Kefalonia Bay Palace

My friend and I booked via Tui and paid well over the odds for the experience. However, that is not the hotel's fault...just make sure, if you're thinking of booking via Tui, that you check the direct hotel rate instead as you could save yourself a lot of money! The location is fantastic - you could spend hours (and we did) staring at the sea and mountains. The staff are lovely - both Maria and Sis (apologies if I've spelt your name incorrectly, Sis!) on reception are incredibly friendly and helpful. The breakfast waiting staff are also great, as is the manager. Even though our bedrooms were dated, and the bathroom experience could have been better in my room ie it was a wet room and the shower water flooded the floor so that going to the loo became a bit of a wet feet experience each time, I am pleased that we stayed at this hotel. The walk into Agia Efimia takes about 12 minutes and we loved that walk - it takes you past some lovely little beaches which you can swim from. It also takes you past some amazing tavernas - the staff at Paradise Beach are incredibly friendly and we couldn't believe the price when we had our first evening meal there. So cheap compared to the UK and with amazing portion sizes. I also loved Amalia's taverna - great flavours. My first experience of goat's milk ice cream. Yum. It was only after we arrived that we realised that Tui didn't do any tour pick-ups from Agia Efimia so we did our own thing and are glad we did. Greka Travel in the village is a family taxi business and they took us to all the places we wanted to go eg Sami; Myrtos Beach; Fiskado, Assos. We booked returns and they were always there on time to pick us up. You can also book them for a tour, and they took us to Myrtos Beach, then onto Assos when we were ready, and then back to Agia Efimia. Lovely, lovely people. This is truly one of the best holidays I've ever had and I would return to Agia Efimia, and the north of the island, again. In fact, we're already checking dates for next May.

The hotel is very pretty with stunning views of the seas, the wonderful staff who are very helpful and nothing is too much trouble - peaceful area short walk to the harbour for bars restaurants and supermarket along the coastline, would recommend

This is an excellent hotel. The views over the bay and towards the hills are magnificent. The staff are all very friendly and go out of their way to be helpful. My room was clean, and the daily cleaners ensured it was spotless throughout my stay - credit to them. Perhaps the bathroom is a little dated - a shower hose over the bath tends to leave splashes on the floor, but this is really no problem. On the balcony it was a joy to sit at the table and look across the bay. An armchair in my room would have been a welcome addition. It should also perhaps be noted that all the rooms are up what might be a tough climb for some. There are two lifts, but one has to go up fairly steep slopes to reach them. The hotel is well-designed and fits into the landscape pleasantly. Recommended.

As a family of 5 we had a very enjoyable stay in one of the 2 bedroom private pool villas. The accommodation was very spacious and had a bathroom and a shower room, which is almost a necessity for a family of 5. We were also pleasantly surprised to find it had a nespresso compatible coffee machine. There was also a Spa bath but it didn’t appear to work. The private pool was amazing as were the stunning views. It just needed a bit of a refresh of the decor and better beds. Overall the staff were really friendly and helpful, sorting out any issues we had immediately and the breakfast was great. We were only on the bed and breakfast plan but had an occasional evening meal there, which was buffet style and found it a little over priced, compared to what was available in town. We did under estimate the steepness of the hill it’s on and found the climb after a night out pretty tough even as fairly fit people who live in a hilly part of the UK. We did think that the hotel might benefit from running a shuttle service to and from town. On the whole we had an amazing holiday and would stay there again.

Do not stay at the Kefalonia Bay Palace. We wish we hadn’t! It looks great from the outside and it should live up to it’s 4 star rating but unfortunately for it’s guests, it does not. Our room was very comfortable and clean except for the mould in the sealant around the bath. The staff are hardworking and are trying to meet expectations however they appeared undertrained and the place was obviously understaffed. The breakfast was awful because all of the cooked food was cold as the burners had not been turned on under the food warmers. The webpage claims that the hotel has a turndown service and bellboy service which is untrue. We hauled our own cases up to our room and did not have any sort of turndown service during our stay. The lobby bar was unmanned for the majority of the time and the pool bar wasn’t stocked with the supplies necessary to make the drinks it offered. This was not the fault of the bar staff who were trying hard to meet the needs of their guests. Many guests ended up taking their own food and drinks to the pool. The pool toilets were up a few flights of steps and when they were shut for repairs, guests had to go up more stairs to the restaurant toilets where it quickly became wet and slippery. We were told that the hotel is no longer a family owned business and is instead owned by the hotelBrain group who are obviously more interested in profits than maintaining the property and providing guests with the level of comfort and service they’ve paid for. The Agia Effimia village is a wonderful place to stay and base yourself to explore this part of Kefalonia, just don’t do it from the Kefalonia Bay Palace!

We stated at Kefalonia Bay Palace for a week in a standard suite. Firstly the thing that stood out for us was the service from the staff, in particular the two ladies who waited at breakfast and then served at the pool bar. Inya and Alona (sorry for misspelling) were so attentive, always greeted us with a smile and asked how we were. They seemed to be working each day at breakfast and then opened up the pool bar where we were always greeted with a glass of fruit water followed by some water melon. It was a pleasure to see and chat to them each day. The second feature is of course the view, and what a view. All rooms have a sea view and the higher up your room the better view, but obviously you encounter more steps. The steps were fine for us as we are fairly fit and used this to get in some extra steps to work off all the lovely Greek food. The hotel was very clean and well maintained and the room was serviced everyday so we always came back to a made bed and clean room. Reception area is clean and modern in appearance and the pool whilst often quiet, so you never struggled to get a sun lounger, again had great views across the bay. We had lunch at the pool bar a couple of times which was good however, there was no consistency in terms of it being open. On one day the bar was not open at all and on another occasion it closed at around 2.30pm, then on other days it would be open until late afternoon despite the details left in the room stating it was open 11am – 7pm, which clearly was not always the case. We did not have an evening meal at the hotel or get a drink at the main bar as this did not appear to be manned or open, which was a real shame as this would be a lovely place to sit and have an evening drink taking in the great views before heading into the main town. People have commented on the breakfast, we personally found it to be average however it was not as bad as some have commented. We also decided to go into the main town for breakfast on a couple of occasions to have that variety. There may well have been a note on the bar suggesting contact reception or going downstairs to the restaurant to try and obtain a drink – but that all seemed a little irritating to be chasing a drink. We did eat out on all evenings at a different Taverna each time. There was plenty to choose from which were all good, our own particular favourite being Sea Rock, (great steak and seabass) which is a shortish walk down from the hotel. All in all we had a great holiday at this hotel and would certainly come back, however we do like to visit other areas. It's been a while since we last visited Greece so would probably be looking at other islands, however we did enjoy Agia Efimia !