Tuesday 24 May 2016

Adams Hotel

Arrival
Adams has been a popular place to stay in Parga for many years, but recently has gone through a fairly major expansion and improvement. It's now quite a complex with two accommodation blocks set in an L around the pool and bar area, and the reception block. By all accounts this was finished a mere couple of weeks before we arrived, and certainly throughout the early part of last year it was just a big hole in the ground. The whole place now has a very modern feel to it, right down to those oh so popular orange filament light bulbs in the restaurant area.
We arrived after a daytime flight at about 8:30 and the staff got everyone checked in and sat down in the bar with a welcome drink before they took each party up to their rooms one by one. OK, for us Brits, a little moaning ensured with the, 'I've had a long day travelling, and I just want to get to my room now', but hey, chill, and get a bit more 'Greek' attitude into you.
Rooms
Within a short while we were all in our rooms and they turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Again, modern looking, there are mosquito nets throughout on all the windows and the door to the balcony so you can let the air come in without fear the insects will follow. That's especially good in the bathroom so you can let the moisture out.
There's plenty of sockets and enough thought has gone into placement so there's one either side of the bed serving the bedside cabinets and another by the dressing table with sports a large mirror and again, whether by design or accident, that table is set next to the balcony door so benefits from natural light. You might be surprised how many times I've stayed in places where the dressing table is in a dark recess of the room with a single power outlet over in the opposite corner, and I can tell you that kind of hassle does not a wife's mood improve!
The bed is comfy and the bathroom spacious with an actual bath rather than just a shower cubicle and the obligatory 'elephant's trunk' style hairdryer on the wall (good for de-misting the mirror if nothing else). Shower gel and soap if provided in the bathroom.
There's also a fridge, kettle, safe and a telly, but this is more hotel than self catering so no hob, pots, pans or crockery other than the mugs. Outside on the balcony is also a clothes drying frame.
I think my only real criticism of the room was a lack of storage. There is a single wardrobe space which was enough for clothes, but the bedside tables had a single shelf built in, and there is a larger unit against one wall also with a single shelf. If that had been replaced by a set of draws I think that would be better. Similarly there's not a great deal of shelf space in the bathroom, although the sink does have a cabinet beneath it you can hide all your toiletries away in.
All in all through, I was very happy with the room indeed.
Pool and Bar
So this is all brand new and looks good, albeit nothing inspiring, but in keeping with the relatively minimal design of the whole complex, with the fairly standard crazy paving round the pool and stone block walls round the bar area. One side of this area runs along the road, although raised up above it, and there is a fair amount of passing traffic noise, so I wouldn't say it's a tranquil place but it's pleasant enough. The other side is a bar area with a wooden roof over to provide shelter and/or shade.
However the area does seem a tad small for the size of the hotel and it doesn't cater well for couple like me and my wife where one likes shade and the other sun because the umbrellas are firstly bolted in place, secondly fairly small, and finally made of that mesh which actually lets through about half the sunshine and you are still in danger of getting burnt even when you think you've been in the shade all day. So it ends up being fairly unsociable with my wife sunbathing round the pool and me sitting away in the bar area enjoying my shade.
Restaurant and Breakfast
We were on B&B basis (although half board is catered for too) and again the restaurant area is a very modern design with a little more thought put into finishing touches to make it a nice place to sit for a meal. We only really had an evening meal on the first night having arrived late and it was very nice if a little on the expensive side, trying to be far more restaurant than taverna. For example the tsatsiki served with pita bread will taste the same however it comes (assuming you have a decent tsatsiki to start with) but here it is served moulded into a cylinder on the plate with pita triangles leant up against the sides. Very nice presentation, but for me...hey it's a tsatsiki. However Parga in general has been trying to go more upmarket in recent years, with only about 2 or 3 very traditional tavernas along the front now, the rest having made way from more gastro-eateries, and The Adams restaurant (called The Olive Tree by the way) is trying to compete in that growing market.
Breakfast on the other hand is a buffet affair with a limited, but perfectly adequate choice: eggs, bacon, sausage (frankfurter style ones of course) as staples on the hot food side, a selection of about three basic cereals, a few different type of cakes, croissants, bread (toaster on the side so you can toast your own) ham, cheese, etc. And of course, yogurt and honey. Hence given we paid very little extra for the B&B than what we would have paid in other not so nicely appointed accommodation, I was as happy as Larry with the breakfast.
Conclusion
Really a huge thumbs up for me as a place to stay. OK I haven't been as complimentary about the pool area, so if that's important for you then consider a bit how fussy you are when by the pool for shade vs sun (I'm very fussy as I am not by nature a pool person). Also it's on the edge of town (a good 20 minute walk back uphill from the front) so if you might want to be more central - again for me I enjoy having that walk back as I spent precious little other time burning off any calories while I'm on holiday, and a taxi back when you need it, is about 5 euros. But on the whole, with very friendly owners and staff, great rooms and a decent breakfast, any faults I have managed to find are fairly inconsequential and I would very much consider using Adams again.
May 2016

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