F Zeen

“Understated Luxury”

This place was even better than the many excellent reviews we had read in advance. Less than 30 minutes from the airport, it overlooks a wonderful bay and nice beach on Kefalonia, with beautiful Mount Ainos as a backdrop. The friendly welcome and calm, relaxed vibe are immediately obvious. Everythi… more

This place was even better than the many excellent reviews we had read in advance. Less than 30 minutes from the airport, it overlooks a wonderful bay and nice beach on Kefalonia, with beautiful Mount Ainos as a backdrop. The friendly welcome and calm, relaxed vibe are immediately obvious. Everything is beautifully designed, yet simple and the facilities are incredible. Guests were a mix of couples and singles, with a real mix of ages. The numerous decks, where an amazing choice of classes take place, look out towards the ocean. The gym facilities are incredible, with a mix of free weights and good machines, including reformer Pilates machines. Most of the instructors were excellent, with Elena, who took many of our Yoga classes, a favourite. Our room, a Hillside Retreat, was quiet, private and spacious, even better than the photos we had seen beforehand. The bed was super comfy, the a/c and fan effective, and the pool huge and deep. These rooms face south, so our pool was in the sun much of the day, which we liked, but some were shady instead. These rooms are quite a way from the Seleni restaurant and reception, and it's very hilly, so the golf cart/buggies are very welcome. They also provide an easy route down to the lovely private beach area and private resort beach bar. This is a great facility, with free-to-use paddle boards, kayaks, sun umbrellas, comfy beds, and lots of towels. We ate in all the various hotel restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We liked Seleni for breakfast, although the music is odd. We also ate there for dinner and didn’t enjoy it. Gaia was much better for dinner, with a better menu, friendlier staff, and a better vibe. We especially liked Elena, who was super friendly and provided great service. The beach bar was perfect for lunch. We also ate out locally for tasty authentic food – we enjoyed Liza’s Grill (Fish/Greek), Klimatis (Fish/Greek), Lourdas Mare (Greek, lovely carafe of chilled red wine), Lithero (Fish), Seven Café (Lunch), Café Platanos (Coffee/Drinks, amazing setting) and slightly further afield (Olive Lounge). Not everything was perfect though. The cicadas are noisy, there are ants, its quite hilly, we lost Wi-Fi for 24hrs, communication via WhatsApp was varied, the free mosquito spray isn’t topped up, some guests insist on listening to news or podcasts at breakfast without headphones or arrive late for classes, and staff seem unwilling to tackle these things. But after 24 hours relaxing at FZeen, none of this seemed that important anymore. Hopefully, we will return soon or perhaps visit the new hotel opening soon in Athens, which sounds wonderful. Thank you for a lovely week with you.

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