You guys already know that I’m sort of becoming a Greece connoisseur as of late so you can imagine my enthusiasm when Grecotel kindly invited me to visit their five star Corfu Imperial hotel in, ya guessed it, Corfu! After visiting NEW Hotel in Athens and The Romanos Costa Navarino, I’m slowly but surely working my way through Greece and I’m not mad about it. Read on to learn how I spent my time at Grecotel Corfu Imperial!
Our arrival
The hotel is located on the Kommeno peninsula and one great advantage right of the bat is that it’s not too far away from the airport, so there’s no stressing out about having to take a subway, a bus and a donkey or whatever. The hotel kindly sent a car to pick us up from the (tiny, so so tiny!) Corfu ‘Ioannis Kapodistrias’ airport, an offer I obviously couldn’t refuse. Cruising around narrow typical Greek style streets with a Mercedes S-Class is both an amazing and frightening experience at once: what a smooth suspension, so much legroom, there’s refreshments! But also: HOLY SHIT THE DRIVER IS GOING 20 OVER THE SPEEDLIMIT, THERE ARE NO RULES ABOUT GIVING WAY HERE THIS IS HOW I DIE. So for all you people thinking about visiting Corfu and maybe renting a car beware, southern Europe style driving definitely applies here so it’s not for the faint of heart.
The little things make this a great hotel
Once safely dropped off at the hotel, the luxury experience truly begins: our room wasn’t quite ready yet but instead of having to lounge around in your icky flying outfit contemplating how dry your skin & mouth feels from that two hour moisture sucking flight, the kind people over at Grecotel Corfu Imperial offer you a nice cup of tea, a glass of delicious orange juice and best of all, a nice icy cold towel to pat your crusty face down with. An extra thank you goes out to the friendly ladies at the reception who quickly tracked down my partner’s iPhone she forgot in the car; that sure as hell saved us some tears and frustration.
The Dream Villa Waterfront is your perfect luxury retreat
The room we got was the Dream Villa Waterfront and we quickly discovered that the room comes with its own private pool, access to a small private beach and about a gazillion bathrooms (okay more like 3). The villa is 75 square meters and has a wrap around terrace looking out on the sea. Although the villa might feel a little outdated here and there, the high-quality materials still gave it that luxurious feel and of course the private pool and beach made it a joy to stay in.
Dining options at Grecotel Corfu Imperial
Foodwise Grecotel Corfu Imperial has got you covered in about a million different ways. The standard restaurant included in the reservation is your typical buffet style restaurant with the added value that the dishes change daily. The terrace of their main restaurant also overlooks the pool on one side & the beautiful mountain-lined bay on the other, so I highly recommend not sitting inside & just taking your meal outside. Beside their main restaurant the hotel also boasts a total of five à la carte restaurants and even a gelateria! I opted to dine in the Asian flavours restaurant called Kumquat, but seafood, French and Italian dining is also available. Expect fine dining and an upscale service. Trattoria is the newest addition to the list, a restaurant plus wine bar that combines casual Italian dining with a mix of rich, warm finishes.
Water sport activities at Grecotel Corfu Imperial
Judging by everything I’ve written above you’d think that all I did was eat, swim and sleep but using the words of our wise DJT: wrong! I mean I also did plenty of eating, swimming and sleeping (in the sun or otherwise) but the hotel also has lots of activities you can partake in to work of that excessive amount of moussaka you’ve been shoving in your face. There’s the usual morning gymnastics, pool aqua gym but there’s also a bit more sporty things like stand up paddle surfing and water skiing, As the whole peninsula is basically owned by Grecotel, you have the option to take the taxi boat to the Eva Palace and Daphnila Bay on the other side which is not only a great way to do some sightseeing but also allows you do to some jetskiing at the water sports centre there.
The amazing Danilia Village
Stepping away from the watery activities for a bit, once amazing experience I have to tell you about was visiting Danilia village. I visited Danilia village together with a lovely guide (hi Maria!). This village was built in the seventies and is meant as a recreation of Corfu in the thirties. For all you British peeps, this is where they film ‘The Durrells’. Now I’ll admit that these type of things have the risk of coming of as very non-authentic and very artificial but Maria informed us that this recreation was actually abandoned in early 2000 and left to decay until Grecotel scooped it up again somewhere around 2008. Personally I think those few years of silent decay did great things for the authenticity, but of course not so much for getting this place out of the dumps and back into the tourist spotlight. Maria informed me that this place is available for weddings (imagine this place with fairy lights, long tables with white linen, beautiful sunshine, who wouldn’t want to get married there?!) and other sort of conventions but the goal is to restore the café and some of the workshops showing traditional Greek crafts.
Verdict
Grecotel Corfu Imperial has it all. I’m generally speaking not a huge fan of a resort-type holiday but this time I found myself barely leaving the place. The area is large and it never feels crowded. At all times there were free chairs at the main beach. The staff has that typical Greek friendliness which gives your holiday just that little extra! Although I found some areas a little outdated, Grecotel Corfu Imperial is undergoing a major restauration. Public areas such as the restaurant and pool area have already been updated and it looks stunning. I bet once it’s all finished soon it will be a true gem! Grecotel is definitely your choice for a luxurious getaway in Greece. This was my first Grecotel experience, and if Corfu Imperial is a good indicator of what they have to offer, I will gladly choose Grecotel again for my next visit to Greece!
