Traditional Hotel Ianthe

“middle ages village hotel”

amazing experience, very nice romantic atmosphere! i am not sure if the building itself is dated centuries back or just designed to reflect the style of an old village mansion, but they definitely managed good. you have to be aware that it's not in the seaside.

“Mixed feelings, but got better”

We booked a 2 bed apartment via Expedia, but were dispointed to have 2 bedrooms, not separted by a door, and you had to walk through the second "bedroom" to get either to the bathroom, or out of the apartment. Only air con unit in the main bedroom, so the other was a little warmer than we'd have li… more

We booked a 2 bed apartment via Expedia, but were dispointed to have 2 bedrooms, not separted by a door, and you had to walk through the second "bedroom" to get either to the bathroom, or out of the apartment. Only air con unit in the main bedroom, so the other was a little warmer than we'd have liked. There was a mix up on arrival, as I had emailed to say we were travelling overnight and would like the room for 9.00am, but we had to wait until 11.00pm, but which time, I was very tired and grumpy, having been up 29 hours!! Vessa is a traditional village with 2 small cafes, one of which has a very nice hostess, but very poor food, and the other one, well let's say she was less than welcoming, so we only had a drink, and didn't return. You will be about 30 minutes form the Crazy Chaos of Chios town, but well worth a visit. The nearest beach, about 8 km is sandy, so didn't suit us, as we like pebbled beaches, of which there are a lot. In general most beaches are unspoilt and deserted- plan for no facilities, and take your own refreshments and shade, and you will be fine. A small number will have canteens, but they are few and far between. Mesta, Pyrgi and Olympi are also medevil towms, well worth a visit. As will other Greek islands, the locals are generally friendly and welcoming. This is NOT a tourist destination and the island doesn't depend on tourism, this is reflected in the absence of the normall plastic tatt and vast number of eateries. We tended to pack for the day and evening and go out for dinner on the way back from the beach, as to go back to Vessa and then set off to find a place to eat was too time consuming with our daugher needing to go to bed at a reasonable hour. The accomadation was not really a hotel, more like a room within a house- there were 3 rooms upstairs and one accessed from outside the main house. Noise from other guests was an issue, as they didn't make allowances for people being in bed. Housekeeping was not a strong point of the property, we had to ask for new bedlinen and towels after 7 days!! There was little storage for our clothes also. The island is large, and probably best suited to multi location stays for a few days each, as it was a drag to come back each day. Gianis and Vasillies were pleasant and friendly, Gianis spoke english. There is another accomadation property next to Ianthe, called Petrino, run by Stella, who almost adopted our daughter.

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