Stellina Hotel

This has been one of our best vacations. One week in a small piece of paradise in the Greek archipelago. First of all: DO NOT BOOK TRANSFER FROM THE AIRPORT IF YOU HAVE BOOKED AT STELLINA. We paid about 20€ a person for transfer through the agency and it was a 2 minute drive. You can literally walk to this hotel in 10 minutes OR you can pay 7-8 euro for a taxi. We had read some of the reviews and people's expectations, so we were positively surprised once we got to the hotel. This is a 2-star hotel and not The Hilton. But we were greeted by a lovely and positive staff with an energy that felt almost like walking into the home of some of your family. Check-in was done in a few minutes, but our room was not quite ready yet, so we went to the poolbar while waiting - only to meet the absolut legend of all bartenders, Yannis. What an amazing and fun guy. After a well served and ice cold local beer, our room was ready. It was a nice room, but a little small for 2 persons so later that same first day, the staff (Katarina) upgraded us to a bigger room which was absolutely wonderful. Katarina in the reception actually helped us though the whole vacation. Everything from great anecdotes of Shiathos to beach recommendations - she helped us. What an amazing woman and a staff member, I hope the administration absolutely cherish. That woman is worth gold. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the town, but it's a nice walk although there are very little sideswalks. Restaurants are all over once you get there. If you like seafood, I will absolutely recommend the restaurant "OLD STREET" located in the center of the town. Fresh and well served in nice portions. There is a big supermarket located 2 minutes from the hotel, that has everything you wish for. Although the hotelrooms only have a refrigerator, we managed to buy some nice cheese from the supermarket that we would eat with some nice freshly baked bread while watching the sun go down on the balcony. The cleaning of the rooms was very nice. The pool was clean. The breakfast buffet had exactly what we needed to start the day - although you should not expect a 5 star meal. Skiathos has about 70 beaches. and getting to the beach is easy if you wanna go by bus. Unlike many other places, every busstop has a number. The closest to the hotel (5 minute walk) is busstop nr. 1. If you take bus from there to busstop nr. 26 you will find yourself at the nicest beach called Koukounaries. It's a 20-30 minute drive by bus from busstop nr. 1 and it costs 3€ per person to get there. You can easily spend a whole day there. Bring some snacks and water as the prices can be a little steep. We also tried a so called indian restaurant close to the hotel called "Little India". I would stay away from there. In my opinion the food was below mediocre if you're used to eating indian food. I left a good amount of chicken as it was incredibly dry and badly seasoned. Oh, and people smoke inside the restaurant and there are one million hungry stray cats walking around every table. In fact, we tried several restaurants on that strip and it was not worth the money. Go to the center of the town instead. Finally, I will say this. If you walk into this hotel with a nice attitude and good energy - that's exactly what you're going to receive in return. I cannot emphasize enough the warmth we felt from the entire staff here. We are coming back, Stellina. Hold on tight to your wonderful staff, because they made our stay so much more enjoyable. And to Katarina - you are very responsible for us wanting to recommend this hotel to everyone we know and to come back. Thank you so much Señora. Much love to you and your kindness. Mireya & Jimmy