Samos Town, Anthemis Apartments Review

Overall Rating

We found the bar and reception staff more than helpful, snacks were available until late into the evening and nothing was too much trouble.

The apartments had little in the way of storage; the lounge area where the third bed was situated had none what so ever and the bedroom had one wardrobe which contained three drawers, none of which could be used as they came off the runners. Other than a few hanging items we left our clothes in our suitcase the entire holiday. The apartments would have benefited from a coat of paint and the pool, although reasonably clean, suffered from a tide mark around the edges. There was adequate shade around the pool until around 2.00 p.m. but after that we found it useful to have our own umbrella.

The Anthemis Apartments are only a ten minute stroll into the main square of Samos Town and n route you will pass plenty of tavernas and bars. Although these apartments are not new they are however spacious, comfortable and cleaned regularly, the owners provide toilet roll (which we have not encountered in Greece before) and during our stay sheets and towels were changed on a regular basis. The apartments contained a hairdryer (a bit slow!), a TV, a coffee machine and extractor fan in the kitchen (which was adequate for a quick breakfast or snack). The apartments had air conditioning and a mini bar (both payable locally); we thought the mini bar was good to contain water and soft drinks, especially when we first arrived! the prices were competitive and payable when checking out. Not that we generally watch TV on holiday we were a bit disappointed to discover only one English speaking channel was available - the news!! In fairness this may have been because the apartments catered for other nationalities that also were entitled to TV access.

The views from our apartment were fantastic, as were those around the pool. The elevated aspect of the Anthemis ensured a good view of the ferry traffic arriving at Samos harbour and the bar and reception area were well placed to watch the majority of the sunset.

We liked the fact that the Anthemis was quiet, the gardens were well tended and the cats were friendly! Even the few dogs we encountered were not intimidating and enjoyed a bit of fuss.

Samos Town had a little bit of everything; although we never quite worked out some shop opening hours! Some were definitely souvenir shops and open most of the time, others were more for the locals, and some of these were expensive (especially the clothes!). The old town was interesting, the streets were steep, tiny and worth a stroll around and at the top the views were good.

Eating out in Samos was cheap, we tried several tavernas but found El Greco's (in a side street off the main harbour front) and Steps (signposted on the front up a back street) to be the best. The club bars however were a different story, they were definitely expensive, being objective though this could have been due to the alcohol content in the drinks; they were definitely not short measures!!

We hired a car during our stay which we would recommend as Samos is a very lush island. Most of its beaches are stony but we found a short distance from shore usually meant it was sandy, however beach shoes are definitely a plus and can be used when visiting the waterfall at Potami, which together with the mountain village at Minolates and the tunnel near Pythagorio would be our recommendations for a visit. These places also got the thumbs up from our seventeen year old daughter who also enjoyed her visit to Samos.

Members' Comments onGillQ's Review

• J JONES on 5th Oct 2005

  We found Anthemis 1 bedroomed Apartment spacious, but was disapointed with the furnishings. The bathroom was in need of updating along with the kitchen. We prefer to go self catering, so we can dine in some evenings if we wish. But there just wasn't a grill / kettle or toaster! just a 2 ring free standing cooker and a coffee maker.
  
  The location is nice, quiet with wonderful views overlooking Samos town and the mountains.
  
  Staff were very helpful and friendly, linen and towels were changed regularly.
  
  JJ

• Chris J on 13th Aug 2006

  August 06- Agree with the coments on the decor of the apparments. The bathroom is something from the 70's although we found it clean. The kitchen also could do with some moden appliances (the fridge looked like it had been taken off the local dump and it had to be kept on high just to get it cold enough for the beer/wine). Could have done with a toaster but we managed using the electric rings. The bedroom was spacious but lacked draw space. Everything had been given a new coat of paint and they have started upgrading the facilities in the reception area. We found the swimming pool to be very clean. Not much space around the pool for the number of people staying there-24 rooms and only space for the 22 sunbeds. The number of steps on the site was no good for people with walking problems, but you are warned about this in the brochure. We had the top apartment(fantastic views) but 105 steps to it. The linen which was changed frequently was clean and fresh. On the whole we found the staff friendly and Ali's holiday drinks where great. Not many english people staying at the Anthemis.