Alykanas - My Favourite Holiday Destination

Alykanas - My Favourite Holiday Destination

I am back in my favourite holiday destination.  I am in Alykanas, Zante, Greece.  I love Greece, I love the culture, I love the food, I love the history, I love the people, but most of all I love the sun. The middle of October and I am sunbathing in 27C sunshine.  I love Greece but my favourite island is Zante, also know as Zakynthos.

We have been to 12 Greek Islands and also to Athens but this is now my fourth visit to Zante.  The only other island that we have made a return journey to is Kefalonia, an island that I can see now from my sunbed.

Alykes

The first time that I came to Zante was to the town of  Argassi. It was ok but I was so pleased when decided to go back to Zante and discovered Alykes. It was a great holiday. We stayed at the Seaview Hotel. It certainly had a sea view.  When we opened the balcony door the noise of the sea crashing against the pebbles was deafening.  We were self catering at Seaview. There were a few supermarkets very local in which we could get all of our food needs.  In the evenings we preferred to eat out. There are a number of restaurants in Alykes although not too many very close to Seaview.  The Apollo Restaurant is well worth a visit. 

The only issue with the Seaview Hotel is that is on the edge of Alykes.  Most of the shops and the sandy beach are about a 10 minute walk.  This is not too much of an issue for me.  I would have gone back to Alykes but one day I walked to the adjoining town of Alykanas.  Alykes is a long one street town but Akykanas is nowhere near as long and goes further inland so everything is within a short walking distance, including a nice sandy beach. 

Alykanas

As I said earlier, Alykanas is my favourite holiday destination. Alykes may have a longer beach with many more sunbeds (€6 each but free if you drink or eat at the many beach bars). Alykanas also has a loverly sandy beach with €6 sunbeds. Both of the hotels that I have stayed at have plenty of free sunbeds which are only 5 feet from the beach.  The main advantage that I believe Alykanas has over Alykes is that Alykes has the restaurants spread along a long road whereas in Alykanas the restaurants are closer together. There are plenty to choose from.  Choose the right night and you can experience a Greek night with traditional music, dancing, and plate smashing. The restaurants that I particularly like are Bekiris, La Caretta, and Mantalena.  All three serve excellent food and are reasonably priced.  If I had to choose my favourite it would have to Mantalena. It feels as if you are being welcomed into their home rather than their restaurant.

Alykanas Village Resort

The first time that we came to Alykanas we stayed at the Alykanas Village Resort.  In the hotel there is a choice of bed and breakfast or half board.  We chose the bed and breakfast option because we knew that there were a number of restaurants very close by.  Hotels often serve international food and one of the reasons for going to Greece is the Greek food.  The Alykanas Village Resort may well serve Greek food, I don’t know because we went out each evening.  I am sure that, whatever type of food it is, it will be good because everything else was to such a high standard including the breakfasts. I will definitely go there again.  

Alykanas Beach Hotel

So why am now in the Alykanas Beach Hotel next door to the Alykanas Village Resort?  We decided that we wanted some nearly winter sun and decided to return to Zante.  We decided not to return to Alykanas because there is so much more of this lovely island to see and it is only 18 months since we were here last.  We looked at a number of different resorts but each time we thought that, although they were nice, they were not as nice as Alykanas.  We decided to return to Alykanas Village Resort but when we tried to book it was closed for the winter.  Winter? It’s 27 degrees C.  

It was with reluctance that we booked the Alykanas Beach Hotel.  Why the reluctance, what’s wrong with it?  It’s all inclusive.  We want Greek food.  Have I been disappointed?  No not with the food.  There is international food but there is also Greek food. Alykanas Beach Hotel is a great hotel 5 feet from the beach.  The accommodation is good, the food is good, the staff are great.  The all inclusive alcohol drinks don’t seem to be watered down as can happen in some all inclusive hotels. The cocktails are freshly made not just poured from a bottle.  

I do like being able to go to a different restaurant each night so, if open, I will probably choose to go back to the Alykanas Village Resort.   There is only 2 things that I do not like about the Alykanas Beach Hotel and they are related to the all inclusiveness.  

The first is that I believe that all inclusive should mean that you do not have to pay to use the room safe.  It is €3 per night. This is actually cheaper than some hotels that I have stayed in but you pay a lot to be all inclusive and an extra €42 for 2 weeks is a lot.  As I said, this is often an additional charge but I think that it should not be.

The second is there is a €3 per night charge for pool towel “laundry”.  I can understand the €20 deposit but this is crazy.  It is optional whether you have a pool towel but I have never been charged for towels before.  

My Advice

My advice is, if you want a different restaurant each night go to the Akykanas Beach Reort.  If you want all inclusive got to Akykanas Beach Hotel but take your own towels.