This is a review from holidays uncovered. Very useful
Litsa Studios - Skala
Operator and Date: Manos - May 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : Scott (M) & Gerald (F) - Essex (34, 39)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Opinion:
Litsa Studios - SKALA - Kefalonia
Manos
2nd - 23rd May 2006
AIRPORT
Small as is the case with most of Greece but we got through fairly quickly and I was impressed with the luggage conveyor as it was shaped to allow more people access to it. The transfer to Skala was over an hour with drop-offs in Katelios but on the return to airport it was about 45 mins.
LITSA STUDIOS
The Litsa is located at the top of the main street, so up a bit of a hill, but ideally situated for the whole resort. We were initially disappointed as we were on the ground floor and always request top floor, but the lady owner lives upstairs so there was only ground floor accommodation available. As soon as we got inside we were very happy with the studio. The room was quite large with twin beds, both with bedside cabinets (a first!!!!) a table and 2 chairs, a wardrobe, a very well-equipped kitchenette (usual fridge and 2 rings but loads of useful items like a grater (to make your tzatziki - grate cucumber and squeeze out the juice, grate garlic to taste, mix with Greek yoghurt, salt & pepper - delicious!) lemon juicer, tongs, bread knife, chopping board, colander, big serving dishes, large glass jug, and plenty of crockery & cutlery and even an extractor hood over the cooking area!).
The piece de resistance was the bathroom! The shower was built into a fully tiled alcove (over 1 metre square) with a one-brick-high threshold and a shower curtain! Therefore nothing else got wet and the floor didn't flood! You didn't need to save the toilet roll from a drenching every time! There was also an extractor fan in the bathroom. Sheets & towels were changed twice a week and bins emptied 3 times a week. There was air con available. We had a very large terrace in front of the studio with patio table and chairs. When we first got there the terrace was always shady which was nice after you had got a bot of a sweat on walking up the hill, but chilly in the morning/evening. But by the 3rd week it was getting sun on the terrace and it was really too hot! The studio was quite shaded and so reasonably cool but was getting hot after 3 weeks!
RESORT
We loved Skala! It is reasonably compact and centred on a bit of a hill around the main street but there are many side streets. There are roman remains with mosaic floors which is free to see daily 10 am - 2 pm. There are lots of trees around the resort. You can walk up the hill and visit the old demolished buildings of the old village, lost in the earthquake. There was a lot of building work going on up there. It was about an hour to 1 hr 30 mins each way to walk. Skala is suitable for all ages but its not for the very young and lively! There are several bars though. We don't have children but it seemed OK for kids. Watch them with the deep sea though.
BEACH
The beach is gorgeous. Mainly golden sand, some shingle, very wide and long long long! The sea was extremely clear, flip flops recommended as a little stony, and it got deep very near the shore. We had one day when there were hundreds of jellyfish along the waterline. When we first got there, there were no sunbeds out and a tractor came daily and raked the sand to clear any rubbish etc. But gradually more and more sunbeds got put out but there was still plenty of spaces for those with beach mats. We went on the glass bottomed boat which goes every hour for 15 euros each (10 euros for children). It was a nice trip but a bit disappointing as we were expecting to see fish and octopus etc of which there were very few! We glimpsed a turtle and that was about it! The guide showed us some "shipwrecks", one of which he said was from 50 BC!!!??? We saw smashed terracotta pots which he said held wine or olive oil. He also showed us a shipwreck of roof tiles. Very interesting! (not!)
TAVERNAS
We love Greek food and had some great meals in Skala.
THE PINES - we ate here twice, more expensive and I wouldn't say the food is any better than other places but the service was very good, and frequently bringing round iced water was a nice touch. We can thoroughly recommend the Greek Dinner for 2. You got a selection of hot & cold starters, Greek salad, 3 main courses (stuffed tomatoes, moussaka and kefalonian meat pie) with a plate of fresh vegetables, 2 desserts, and a litre of wine, plus the free iced water, all this for just 40 euros for 2, which we though was well worth it. Even we couldn't manage it all! They always gave you fresh veg with your meal which is a rare thing in Greece for some reason. The only thing that concerned us with the Pines was that the food came ultra quick and so could only be microwaved.
MI ABELI - we ate here twice. Very nice.
SOCRATES - we ate here twice. Very good home-cooked food & friendly owners. We can recommend the lentil soup and the rabbit.
APOSTOLIS - we ate here 3 times, the place was always full and a lot of Greeks ate here too. Excellent friendly service and GREAT food!
SUNRISE (on the beach, face the sea and turn right, walk to end) - we ate here 4 times. Absolutely beautiful setting, very green with plants & trees, view of the beach, good friendly service and excellent food. Try the mixed fish starter for two 9.80 euros for a huge platter of sardines, calamari and sole - delicious! We can recommend the red snapper and the silver bream. And the special sunrise spaghetti was lovely! We also had the best cheese saganaki ever! Sunrise also make a mean pizza and on our last evening we ordered 2 pizzas which we then took to the airport for lunch the next day!
IL DESTINO - Italian restaurant near the Chinese. Delicious food, great service and nice atmosphere but small portions and VERY expensive - a meal for 2 came to 52 euros (starters/main/litre of wine), whereas usually we were paying 25 - 35 euros
PIKIONA - (on the beach road, face the sea turn left, near Makis Hotel) THIS WAS OUR ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE RESTAURANT OF ALL TIME!!!!! We ate here 3 times. A bit more expensive but no more so that the Pines and it a TOTALLY different class to The Pines. What a gorgeous setting. There is a lovely pool and lounge area in the gardens during the day and at night the whole place is lit with huge orange lamps all around the large grounds, with wicker chairs and little tables, it looks amazing. It is really beautiful and unusual. The place was totally refurbished last year and is extremely well done. The walls are all folding glass doors so they slide right back, the chairs are all shaped wicker, staff all in red tops, a real cut above the rest! The service is excellent, the menu truly awe inspiring and very different and the food totally amazing. The portions are HUGE!!!!!! Try the goats cheese tart for starters, the salmon encrusted in pistachio nuts for main, the octopus starter was gorgeous, and the fish pie was to die for! They bring you a bottle of water in an ice bucket included in your cover charge so you don't even have to buy drinks! Prepare to be stuffed full, we never had room for desserts! YOU MUST GO THERE! A little more expensive but well worth it! Beats THE PINES hands down!
Two tavernas I would not return to are: GALLERA - very disappointed in the Kleftico - it was just a plain lamb chop with melted feta on top and plain boiled potatoes. And TA PITHARIA - always full but the night we went we were not overly impressed. The meat was tasty but the salad looked like it had been sitting on the plate all day! And the pitta was rock hard!
SUPERMARKETS
There are several supermarkets in the resort. All can provide whatever you may want I would imagine! Our favourite was the one just down from the Litsa, I think it was 'Galaxy' supermarket. The 'Skala' Supermarket a little further down on the other side we only went to once and the man was really grumpy, snatched the money from you and it seemed quite a bit more expensive so we didn't go back there. Another nice one was the 'Ionian' right at the bottom next to the pharmacy, along from the Chinese. We also went to the one just up from Mi Abeli taverna, 'Sconto' Supermarket which was good. If you hire a car, its worth a trip to LIDL's in Argostolli as water, juices, milk, chocolate milk, olives, wines, spirits etc etc etc (everything, in other words!) are less than half the price of the resort supermarkets. So if you are staying for 2 or 3 weeks like us, we found it well worth stocking up! LIDL's can be found as you leave Argostolli and head back to Skala on the main road that passes the castle on the hill. It is literally just out of Argostolli.
EXCURSIONS
We hired a car for 3 days from Greekstones. It was a Hyundai Atos with air con and cost 96 euros for the 3 days. We drove around the island to visit places of interest. DROGARTTI CAVE - amazing stalactites and stalagmites. We loved it, great for photos, and only 3 euros per person. MELLAGNISSI LAKE was very beautiful but a bit more at 5 euros. You get on a little boat which takes you round the little lake and the boatman tells you a bit about the cave. We had a boat to ourselves but I'm sure that later in season the boats would be very full and a queue. You were then expected to tip the boatman so the cave was much better value than the lake! We also went to ANTI SAMOS to see where Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed but I must say we didn't recognise it!? We stopped in SAMI for lunch twice and both times went to 'The Mermaid' taverna on the harbour front. Very good value and lovely food
There are some lovely tiny beaches when you drive north from Sami. Some are just 'two person' beaches. We found a lovely one of small white pebbles and had it totally to ourselves which was fabulous. We then drove across the island to MYRTOS BEACH, apparently one of the most beautiful and photographed beaches in the world! Can't see the attraction? It was just a big beach of white cobblestones! Uncomfortable to lie on and hard to walk on! We drove up to FISCARDO as we had heard great things about its beauty and yes it was quaint and pretty but perhaps the people who rave over it have never been to Greece before? There were lots of boats and when we were there early evening it was packed with hire sailing boats mooring for the night. We didn't eat here but I got the feeling it would be more expensive. There was also a lot of building work going on at the edges of Fiscardo which seemed a shame.
We didn't visit ASSOS but saw it from the coast road, and we will visit next time we come to Kefalonia, at it looked picturesque. We visited ROBOLLA WINES which was fabulous! (inland about half-way between Skala and Argostolli). Bill took us on the free tour where he explained about the wine co-operative and the intricacies of wine making in an understandable and very interesting way. We saw them bottling, corking and labelling the wines, then we got to taste the wines! And they weren't expensive. My fave was the Brilliante Rosé which was less than 4 euros a bottle. It was a great experience, we thoroughly enjoyed it and I can't recommend it enough. The monastery was right next door if you fancied a visit there too. We went to ARGOSTOLLI but we just parked in the harbour area and had lunch, we are not great ones for shopping. The meal was more expensive than Skala. We are also saving a visit to the castle for our next trip to Kefalonia. We drove round to XI where the clay apparently has beautifying properties but it was the one overcast day out of the whole 21 days and the beach was deserted! So we didn't get to experience this. Passing through KATELIOS on our way back to SKALA we were pleased we weren't staying there as it was a very spread-out resort on a main road. I didn't much like the look of the beach either but we didn't go on it so don't take my word for that! We drove through POROS but didn't stop there so can't comment on that either. Lots of places to go & see next time!
WEATHER
The weather was totally fabulous! In the 3 weeks we had one overcast day but the rest of the time it was seriously scorchio! It just got hotter and hotter and there were days when it was too hot to lay on the beach without a sun brolly. The only time we saw the temperature displayed was one day in Sami when we had been there just over a week (11 May) and it was 32 degrees. I would say the temp went much higher into the 30's after that as it was relentless. When we first arrived we needed 2 blankets on the bed as the nights were cool, but by the end of 3 weeks even the sheet was too much!
KEFALONIA
We loved Kefalonia and were very glad to be staying in Skala. We were very pleased with the Litsa studios and we would definitely come back here. We tried to book again for next May but the price had increased from £303 each for 3 weeks to £460 each so we will try again for 2008! Meanwhile we are off to Parga this September, and have booked 3 weeks in Paralio Astros (mainland Greece) in May 2007 and 3 weeks in Zakynthos for September 2006 (under £300 each). We can't wait to return to Kefalonia and Skala though! We always try to book with Manos as you get 3 weeks for the price of 2 and also a £15 loyalty voucher per person every time.