Alykes Garden Village

Me, my wife and 2 teenage boys have just returned from Zakynthos having spent 11 nights at the Alykes Garden Village. We've been on many holidays in Spain and Greece, mostly at larger hotels with hundreds of guests, multiple pools and restaurants and mainly all-inclusive. I suppose we prefer the 'impersonal' touch of larger, lively establishments. This was our first experience of a small, family-run hotel and we have mixed feelings about it. Firstly, on arrival you are met by the owner Jimmy who informs you that air conditioning is charged at €10 a night. Our boys are too old to share with us now so we had 2 rooms - total €220. That's a lot of money for something we've always had as standard before. To be fair, having done our homework via these very pages this didn't come as a shock, but still painful ! We had booked, via Jet2, 2 'superior studios with pool view'. We were given 2 rooms (10 and 12) which were basic but adequate (didn't seem all that superior) and as for the pool view, we were on the ground floor behind the bar area. You could sort of see the pool, through the bar windows. Our balcony overlooked the bar kitchen door and didn't feel at all private. Having said that, once you've settled in you appreciate what a pleasant place this is. The pool area is very nice and we never had any problems getting sunbeds/umbrellas at any time. The pool itself is a nice temperature and a good size (in fact it's 3 metres deep at one end which seemed a bit unnecessary given the proliferation of 'No Diving' signs). If you could pick the whole place up and move it half a mile closer to Alykes it would be great. As it was, as other people have mentioned, we had to get used to the walk to/from the village (10 mins in our case - we are quick walkers) and it's not very enjoyable given the absence of a footpath for much of it. We did use the horse and carriage taxis a couple of times which was fun, but at €10 a time we didn't make a habit of it. Speaking of the pool, one day early in the holiday my wife was walking through the bar to our sunbeds carrying a bottle of water in a carrier bag. Jimmy intercepted her, asking her if she'd read the pool rules. Naturally she said she hadn't (who does ?) at which point he recited the part about consumption of food and drink being prohibited around the pool unless purchased on the premises. 'It's only water' said my wife. 'Yes, we sell water' said Jimmy. My wife was summarily despatched back to our room with the bottle. A few minutes later after she returned we spotted our son happily strolling through the bar carrying another bottle of water. 'Nooooo !' we cried. Too late - Jimmy was on him in a flash, like a Praying Mantis. Same conversation, same end result. It's fair to say that we were a bit miffed about this and immediately vowed not to spend a penny in Jimmy's bar, at which point I remembered I still had to pay for the air con, so I went over. Jimmy saw me coming and immediately started to explain why he'd had to mention the issue with the water, but then handed the conversation over to the TUI rep who was hovering nearby. She explained that the Greek inland revenue were having a long overdue clampdown on tax and had started to randomly raid premises, literally comparing receipts behind the bar with food/drink being consumed by customers. It sounded a bit far-fetched but she said she had witnessed it herself and that the owner was liable to hefty fines. Although we were still annoyed at Jimmy's approach, we did relent later and had a few drinks and meals in the bar. The food was really good, if not cheap and to be fair a Mythos beer was €3.50, same as everywhere else. Having eaten in the bar one day, the following day we were on our way out for the evening when Jimmy came trotting over. 'Are you in room 12 ? I need you to pay your tab for your food' . We knew for a fact that we had paid and knew exactly how much the bill was. Once we were interrogated as to who we had paid the money to (think it was his sister but we didn't know her name) he muttered an apology and we were allowed on our way. I know many people love Jimmy and I'm sure he's usually very friendly but we became quite wary of him to be honest. In summary, we had a really nice holiday and enjoyed our stay at the Garden Village but there were some aspects of the place which meant we wouldn't return.

What a wonderful hotel this is! We stayed here for 2 weeks in August and found the facilities perfect for what we need as a family with 10 and 11 year old boys. The grounds are immaculate and tranquil, the 15m swimming pool is great for swimming and playing (it’s also 3m deep which is a nice bonus), and the bar area has everything you could need. The staff and owners are very helpful, kind and discrete and made our stay seamless and run without hitch. Location wise it is a 1 kilometre walk into the town and beach which allows you chance to have a change of pace and scene which is welcome. If you turn left, there is a ‘real’ Zakynthian town about 1 kilometre up the hill too. Also, we travelled the length and breadth of Zakynthos (I strongly recommend hiring a car to see this amazing part of Greece) and in my view this part of the island is much calmer and more authentically Greek than further south. You are also perfectly placed to see everything Zakynthos has to offer from Alykes Garden Village. I would return without hesitation.