This was the view from their villa
I know Airbnb has been around for several years but it wasn’t until articles about the company started appearing on blogs I read that I gave it a second thought. I mean I’d never really found out a huge amount about the company until the beginning of this year but after doing so I knew it was something I wanted to try. Our week in Greece seemed like the perfect opportunity.
I quickly had a search of properties on the island, although I found some gorgeous ones the prices weren’t quite in our budget. Moving past those I quickly found the perfect place, which was in our budget and had great reviews. After running the idea past my other half I signed up and emailed them straight away. Although I was new to the process and didn’t even attach my facebook account we were accepted straight away and the whole process was so easy!
Before we arrived at the property we had contact with the owner An, who also lived there as we were just renting a room not the whole apartment. This is something you need to check when booking an Airbnb property along with things like is it a real bed? But I’ll be writing up my top tips soon. For now here is the review of our experience…
Review
We arrived in late on a Saturday and as promised our host An was there waiting at the airport to pick us up. She droves us back to her place, introduced us to her family and showed us around before letting us get settled in our new and unfamiliar surroundings. The darkness didn’t help for our disorientation but it certainly made for a delightful wake up when we finally got a glimpse of the view! The apartment was located a few km from Kos Town near to Platani, it was on a slight hill which gave amazing views over the town and beyond to the coast of Turkey. If nothing else this apartment was worth it for the view!
Our Room
An, Kiki and her family were such friendly hosts, they were German so spoke a mixture of languages in the house but their English was also extremely good. They gave us lifts to Platani late at night, to town in the early morning, bicycles for us to use for free and Kiki organised a car hire for us which only cost €30 for the day. If we had any questions about the island or nearby Turkey we just had to ask however on the first day An showed us on the map all the places she loved and where was safe to take the bicycles. They were the perfect hosts and I loved stayed with locals and being able to use their knowledge.
The Veranda
The apartment was so light, with an amazing view (sorry to mention it again but it was just incredible) and our room was the furthest down the corridor. It was next to her daughter’s room however if you were to visit in the summer then that room would be empty. We also had our own bathroom to use with a lovely shower. Our room was exactly as pictured, a double bed – although it was made up of two mattresses and two single duvets – still very comfy. There was a desk with computer we could use and wireless internet for our own devices. We had a large window and sliding doors in our room which looked out on the hill behind us. There were several family photos and belongings in the room so it felt a little like we couldn’t fully unpack and be comfy otherwise the room was exactly as described.
Kitchen, Living Room and Outside
We made use of their veranda to sit in the sun and kitchen to make our own breakfast and save a little money. The house was full of cats and dogs too which I really enjoyed – except having to chase after the dogs to get them back inside – but would certainly not recommend it if you don’t like animals! The only real negative for me was that An and Kiki both smoked and this made the house smell like smoke. Something I’m not used to and resulted in me leaving with a bad cough and sore throat.
Overall we had a fantastic stay; if you wanted a romantic couple getaway then I would recommend making sure you book a stay which is for the full apartment otherwise it was great! I loved being able to get so much information from locals, have bicycles to use every day and staying out of the main town. An and Kiki were such brilliant hosts and despite my issue with smoke I would still return here if I went back to Kos again.