Gorgona

We have been to many places in Greece over the years and I would say that the Gorgona Hotel on Alonissos is one of the best in its class. The rooms have been designed with many thoughtful little touches to improve your guest experience. I personally have three things I particularly look for in Greek accommodation of this type; quiet effective Aircon, good water pressure for a shower, and a kettle. These boxes are all ticked here and more besides, we really appreciated the large comfortable bed and the option to choose how often to have the excellent cleaning service. The location is great as long as you are able to climb hills as others have said it is about a 10 minute descent into the port of Patitiri one way or a five minute descent to the beach another way. Of course what goes down must go up again and it’s probably takes us about 7 mins to climb back up from the beach and 15 minutes back up from the port. We are a reasonably fit couple in our 50s if that helps. We paid the supplement for a Seaview and if you do like to look at the water, I would highly recommend doing so as the view from our balcony was lovely. We could see the cove of Rousoum Gialos in the foreground and the uninhabited marine park islands of the 2 brothers as our horizon. However, the real gem in this hotel is the staff, it was a fun part of every day exchanging jokes and pleasantries with the team on reception. Angelica welcomed us on arrival with lots of useful island advice and Hara was so friendly and very encouraging of our attempts at learning Greek, we really enjoyed meeting her each day. We would definitely come back to this hotel again.

So booked through hotels.com Dimitros the owner collected me from the port and was the most lovely host along with a lovely informative young lady who's name in greek translates to Joy...I had a beautiful Seaview room and the room had everything I could have needed for my 4 night stay...small beach with 3 nice tavernas couple of mins walk away... Patiri approx 10 min walk... All in all would totally recommend and I will definitely return one day! Thankyou to the staff x

If you are looking for a relaxing time on the beautiful island of Alonissos then the Gorgona Hotel could be for you. The Gorgona is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the port of Patitiri, where the ferries arrive and depart. It is up a hill but that was no problem for us, even though I am in my seventies, sometimes doing this walk a couple of times a day. The Gorgona is located on a hillside overlooking a beautiful bay and the small beach of Rousoum Gialos. The best views are from the rooms on the top floor, and the lovely owner Dimitros, happily accommodated our request for one of these rooms. The rooms are typical Greek basic, of moderate size, but with all the cooking essentials you need. The bathroom was compact with a shower (no shower tray), plenty of hot water and a bathroom cabinet. The bed was large and very comfortable with both the air-conditioning and safe supplied at no extra cost. The balcony was small but had an amazing view over the bay where local fishing boats would tie up. The balcony got sunshine until about 2 pm and there was a retractable awning if it got too hot. The room was cleaned whenever you wanted (just leave a sign on the door when you go out) and fresh towels were given at the same time. The room and hotel are very clean and Dimitros and his small family/team were so helpful and kind with lots of information. There are a lot of steps from the Gorgona directly down to Rousoum Gialos beach (about 120) but again we did not find this a problem. The beach is small and is a mix of sand/stones and would recommend beach shoes if going in the sea. There are plenty of sun beds for hire at 15 euros (2 comfortable beds and a parasol), but there are in regimented rows. We preferred to sit on our own beach chairs as did many locals. The beach was very quiet in May and the locals told us it only gets really busy in August when Greek holidaymakers come from the mainland. Even in May I was able to swim in the sea although the water was a little chilly. There are two taverna's, a coffee bar and a small supermarket on the promenade directly behind the beach. These were not open in May during our visit but the owners were working on them ready to open the first week of June. The port of Patitri is great for bars and restaurants where you can enjoy a meal looking out at the boats in the harbour. There are two bakeries and a supermarket within a 5 minute walk away from the Gorgona, which were perfect for our needs. There were no buses running in May so we hired a car to see the rest of this small island which was very pretty with a number of lovely mostly stone/pebble beaches. There is one sandy beach on the island also which was very nice. In summer boats run from Patitri to many of these beaches where you can spend the day and then get the boat back late afternoon at a reasonable price. Definitely worth a visit is the old hill town just outside of Patitri as it is beautiful and has lovely views. We walked up the old donkey trail, which took us about 40 minutes, and got a taxi back for 10 euros. I suggest you do it the other way round as it was quite a trek going up! Alonissos is still pretty much a traditional Greek island with lots of local people living around the area and going to the beach. The local school is just around the corner from the Gorgona as are the fire and police stations. The ferries run from the mainland, via Skiathos and Skopelos, a few times a day so it is easy to get to Alonissos, with the journey from Skiathos Town taking just under 2 hours. The ferries are geared up for taking luggage and you just put your cases in racks as you board and pick them up as you depart. This means you can relax on the ferry and enjoy a drink and take in the view on deck. We preferred the larger ferry as it was much more comfortable than the fast ferries and a good way to start your holiday. We really enjoyed our stay in Alonissos and will definitely return to the Gorgona Hotel again.