Greece - resort recommendations and Kosmar holidays

I adore rhodes, although pefkos is a bit mince, so no wonder you preferred Crete. happy to rec you some cool places to stay/ go in rhodes if you fancy giving it another bash. Symi is also amazing, and corfu is amazing if you are VERY careful about resort/ accommodation (again, happy to help).

Not heard of kosmar, but I can find out for you whether they're above board. Just need to email someone quickly.

I've used Kosmar twice and they've been fine. I would always choose them for a Greek package holiday as they're quite a bit cheaper than the bigger companies.

As for resorts, have a look at Naxos - it's a lovely island and though touristy it's a bit more cosmopolitan than other islands, with lots of Greeks holidaying there as well as Brits, Germans & Italians.

The town beach is resonable and there are loads of better beaches around the island if you hire a car/scooter. Nightlife is varied, there are some late night dancing places (but no rowdy Kavos type nonsense) and lots of beachfront bars and restaurants.

Thanks LouM! Not so keen on going to Rhodes again as I feel we've "done" the island now, at least for the moment. Symi sounds nice - we went there for a day trip from Rhodes but didn't really get to see much of it, so it certainly would be a consideration. Corfu sounds like it might be a good option to look into as well - if you can recommend somewhere that's nice there, it would be really helpful, as there seem to be so many resorts it's difficult to know where to start!

Thanks Foo - sounds like Kosmar is worth looking at then! What were the flights like with them if you don't mind me asking - I've noticed they seem to use companies like Air Malta which was putting me off a bit (nothing wrong with Malta, just that it wasn't what I expected!).

I might have a look at Naxos as well - thanks for the recommendation.

HAve a look at Aghia Galini (Crete) - former fishing village turned resort.

Good for : Boat trips, snorkelling, seafood restaurants, local archeology trips

Bad for: Your knees, it is set into a fairly steep hillside.

Thanks! Sounds good - quite similar to Koutouloufari, where we stayed when we went to Crete before - which was a lovely village but was up a really steep hill!

We like Halkidiki on the mainland.. we stayed in polychrono ?

Another options worth considering... what's Polychrono like? What sort of stuff was there to do?

Just noticed you said mid-sept: you start running risks with the weather in corfu from about mid-sept. If that doesn't bother you, then I would suggest that you avoid the bright lights of Kavos etc and instead look at the likes of Kaminaki, St stephano, nissaki or even the rou estate. There's a lovely hotel not far out of corfu town actually (kommeno bay, I think0 and corfu town itself is well worth a visit.

Also, athough I've never been, some friends of ours go time and time again to kefalonia.

Oh, every flight I have ever taken to Greece has been totally crummy. ? Excel last year to Corfu was particularly dire, but it's only 3 hours so not the end of the world.

If you are interested in Corfu Kalami, Agios Stefanos (north east coast, there's another resort of the same name on the west coast), Kouloura and Kaminaki are all utterly beautiful but I'm not sure there are many package holidays there. Of the bigger resorts Kassiopi, Lipades and Paleokastritsa are nice. We go to Pelekas/Glyfada but it's more of a backpacker type place so not sure you'd be interested. Corfu town is lovely too, well worth a day trip or two.

My parents live in the Apokoronas region of Crete - along the coast from Kalyves. It's lovely there, lots of small beachside 'resorts' (if you can call three shops, a few bars and some hotels a resort), but she's suggested we go to the area around Elounda when we out in September as apparently it's very pretty.

Check out www.holidaytruths.co.uk for some threads on Kosmar.

Another Rhodes fan here. Going back on July 9th for 10 days.

We booked for 22 of us to go with Kosmar 2 years ago. Plenty of last minute flight time changes. Then, no plane. They had never had one scheduled to fly to Rodes from Cardiff. 12 hours later we were leaving from Bristol with Thompsons. Kosmar provided £20 compensation each. Wouldn't touch them with a septic finger.

We don't usually do a package holiday anywhere but with so many of us, thought it a good idea. Beware.

Not to hijac but LouM, can you remind me of the restaraunt in the Old Town we discussed some time back? Was it Dionysos?

I have used Kosmar a couple of times with no problems, I have also used Manos /My Travel and Olympic holidays which are quite reasonable so maybe worth a look.

We like Aghios Gordios (mytravel/manos) in Cofu, Lassi in Kefalonia was also lovely (although a few years ago now).

Thanks all - plenty of places for me to look into!

And by the same token, we've used Kosmar 4 times, without a hitch.

OK, Heraklion airport is still a toilet, but that's not really Kosmar's fault.

Gosh how awful! That is really bad. I will definitely check out that website.

Oh, I know it can't have happened to too many people as they'd be out of business, but obviously, it's a no from me.

All Greek airports are notoriuosly bad aren't they.

Dinoris! http://www.wla2008.com/default.asp?siteID=1&pageID=81&langID=2

In case you can't make out the details from that page, it's at14a Museum Square, Old Town, Rhodes (**** 25824).

Good to hear about different people's experiences. I'm sure Kosmar are ok in the main, but I can see how a bad experience would put you off - we've been put off Thomson by some awful reps when we went to Spain a few years back, even though I'm sure the majority of Thomson reps are just fine, these ones were truly dire and it makes me think twice about using Thomson again.

Thank you x

Kosmar holidays are a reputable tour operator. Some delays etc are out of their hands. They mainly deal with rooms and self catering and go to some lesser known places within islands etc.

People like to point out their bad experiences far more often than the positive.

Thanks - I realise that with any company there may be delays and stuff and that's not their fault - I'd sooner be delayed for a couple of hours than fly when there might be a problem with the plane or the airport or something.

I also have experience of Greek airports from going to Crete and Rhodes so I'm aware that they are not great in some respects, but that's definitely not the fault of the holiday company!

about something mainland like here: https://www.kosmar.co.uk/holidays/abroad/finikounda/

or stoupa? If you hired a car you could drive around too. I have lots of recs for Peleponesse if you decided to do something like that?

or perhaps Naxos or Paros? They are a bit windier (meltemi) but are really nice.

Lesvos is also quite a popular place but still quite traditional. (my granny is from there).

I'm just mentioning places that are quite easy to get to. I also love Kefalonia but feel you woulnd't really be getting the proper Greece, gets quite British in the summer iyswim. I do love it all the same! Next time we go to Kefalonia we'd like to do the North and I'd quit like to stay here: http://www.arthotel.gr/emelisse/ There's also and agritourism resort but i can't remember the name.

There are so many other places I'd love to recommend but Uk tour ops don't really go there or you'd have to do a bit yourself iyswim. without a tour op.

Just been looking at some of the places you recommended - Finikounda looks lovely!

I think I prefer to go somewhere with a tour operator just for pure laziness sake!

polychrono was nice when we were there 4 years ago .. fairly quiet but plenty of restaurants and a few bars along the waterfront (I think there was a nightclub at the very far end of the beach when we were there but very low key) the beach isn't much but adequate... mostly it's just a relaxing place and full of greeks rather than too many Brits. There was a nice promenade with stalls etc and lots of greek families walking up and down.

We went on boat trips, we visited one of the other peninsulas which was quieter. Apart from that we just relaxed ?

Thanks - sounds lovely!

I think I have enough inspiration from this thread for the next few years' holidays!

I am not so naive that I don't realise delays etc are out of the tour operators control, however the lack of communication and appaling 'customer service' is what would stop me making any future bookings with them.

They did eventually admit to having sold a flight that they had no plane for so not your standard delay.

This post should be quoting the Bag, I can't seem to do it though.

Hi, I can completely see your point and understand why you were annoyed - I too would be extremely annoyed if I was sold a flight where there was no plane! And I can see why that would make you not want to use the company again. I don't think anyone's saying that they think you're naive about it - what happened to you was clearly very different from a couple of hours delay waiting for a flight!

I'm not saying your experience wasn't important. I'm sure it was very annoying. Kosmar didn't just decide to pretend to have a flight, I'm sure. I use to charter the flighs for a tour operator. I remember on many ocassions them informing us of cancelled flights and having to search around for alternatives or reboking everyone on completely different routes. Once this happened when the clients were already on holiday. It meant flying clients back to random airports and arranges coaches. None of this matters to the client. They ar obviously going to expect the tour operator to sort it out and rightly so. Your experience sounds awful. I didn't use that particular airline again if I had the choice. I would think Kosmar would make sure it didn't happen again. I'm just saying it would be ashame to miss out ona fab holiday because of someone elses bad experience.

Please don't think I'm saying your experience was nothing. You are right to be annoyed with them , their and their compensation policies. You should share the info and let others know. I just don't think Kosmar pt on a flight for fun that didn't exist.

My friend, who is a hitcher , recently wen away , the hotel room had no window ? (I know it's not funny) , anyway,she complained and got a better room. Her experience did put me off ever staying there and I probably won't stay . Same as I wouldn't go with a tour operator (If I used them) that took me to a resort where I had heard that all the staff were rude and unhelpful as that's a fact that might not change for theseason. I might give an operator a chance if it were due to flight changes etc that had caused someone to give me a bad rec.

Can you see that this i a subject close to my heart ?.

Oh, I do understand and I probably sounded rather cantankerous (sp) there. It was particulary annoying as it was the one and only time I had organised a big trip for so many people.

It's like me looking at the weather forecast at the moment. I am refreshing constantly for a holiday tomorrow and will only believe it when it says the weather will be fine, not the rain that's forecast. It's obviously wrong when it's not what I want IYSWIM. In a very long, convoluted and not particulary relevant way :lol:

Whoever you book with Hungrey Catipillar, Greece is always a good choice in my eyes.

But you are completely right not to travel with them agan. They sound like they weren't very helpful. 20 compensation is a bit insulting!

Yep, Greece is always a good choice ?