Skiathos - House villa Jasmin

What an beautiful place this really is!

I stayed here with my husband and 3 children (aged 3, 7 and 7) in July this year (2010) and have to say it's the "best place" we have EVER stayed on holiday!

It's the ideal location for a family looking for a safe, tranquil, and beautiful base to enjoy a holiday in Skiathos. (Whilst not being too far 'out of the way')

The Villa comprises 3 floors and can be rented as a whole or in 2 parts. We took the option to rent the main house which is the top 2 floors for our family holiday. (The ground floor has a separate apartment and entrance, comprising 2 double bedrooms and open plan kitchen, lounge and dining area.) Whilst we could have comfortably rented the downstairs apartment for ourselves we were blown away by the pictures on the website www.housevilla.gr so much so that we 'pushed the boat out' and opted for the main upper 2 floors of the Villa - which has 3 double bedrooms (all with air-conditioning) 2 bathrooms, huge kitchen / lounge / dining area, LCD TV, free Wi-Fi internet, hand-crafted spiral staircase, DVD player, huge balcony, etc, etc... Simply stunning!

The Villa is outstandingly beautiful. It has been recently built and finished perfectly with real care and craftsmanship - if we were to be buying a Villa abroad ourselves, I really don't think I would have changed any single detail of the materials, fittings and furnishings used in Villa Jasmin - it was evident on arrival that the images on the website probably don't do the Villa justice - it was even more perfect and stunning than the images portrayed - and we were sold on the website images alone!

Moreover, not only is the Villa well built and thought out, it really did provide everything that a family could possible need to enjoy a comfortable and luxurious holiday. The little touches of decor and facilities for everyday living were impressive - the owners had thought of everything you could possibly want - making it a real 'home from home'.

The Villa is set in a large, secure, and private garden with electric gate with a view up the mountain in front. It is located around three quarters of a mile from the main ring-road in Skiathos in a resort called Aghious Paraskevi, which is small, but has tens of superb tavernas and shops (Including a few of the best rated restaurants on the Island within a short walking distance). Stefanos and Jasmin (the owners) had recommended we hire a car which we opted for and this was arranged by them (cheaper than we could ourselves) with full insurance and 3 child seats as requested. We collected this at Skiathos airport on arrival and called Stefanos who gave us simple directions to the Kassandra Bay Hotel where he met us and took us to the Villa.

Whilst we were told that 'a car was recommended' I would say this is not strictly the case. Don't get me wrong, Skiathos has some of the best beaches in Greece (60 in total) which is impressive for a small Island. But the Villa is located only a few minutes walk from complexes operated by the tour operator Thomson and we met many families staying in these resorts that did not have a car and felt they had no need for one. As I said, you have some fabulous Tavernas/Restaurants in easy walking distance, great pools, supermarkets, etc. And the beach at Ag. Paraskevi is stunning - and only 900 metres walk away along a quiet, flat lane - no stairs or mountains to climb in the heat!

If you want to get around and explore, the Island has one main ring road running from the main town/port right down to the large and beautiful Koukanaries beach. It has a popular bus service running every 15 minutes around the Island meaning that you could essentially get anywhere you wanted to both quickly and cheaply. We did enjoy the freedom of having a car obviously, but come 4 or 5 o'clock I like to have a beer or a glass of wine so we really enjoyed just walking to the local Tavernas for our evening meal and never felt like we were trapped or stuck 'out of the way'. (Tripadvisor rates 3 or 4 of the local Tavernas amongst the best in Skiathos! If you're staying local in Ag. Paraskevi make sure you eat at 'Calma, Mesostrato, Infinity Blue, & Maistrali - the food is good value and tasty also at Pegasus which has a park out front for the kids to play. If heading to Skiathos town the Windmill and Bonoparts ).

The standard of the Villa and it's facilities speak for themselves, but what we really enjoyed was having the freedom to allow our children to play unsupervised in the large gardens outside. As it was secure and safe from cars and passers by, it was less worrying than allowing them out to play in our street at home! The other big factor is the beautiful 'quietness' around you. There really is a lot to be said about 'noise pollution' as we have never, ever, relaxed so quickly on holiday before. It took a few days to work out why this was, and it was because the only 'noise intrusion' is really from the odd passing car, the crickets, or the distant chime of small bells from the goats grazing up the hill in front. I was honestly amazed that the lack of voices, music, cars, moped engines, really could help you relax so fully and quickly - which for us meant we have never had such a great holiday, accommodation or location!

If there was one downside to this Villa, it would be that it did not have it's own swimming pool. However after staying a couple of days we soon felt this was a benefit in many ways - no one adult had to stand constant 'watch' over the children playing outside for fear of an accident or drowning! (I'm sure many parents understand exactly what I'm talking about here!) And realistically, we had a choice of 3 or 4 good pools only a short walk away - we used the Ariadne which was large, clean, reasonable priced for drinks and lunchtime snacks.

All in all, Villa Jasmin is a winner! I can whole heartedly recommend it to families, couples, groups, anyone. Quality is quality, and we can all appreciate that!