Ilios Studios And Apartments Reviews

Just back from 2 weeks at this establishment. The accommodation is in two blocks. The older studios are in a 3 storey block facing East (in fact the ground floor storey has the apartments).
The newer block added later, together with a very nice pool and pool bar, is very modern and spacious. Probably one of the best accommodations we have had in over a decade of holidaying in Greece.
The owners Vangelis and Jennie (?) and their family take a pride in their establishment and its cleanliness.
Highly recommended.

The beach can be stunning, and yes it is down the hill, 15 minutes down and 20 minutes up at a slow walk in the sun. There is always the ";train"; at 1 euro each, each way, and also the free white minibus. Both do an hourly run up and down.

At the ";tree crossroads"; you can go north to the main beach by the bar or straight down to the camping, this can be quieter, except at weekends (there was no sign of a fierce dog!). You could walk along the beach to Polychrono and beyond going in that direction.
Better perhaps is to go north along from the beach bar, past the van selling drinks and snacks and round the headland.
There you will find white, almost ";talcum"; sand, shade from the trees and good sea water. Also you may not have a neighbour on the beach for 100 metres (not at weekends though!). In this direction you can walk to Kallithea and beyond if that is your thing. There is the Stella Taverna on the beach in this direction.
To ease the walk back there are couple of paths up through the trees which eventually meet up with the Kriopigi-Kallithea road, which made for an easier walk.


The tabernas are well listed but there are some updates:-

The ";Medusa"; is now just a hotel (with pool and pool bar , but no taberna).
We could not find an Ouzari by the ";Trizoni";, but there an Ouzari up the lane by the ";Xagiati";, that leads up to the old village. Did not try it.
The ";Olympia"; has gone, but as we left (28th June 07) the ";Olivia";, Italian pizza and meals, was very close to opening.
The ";Trizoni"; seems to have changed hands and only does fish.
";Xagatia"; is now as competitive as any of the other tabernas on the main road and far more comfortable, and to our mind much better Greek food. Recommended. The ";my lady"; bit has gone from here, but seems to have moved across the road to the ";creperie"; - our guess is its a too literal translation of ";Madame";).

";Anoti"; (yellow tables) and ";Antholias"; (blue tables) up in the square are still going strong. Both more expensive than the main road and we still think ";Xagatia"; is much better value.
You can get up to the square quickly by going up the lanes, either beside ";Adonis"; or beside ";Xagatia";, no need to take the road by the traffic lights.

Tried the ";Akroplis"; just once. We found it quite expensive and some of the (quite limited) dishes seemed strange to us (fried aubergine in soy sauce and vinegar, not to our taste!)

Talking to fellow holiday makers at Ilios we all agreed Kriopigi is the better of all the ";villages"; along the main road.

We would go back again quite happily if that means anything! Enjoy.

Halkidiki: Having travelled to several Greek Islands it was pleasing to arrive at the cleanest that I have visited, the surroundings are very pleasant and the people seem to take pride in their island.

We wanted a short break just to soak up the sun for a week and Halkidiki is perfect for this, there are not a lot of interesting excursions so I feel that two weeks would have been too long for such a small island.

Kriopigii: A fairly small resort with a small main road through it that has approx 20 restaurants/Tavernas,half a dozen giftshops and two supermarkets.

The Beach: Was'nt the best I've visited but was pleasant and sandy and never seemed to get too over-crowded.
It is a bit of a distance down a steep winding road which took about 10-15 mins to walk down but I would not reccomend walking back up. However there is a kind of shuttle train that runs every half an hour or so but this costs 1 euro per person each trip and could end up quite expensive for a family. The best option is to watch out for the white minibus which seemed to run a bit more frequently and was absolutely free.

The Restaurants: were all similarly Priced and although the food was acceptable it was not outstanding. The only two that really sttod out were up a side road just off of the main road in a small square. These were similarly priced to the ones on the mian road but were far superior.

Other than those the only place I would really reccomend is the crepere on the main road which is something special, it serves the best crepes I have ever experienced. (If you visit tell Sakis and his wife Morphy that Steve reccomended them to you).

Illios Studios: are a small property with a pleasant pool area, we found it to be peaceful and relaxing and it was obvious that the owners took pride in their property as it is kept spotlessly clean. The studio was basic but above average with excellent cleaning services.

In conclusion I would reccommend this holiday to anyone who wanted to re-charge the batteries and have a quite week away from it all. We certainly had a pleasant time and felt refreshed when we returned home. Enjoy!

When we looked in the brochure and on the internet at this place it looked really bad and we was dreading it being too terrible, but it was cheap so we went for it.... It said on the internet that there was no pool at the Ilios, and that you had to use the one at a different place just up the road, but that was a load of rubbish! The pool was within the complex of apartments and was owned by the Ilios!!!

The pool was very nice, and the area for sunbathing was very nice and clean too!
The weather was boiling! I mean really really hot!

The room was basic, but ok.
The cleaner came every day and changed the linens and towels almost every day which was nice, and the rooms don't get too hot because there are shutters that keep the rooms nice and cool.

As for Kriopigi, its very quiet but nice - the locals are friendly - but watch out for the Albanian Perverts girls!!!!

We visited the other towns, such as Kalithea and Haniotti on a few nights, which were great for shopping and dining!
But DONT go on a sunday because you can't get a taxi back at all, and its a nightmare!
The old town of Kriopigi is very nice too there is a lovely square with really nice restaurants!

We discovered a Welsh restaurant called Flavours on our last night and the food was great there, although the owner lady was a bit much it was, but the food was great!

Also the staff at Ilios were very very friendly indeed! Highly recommended as a cheap get away! But don't expect too much!