City chic Lifestyle: Corfu Story

Corfu Story

We had the best time at this lovely Greek island this summer. Corfu is known as the island where Odysseus took refuge after being shipwrecked before going home and a refuge it was for us from bustling London. The island boasts lush scenery, pristine beaches and amazing weather.

We stayed at the Marbella Resort in Kerkira so most of the review will be about the hotel and of course the style edit will follow on another post. So here goes.

Marbella Corfu Hotel

The hotel

The reception staff were very helpful and accommodating. The views from the hotel are breathtaking. The room was nice but I wouldn't class it as 5 star (we had a superior room but it only had a shower - no bath) and the bathroom was quite small. We booked seaview room but they gave us a view over the hotel lobby (it did have very partial sea view). However, they did offer to change it after I raised this with them but by that time, baby was so tired and sleepy that we just didn't bother. I wish they had given us the right room to begin with.
Wifi hardly works in the hotel and there is virtually no signal in the rooms but to be honest who wants to spend time on the net in this place?

Grounds are amazing and you can literally go trigger happy with your camera; it is so photogenic!

Food
We had full board, which include Breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet. The food was good and there was a variety of foods, cakes and fruits everyday. The staff were welcoming and helpful with the baby.

Buffet restaurant

They have A la carte restaurants as well and we tried the Italian and Greek restaurants there. I would say the food was good but not amazing. The Italian restaurant service was impeccable though the Greek restaurant service was so awful, we didn't even bother with starters and dessert. We just wanted to leave! This one can definitely be improved. The man who greeted us looked so angry and was sulking the entire time we were there! Quite shocking really!

Greek Restaurant:

Italian Restaurant

There is also a Splash American style diner by the children's splash pool but we didn't try it.

Pool and beach

The pools were lovely (children's pool, splash pool and the infinity pool) albeit REALLY cold! I spent most of my day at the poolside and it was perfect. Baby couldn't get enough of the pools and was swimming like a little pro by the end of the holiday!

Après Swim

I wasn't very keen on the beach as I am not a fan of pebble beaches but sandy beaches are on the other side of the island. However, there are decks which allow you to go straight in the water but I wish there were more ladders to the water as most people use just the two on the decks.

Also, taking the towels all the way to the beach is a pain. I would prefer if they supplied the towels there. You can hire paddle boats, jet skis, etc which I highly recommend as these are great fun!

Entertainment

The hotel gets full 5 starts from me for this. They had great entertainment every night we were there, Between the live musicians, children's dance parties and Greek dances, there is something for adults and kids!

Baby was out partying and dancing every night off her feet until she was half asleep and had to be carried away! Every morning she would ask me "Are we going party now?!!" They have some onsite staff from the Animation Team which help organise and run some events and they were great with kids and sooo friendly! They really made our stay extra nice!

Crèche / Kids Club
This was a life saver for us, so we could have some alone time to chill and baby loved it. She made lots of new friends, who all danced together every night at the parties! The girls who run the Creche are wonderful and super friendly. The baby took to them on her first day. They also provide baby sitting services, which is great. Overall, the Kids Club was a major plus point for us but do book in advance as they get booked up!

Overall

Overall, the staff were lovely and very helpful. The hotel was nice (not 5 star for me compared to other Greek 5 star hotels). The food was good and most importantly it is a really good place if you have kids. Baby had the time of her life! So thanks to the staff for making this happen and to the Animation team, especially Mike!

Corfu Town

We booked a car from the hotel for the day to go to town, which was very nice with its Venetian architecture and old buildings. I found some lovely fast food Kiosks and had yummy Greek fast food and I found Limona Granita (iced Lemon drink), which I last had in Italy in the Amalfi Coast! (Sigh!) So you can see the Italian influence.

The shopping is fantastic, with great local wares, jewellery, and cute dresses for baby (I had to buy her a mini Greek Goddess outfit!). In fact, even the shopping is reminiscent of Venice so you can really see the Venetian influence.