Elivi Skiathos

We booked a junior suite with a private pool. We ended up abandoning our holiday after a week because this hotel is nothing like its advertising material suggests. No way a 5 star. Room was heading towards tatty. Outside poolside is clinical and unfurnished. Meal times at the hotel are chaos. Staff appear overwhelmed, untrained and uninterested. Complaining gets you nowhere, they’ve heard it all before. Left after a week and ended up with almost £3000 refund from the tour operator.

During our recent five-night stay at Elivi, my partner and I encountered a few very disappointing experiences that unfortunately affected our overall experience in Greece. The pre-arranged shuttle service from the airport, upon which we relied, arrived 40 minutes late without an apology. This delay left us feeling somewhat stranded, exacerbated by the absence of cell service for communication. Several fellow guests who were in the same situation resorted to taking taxis, despite being charged the full shuttle fee, which was disheartening. The general attitude of the staff towards the guests was way below any expected standard. A sense of disdain was palpable in the demeanor of many staff members when asked for assistance. This was most evident during a conversation at the front desk where, while expressing my concerns regarding the lack of communication about post-storm WiFi and beach access, I was met with argumentation rather than a supportive response. Furthermore, the manager's reaction to a simple request for assistance with calling a local hotel to say we had arrived was less than accommodating, making me feel as though my reasonable inquiry was a terrible inconvenience to him. One notable incident at the Nest restaurant involved a chef raising their voice at a patron due to an error in an order, failing to handle the situation with any professionalism. The breakfast selection, aside from an extensive array of cakes, left much to be desired, with cold and unappetizing eggs and bacon. Despite this, the breakfast staff, particularly Marina, were a commendable exception, providing a positive experience within an otherwise lackluster service environment. Although the rooms were pleasant, we found them to be overpriced. On a more positive note, the independently-owned bar adjacent to Grace was a highlight of our visit. In conclusion, while Elivi Hotel boasts a 5-star rating, in service I would be inclined to rate it closer to 2 stars at best. The disappointing encounters with the staff left us feeling regretful about the substantial investment made for our stay, ultimately tarnishing our overall impression of the beautiful Greek surroundings and leading us to reconsider future visits.

There are quite a few factors that lets this hotel down and definitely does not put this in a 5 star category. When we arrived our room was stinking of mould and had black mould in the shower area. When we complained and refused to take the room we were promised that they would clean it and we could have a temp room for one night. We said we wanted a different room which seemed to be a problem until a senior member of the management turned up and made it happen. We got a very nice room for one night and then moved to another room. The new room was very nice and smelled fantastic for 12 hours. They do have a problem with the drainage in general and the fact that the showers are located within the room and at the back wall where its hard to ventilate. The staff are young and can be arrogant. About half of them are very nice and helpful and the rest not so much! We had staff coming into our room without knocking on the door first ( so make sure to lock it) and the cleaning was very bad. We had a large dead bug on our floor for 3 days in a row. Not sure how they missed it because the rest of the floor was covered in water for hours after the cleaning staff had been there. One day we came back from the beach and discovered that the cleaning staff had broken our very large bathroom sink. A big piece of marble that should have been at the base of it was now dislodged. They just left it like this and we had to ask reception to get maintenance out to fix it. The hotel and the rooms are quite worn and could use a refurb. I know there was flooding and heavy rain a few weeks before we arrived but the rooms themselves are stained and worn. The hotel is not 5 star but the prices def are.. Eating or drinking in this hotel is pricey som bring the big wallet. We rarely ate at the hotel as the selection was very poor (might have been because of the end of the season?) There are a few better eating options down the road. The facilities at the lovely Banana Beach were also not very inspiring with poor expensive food and toilet facilities that were some of the worst I have seen. When leaving they offered transfer to the airport for 60 Euro when a normal taxi is 30 Euro or less... On the upside the location is fantastic with lots of great beaches. Breakfast was great. And the island is very nice. I would come back but not to this hotel!

We stayed at Elivi Skiathos as a family of four with two young children in October 2023. Our trip was booked as a package holiday through Jet2. The resort is in a stunning location at the southwest tip of the island, with direct access to four excellent beaches - two of which are exclusive to hotel guests. There are a few areas / types of accommodation on site; we stayed in the Grace suites, which are all built into the hillside, meaning almost every room enjoys fabulous views, mostly south-facing. Our room was modern, spacious and clean and had a large balcony with a hot tub, which was great for relaxing away from the beach and in our own private space with the kids. The location and room quality are the main strengths of this hotel as the beautiful backdrop with views over the Koukounaries bay were the saviour of an otherwise underwhelming experience. Firstly, the aforementioned hillside setting makes this sprawling resort a challenge to navigate on foot. The hotel offers a free, on-demand buggy service for guests but I can imagine waiting times at busy periods during peak times of year could be an issue, and for a family like ours that enjoys the freedom of walking around the resort, it is worth considering. Some of the other guests we spoke to mentioned to us they felt unsafe on the buggies, and with two kids on our laps, we felt the staff drove at unnecessary speeds, especially down the steep slopes. More generally, navigation and accessibility with a pushchair was an issue throughout our holiday due to (i) the escalator going down multiple levels from the main building to the ground level / beach being out of service all week; and (ii) the walkways being broken in several areas but mainly approaching and on the beach. Secondly, we chose this hotel in large part due to the range of options on site when it came to beaches and restaurants; disappointingly when we visited only one beach was open for the full week (one other closed part way through our stay); and two out of the six restaurants (albeit one of the two options was at the breakfast area and had a set menu with only two choices for EUR25 - we avoided this and it seems most other guests did the same). There may well be mitigating circumstances to some of the issues we faced and we believe that our experience is a combination of travelling on the last week of the season (which we wouldn't recommend - the hotel closed for the year on 8th October and everything was being wound down for closure, including the otherwise excellent breakfast buffet closing and changing to a more limited la carte option), and severe storms in the preceding weeks to our arrival date which may have caused some of the damage on site, particularly on the beaches. However, none of this was explained to us in advance of our arrival, nor was any of the damage or reasons for the beach and restaurant closures mentioned in our arrival briefing. Fortunately, the cheap and reliable bus service on the island has a st

As others have said this is not a 5* resort. It has potential to be but the real-life experience is lacklustre and underwhelming to say the least. Here’s are a few things we experienced which have also been expressed by others: Staff aren’t welcoming and every request was almost met with a shrug of the shoulders. Some of the restaurant waiting, housekeeping and beach bar stuff were lovely but everyone we met at reception/front of house had a frosty attitude. The food on-site is mediocre at best. Don’t eat at the hotel beyond breakfast. When we visited, 2 restaurants were closed. 2 beach bars due to bad weather. This was the case before we arrived but no communication was given to us. If felt like half the resort was closed. The lift was broken from Grace area to top which with a 4 month old baby would have been really useful. The water coming from the taps and shower were running brown water. Rooms feel basic in terms of decor and finishing touches. Ours was run down with mould on the wall near the shower and dirty tiles. The gym was supposed to open at 8. I arrived at 8:40 to a closed gym/spa and when I asked to open it I was greeted with another shrug of the shoulders, like this was my problem. The drivers of the buggies need to slow down. We had a small baby and almost went over on two wheels around one of the tight bends one evening. Positives are: Location is stunning and I’m sure when everything is open and operational - the multiple beaches are fantastic. But that is about it based on our experience. As I said there is lots of potentially but guest experience needs a complete rethink.

This is the 2nd time we have stayed at Elivi, and can honestly say it will not be the last! We stayed for 2 weeks in September 2023 for our wedding and We previously visited in September 2022. Each visit we couldn’t have wished for a better stay, this hotel is fantastic! I cannot understand the negative reviews at all, the venue itself is like no other hotel on the island, nestled away in the trees and surrounded by stunning beaches what more could you want? Our wedding day itself was absolutely perfect from start to finish. We had a buggy driver collect us from our room to take me and my bridesmaids to the wedding ceremony, all of the staff were outside waiting for my arrival clapping and cheering, I can honestly say this was one of the most heartwarming parts of the day. The whole planning process and communication with Sophia and Dimitris at Elivi was superb, nothing was too much trouble and they made sure everything ran smoothly for us. The waiting staff were fantastic throughout nobody was waiting around with an empty glass. The kitchen staff and chefs did an amazing job the canapés and meal were absolutely out of this world! All of our guests commented on the excellent selection of food and how delicious it was! We honestly couldn’t have wished for a better day, and that is all down to the amazing staff at Elivi! The setting is like something from a film, it’s without a doubt the most beautiful wedding venue on the island! Considering the island had awful floods just 1 week before our wedding you wouldn’t know at all, the people of Skiathos did an amazing job to turn the island around and every single person that flew out to our wedding said they will be returning! The staff have always gone above and beyond for us, and couldn’t be more helpful. They are friendly and welcoming, and we were always greeted with a smile, hello/good morning from every member of staff. The rooms are spotlessly clean, and have fantastic amenities. We stayed in a junior suite with private pool at Grace, the most stunning rooms with fantastic views to wake up to! All in all we’ve had the most amazing time, With first class service from start to finish from every single member of staff, from the cleaners to waiting staff to golf buggy drivers and the management, everyone has been fantastic! We already cannot wait to return for our first wedding anniversary next September!

My finance and I stayed at Elivi for five nights and were very disappointed. To begin…..We booked a shuttle from the airport and the driver was 40 minutes late with no apology. We felt stranded because we had no cell connection so had no idea whether they were coming. Other guests that had also booked the shuttle ended up getting taxis. With this in mind, we were still charged full price. The attitude of the staff towards guests was unacceptable. Most of the staff would look at you like you crawled out of cheese when you’d ask them for anything. A woman at the front desk started arguing with me when I very respectfully and calmy expressed my disappointment about them not communicating when the WiFi would be back and the beach would be open after a storm that had happened a few days before we arrived. A manager at the front desk made me feel like I was irritating them when I requested after 2 days of no Wi-Fi whether they could call another hotel for me to tell friends we had arrived safely. The chef at the Nest restaurant actually shouted at a friend because they bought the wrong dish to the table and wouldn’t accept that they were in the wrong. The breakfasts were very average. If you like cake for breakfast you will love them as there is a huge table of cakes but cold, awful tasting eggs and bacon etc. This aside the only nice staff we came across were at breakfast. (Marina was awesome) The rooms were nice but overpriced. The bar that is owned privately that is next to Grace was great. In closing the Elivi hotel are rated as a 5 star hotel. I’d give them 3.5 stars at most. The staff were terrible and we were left feeling like we’d wasted thousands of dollars. We left Greece never wanting to come back.

Good hotel in Skiathos with nice view.