Arrived at Marias Apartments on Fri, 7th May 2010 to be greeted by Spiros, who owns the complex along with his parents. Spiros was exceptionally friendly and gave us a warm welcome by explaining we should see him if we need anything at all or have any problems. He even invited us to the bar to have a drink with him that night (which we did, and he is great company and very funny). There is karaoke on most nights, a quiz early on and a really good English DJ called Dave. They also serve very good food at the hotel, which is slightly more expensive than most places in Sidari but very good quality and loads on the plate.

The pool area is fairly large, water is clean and inviting and there's a small pool-side bar, staffed by nice people who we got to know well called Nikous, Spiros, and Carly.The great thing about the pool area is that there's only a small wall to climb over (or walk round the path) and you're on the beach. It's so close you could actually be on the beach, and could have a conversation with someone who is at the pool.

The only small complaint I have is that we requested a first floor apartment over-looking pool area via Thomson and ended up in a ground floor apartment (number 8), with a balcony view of the food storage area and little sunlight. The annoying thing is that we mentioned this to management but they said someone else had arrived earlier that day for our room, and they requested a move to 1st floor straight away, so we missed out and someone else got the apartment we requested, which I didn't think was fair because it meant the balcony wasn't much fun to sit in and have a drink before heading out (In fact we didn't use it at all). Spiros did say that if it was that much of a problem, he could move us. We didn't want to put him to any inconvenience, because he was so understanding about it and very pleasant.

Our first night was a bit of a disaster as there was no bracket for the shower (in most rooms actually), meaning you had to negotiate holding the shower head and applying shower gel at the same time. When I got out the shower, the water had flooded out to the bedroom area and spent about 45 minutes trying to mop it up. We did mention this to Spiros and he was more than helpful saying that the room hadn't been used since last season so drainage could be a problem but he got someone to unblock it the next day. He said there are no shower brackets because children kept breaking them if they couldn't reach up properly - To be honest, as much as this is annoying, it has to be expected in Greece and adds to the authenticity.

Only real down point is that if you like a late night drink, the bar in Marias isn't for you - They start to close the bar at 1am, and if you're still drinking by 1.30am, the lights will go off and they only leave on a small light for you as a hint, and several times we were told we could take our drinks back to the apartment. A few hints were made such as "Is this a last drink for the road?". We were a little surprised for this to happen in Greece, as I've always known the bars to stay open for as long as paying guests want to keep buying drinks. Appreciate they work long hours, but wages are minimal to employ an additional person, and they only work 6 months out the year and you would think they would be grateful to receive the additional revenue. It didn't really spoil the holiday as such though, and is a good thing really, as you're fresh the next day but it would be nice to make that decision as an adult.

If you go to Marias, please visit Tasos at Vlaseros Travel. He is such a friendly person, and offers the best deals in Sidari (He is the one with the "big red bus").

Thanks to Spiros and all at Marias for such a great holiday, and will see you all again next year!!!

The location of Sidari Marias Apartments was perfect, right on the beach with a sea view balcony. The food and evening entertainment was fantastic, we made friends with the waiters and DJ/entertainer which made our stay more enjoyable and welcoming. Every night during dinner they had traditional Greek dancing which was great.

We stayed at Maria's apartments on 13th August for 1 week, they are at the west end of the beach near the canal (not as smelly as people have reported and full of fish, even saw a terrapin in there!). The apartment (No 16) was clean and had air con (not mentioned by First Choice and charged at around 5e per day). The staff were very friendly and nothing was too much trouble. There are plenty of sun beds and had no trouble with the towel brigade! The pool is on the beach, which is quite shallow (about 10m) so there was a lovely unspoilt view across the bay - it was fantastic! The main street run parallel with the beach so most of the time we walked along the beach and then back down through the town (takes about 7 minutes to walk along the beach to the other end of the beach). The food at Maria's was fantastic, especially the fish and cost was on a par with the rest of the resort. It was hard not to eat at Maria's but we did manage to try the Mexican 'Tex Mex' (left at the cross roads and over the bridge) and 'The Two Brothers' (straight over the cross roads), both were very good. Do not book the excursions through your travel rep as they charge as much as 60% more. We went on the BBQ boat , water park, corfu shopping, trip to Paleokastritsa. All great trips and booked through Vlasseros Travel (friendly and helpful - even when we missed a pickup, they rescheduled). We also hired a Yellow motor boat for a couple of hours and went canoeing, both from Sidari beach. All in all a great holiday and if we return to Corfu it will to Maria's.