Hotel Emelisse

A generally pleasant stay, but having stayed in many same starred hotels, we were left disappointed by some details. Positives: Beautiful location with wonderful views of Ithaca. Great cocktails, but a little pricey. Free shuttles to and from Fiscardo and to the beach if requested. Comfortable beds Lovely hotel cats Nice gardens, but a little messy. Nice breakfast buffet Negatives: Small, fairly dark rooms. Tea and coffee facilities are a kettle and Nespresso machine. No tea bags provided and if you want more than the allocated 4 coffee pods per stay, they cost extra. Some staff showing a little fatigue about the end of the season with their demeanour. Slightly huffy and unsmilling. Large wasp population meant it was sometimes difficult to relax. Very little was done to discourage the wasps. We enjoyed our stay, but did not meet our expectations given the star rating.

The Emelisse Hotel has all the ingredients to be a luxury 5 star hotel but is failing in many areas that could easily be rectified at no extra cost. The positives: The Emelisse is high up, in a beautiful setting, with stunning views of Emblissy Bay & Lefkas. The main pool & restaurant is positioned with superb sea views, where you can sit & watch the yachts sail by. The adult pool is very peaceful with a smaller sea view. There is a rocky beach below, with steps carved into the rocks & turquoise, warm water. We really enjoyed diving off the rocks into the deep sea. There’s a free shuttle service into Fiskardo where there is an abundance of waterfront restaurants & yachts. You can also walk down an unmade path into town in 10 minutes. The negatives: Our first disappointment was that we didn’t get the terraced room we requested. We were shown to an upstairs room with a tiny balcony. When I asked to be moved I was told all rooms were full. But magically after 5 minutes of gentle persistence, the terraced room below was suddenly ‘available’, so we moved. But both rooms & bathrooms were very dark, even with all the lights on & windows open, I had to put my makeup on outside. The room was basic & tired. Our next issue was the poor service at breakfast. The staff were not particularly attentive; walking past dirty plates, not noticing our coffee needed topping up, we had to keep waving for attention & there were lots of mistakes with orders. The staff didn’t interact with us unless we started the conversation first, & then it seemed a half hearted response. It might be the end of season but on holiday, you still expect smiling, happy and interested waiting staff. We have been going to Greece for 20 years & have always found staff to be friendly and pleased to serve us, even when exhausted from their unbelievably long shifts. We could not eat breakfast outside with gorgeous sea views, due to the abundance of angry wasps. That’s not a criticism of the hotel - just a warning for those who like to eat outside. The garden areas were unruly & not maintained to a high enough standard. Having said that, we overlooked all these issues & really enjoyed our holiday. This is 4 star hotel living on its location & views, not a 5 star as advertised.

Had one night at the Emelisse when we visited Fiscardo, and the property is absolutely stunning! Had a very personal welcome, with cold water with cucumber and refreshing, scented cloths to cool down – lovely! Very nice room with great sea view, and beautiful bathroom with ceiling shower. Complimentary products by Korres. Very romantic and tranquil property, loved the outdoor cinema area, had a cocktail here before dinner. Had both lunch and dinner here, as the weather wasn’t the best, and I must say dinner was quite pricey The staff in the restaurant were a bit ignorant and not what you would expect at a place like this. Next time we would definitely just have a drink, and go to Fiscardo for dinner. The hotel has a shuttle to Fiscardo. Breakfast was fantastic, with everything you could desire – loved the fresh orange juice and fresh avocado! Sadly, there were so many wasps, so could not enjoy the breakfast outside, but the hotel can’t really be blamed for that. Would absolutely stay here again.