos and the owners were brilliant.obviously very concerned but keeping everybody calm.this was our fifth trip to polichrono and it wont be the last.i would just like to say to anybody thinking twice about going to this area, what is there to think about, just go. halkidiki is open

i would like to add to my previous message. we travelled with sky holidays, part of libra, and the rep came round to us on the monday with a list to locate all of her people. she gave us the option of going home.it was not an option.we rented a car and had no problems at all.as far as we could see there was only one hotel that got burnt in hanioti. that was up on the main road, dont know the name. would like to thank the people of polichrono for their help and wisdom. and ouzo. thanks

I was in Hanioti when the fire start and i spent all night at haniotis beach,it was terrible expirince.
To everybody who like to know Hanioti is not dameged only one supermarket and gus station on the highway,but teh air is very bad for breath especilay for childern and old people( i know this info cause i have friend in thess and my parents are also doctors)

The petrol station on the main road in Hanioti escaped the fire. My friend has children in Hanioti, and the air is fine.If it was not okay tour operators would not be allowed to send people there for their holidays.

The fire started to be a problem in Hanioti on MONDAY night, not Sunday as Tony suggests and the evacuation began on Tuesday afternoon. I've been told to write a report for Thomas Cook as I will not hear from them, as promised by the rep. I believe we should get some compensation for the stress, inconvenience and effectively ending our holiday early. I guess they will try to avoid any pay-out.

Graham

Hi
My son & I started our holiday on the Thursday before the fire. We were staying at Churosso Village in Paliori. We were evacuated to the beach and it was all calm and the First Choice reps (even though very young ) were fantastic ! They had no communication as all the Greek networks were down. They looked after us, water and reassurance. We went back to our accomodation and the reps slept for two nights on sunbeds so they would be able to raise the alarm if the fire changed direction. The hotel staff were also brilliant. Within hours of the next morning the holiday village was cleared of all ash and strewn furniture due to the strong winds.

People moan and groan about compensation and things that the staff and reps had no control over! Come on ! We were were lucky ! Yes it was frightening. Yes it was dangerous but at the end of the day we were looked after, kept informed and we still had a brilliant holiday.

First Choice reps looked after everyone on the beach, even those that did not have a rep on site. Maybe the other travel companies could learn a thing or two.

A final thanks to all the Greeks who treated us like their own family. They can be proud of themselves.
YES WE WILL GO BACK !! and to those who are going to Halkidiki.........Enjoy ! We did !