Emelisse is a charming hotel with wonderful accomodations, breathtaking views, a warm, helpful & welcoming staff. There are plenty of activities for the whole family and all age groups. I enjoyed playing tennis, hiking and delicious meals at the hotel. You can easily alternate between pool and sea, or both as you can admire the gorgeous views as the pool overlooks 360 views of the island! It´s a hidden gem! A big thank you to Emelisse for making our stay memorable.
An absolutely beautiful hotel, with gorgeous sunrise and sunset views. Excellent swimming in crystal clear waters. Many swimming pools and sea access. Outstanding sporting facilities.
The staff were far above and beyond what I expected. Cheerful and extremely knowledgable about the foods, drinks and activities offered.
We have just returned from a week at this wonderful hotel and already we are wondering when we can return!
The main aspect of the hotel that we appreciated was the general relaxed atmosphere created by the incredibly cheerful, efficient, positive staff: nothing was ever too much trouble and there were none of the "rules" that hotels often introduce. There was a definite feeling that everyone who worked at the Emelisse wanted to make their guests' stay as good as it could be.
The location is perfect with stunning views towards Lefkas and Ithaca. It is only a short walk into Fiskardo along a well signposted path either by the main road or partly cross country. We did this in sandals and in the dark so not a difficult walk! There is a hotel shuttle but we didn't use it, preferring the walk.
The pool area is great with lots of shade if needed but swimming off the rocks just beyond the pool was very special.
We ( couple in our 50s and two sons, mid twenties) stayed in a maisonette which was perfect for us, with two large bedrooms en suite upstairs and a spacious living/dining/kitchenette area downstairs with a covered terrace and access to a shared pool.
Finally, the food is delicious with a fantastic breakfast buffet selection and great choices at the Votsalo restaurant for lunch and dinner. Our only slight problem was with the size of the tables in the Kinema restaurant - no leg room for anyone over 6 feet tall!
All in all, a very special hotel.
This hotel has everything you need for a family holiday. Nice pool (fabulous views across the bay) tennis and squash courts, pool table, gym etc. There is a separate adult-only pool if you need to escape from the kids for a bit! Food is superb, staff are without exception friendly and helpful. We stayed for 2 days prior to taking a villa nearby but we would have liked to stay longer and will definitely return. If there is one small criticism that would be the bar service around the pool. The 3 times we ordered drinks they took 15 minutes to arrive, maybe we were just unlucky.
Finally - and not at all specific to the hotel - if you are allergic to or nervous of wasps, late August is not the time to come to the island although we were told that this year they were more prevalent than usual.
Firstly, this hotel is 2 HOURS away from the airport! You need to be aware of this upfront, because you will need a car to drive there or a private transport car to take you there.
When you arrive, all you see is a car park and an intercom. You press the button, speak to the front desk and they send a golf cart down to pick you up! Then you drive for about 3 minutes along a path, through gorgeous gardens up to the hotel - which is beautiful. All the staff are incredible, we were taken on a tour by a lovely lady who showed us where everything was. She also alerted us to all the activities we could partake in, including specific cuisine nights at the restaurant.
The room is lovely, great air conditioning and a nice bathroom. We had a nice balcony with sea views as well. Each night someone would come to the room to notify us about activities taking place such as Yoga! To participate was an extra cost, but it was nice that it was offered.
There is an amazing village 5 minutes away from the hotel, which I thought would just be a couple of taverns, but there were over 20 restaurants, shops, supermarkets and places for dessert, and it became so vibrant at night! The hotel sends their shuttle down there every hour at night so you don't have to walk! Truly amazing service.
The swimming pools - incredible. Our favourite was the infinity pool, as there were only a few beds there so it was quiet all day. The main pool is awesome as well, but there are lot's of families with young children there who run around all day and are very loud so it wasn't so relaxing there.
The hotel restaurant is wonderful - pricy though, you're definitely better off going into the village for dinner. Breakfast is amazing, wonderful buffet and fresh orange juice!
The Wifi worked well everywhere except the room! It would cut out and was quite slow, so this was disappointing.
The biggest issue for us were the BEES!! There were bees/wasps absolutely everywhere, all day, everyday. This was an issue for my sister and I, we literally couldn't close our eyes at the pool for more than a minute before a bee would land somewhere on us. Eating lunch was a problem too because they're attracted to food. The staff bring you something to repel them, but its not a great solution and only works for about 30 minutes. We had this problem at every beach in Kefalonia, not just at this hotel so it's not their fault, but it is worth noting if you're allergic to bees or have a phobia of them!
Overall, gorgeous stay, would come here again if something could be done about the bees!
We were 2 couples staying in 2 double "sea view" rooms in mid-August 2016.We stayed in this hotel for 4 nights.
First of all, the very expensive "sea view" rooms we were given, were not "sea view" at all. The rooms were on the underground floor and you could barely see the sky and some trees.
The hotel, the premises and the location are very good. This hotel has great potential in becoming one of the best resorts in Greece BUT the employees in this hotel are totally unprofessional therefore the service is terrible.
I guess they are randomly selected with no criteria or they are relatives with the owner or something. Especially the ladies in the front desk are ridicoulusly clueless as to how a hotel should operate.
Every request we made was totally ignored or rejected with no excuse.
Moreover, the bed's mattress was terrible. I guess they went for the cheaper option, but its unacceptable on a 5-star hotel.
Finally, they have to do something regarding the Bees in the dining area. It is impossible to seat and enjoy your meal when a thousand bees attack you.
Overall the hotel is nice but the personnel is pathetic and needs to be changed immediately.
