Rena Studios
(Apartments in Paleokastritsa)
 | 10/10 |
 
Rena Apartments
 The apartments were basic but they were clean and comfortable. I stayed for one week in July and they were cleaned 3 times. My best advice when staying in Greece is to take your own bin bags then you can empty the bins as much as you want (some people complain about this but it's "part and parcel" if you go to Corfu....) The room had a kitchen, fridge, two electric hobs and adequate plates, bowels, cutellry and mugs. The toilet and shower were fine. Air con was also available for 7 Euros per night. Although I spent 3 nights without it, my friend couldn't stand it though. Then again I do like saunas!
The view from the balcony was excellent (see picture right, beach on left though you cant see the sand). The supermarket underneath is a real bonus as it means you don't have to walk in the heat to get water and other supplies. I hear people at a nearby hotel were paying around 5 Euro per bottle. The supermarket sells 6 for 1.6 Euros.
Rena herself is great and allowed us to pay 15 Euros so we could stay in the room after the usual check out as pick up wasn't until 21:00 and we could stay until 18:00.
It is up a steep hill but again most things are in Paleo. It's literally only about 2/3 mins to the beach and it's one of the best beaches in Paleo
 . Paleo
Paleo is an amazing place, scenic and relaxing. I've been to Ipsos, dassia and Kassiopi and this place is definitely the best. There are plenty of restaurants and bars, but not too many! There is a great bar called the Dolphin where you can enjoy cocktails overlooking the minty blue seas of the harbour. There is a nightclub called the Moody Blue (cheesy disco music) and another bar further along called the Oasis (music was much better). There was an amazing restaurant which went down into a valley but I can't remember the name, worked out 10 Euro for starter, main and beer. The food was amazing in an amazing setting of palm trees and water features. On the nearest beach there is a hotel with a restaurant and bar called the Apollon. The food and drink there were really nice and they have fans blowing cooling mist into the air. It's a nice break from the heat of the beach and a great place for an evening meal. Vegetarian menus were good at the Apollon and the other restaurant (still can't remember the name).
Paleo is definitely a place to chill out and ideal for couples. There are daily buses to corfu town, but I never left the place as I had no need to go anywhere else.
Buy yourself a Parasol from the nearby tourist stalls, about 7 euros and you won't have to pay to hire one! It cost about 10 euros to hire a sunbed with parasol. Buy your own and prop it up with a few rocks and you can stay on the beach as long as you want and save money.
Don't forget to be extra vigilant with mosquito precautions. This area is notoriously bad, you need an electric zapper for the apartment and reapply Deet (apparently Deet is the most effective) spray every couple of hours on an evening. As well as the electric zapper I burnt Citronella in a cheap oil burner using tea lights. This is great for sitting outside on an evening on the balcony and you can get tea lights which have citronella in them from the supermarket. I only had 3 bites all week, but I heard some horror stories!! Take precautions and you'll be fine.
I went on a last minute with Kosmar. The Rep was fantastic and came regularly to the apartments. Very nice and very approachable.
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| Anthony Kelly (Sunday, August 19, 2007) | 1 post by Anthony Kelly | |
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RENA STUDIOSWe stayed at Rena Studios at the beginning of August 2006 and would recommend it to anybody. Air-con is a must have at €7 per night, and the first hot night without it was very uncomfortable. I'd also recommend an electrical mosquito deterrent (€4) as well as a good swatting rota. The room itself (#5, upstairs, view attached) was just fine, and the supermarket and steps to the beach were a real bonus. PELEOKASTRITSAThe place is beautiful, and you have a good choice of beaches - pebble, sand or shingle - all with rentable sunbeds, parasols (€7 for 2x beds and 2x umbrella for the day) and pedalos and most with water-sports rental, too. We preferred the pebble beach because it was less cramped and had the excellent Ski Club 105 water-sports rental there. We tried three different restaurants/tavernas and they were all good - Lemani, Smurf's, Dolphin to name but three. Snack bars and shops abound, and there's a shop on the roundabout that sells English magazines alongside Greek cheese pies - recommended. We weren't looking for a party holiday so Peleo suited us just fine, though if you walk along the road out of Paleo you can find bars with louder music and younger people. The monastery is also well worth a visit and there's a great view and taverna up there. PACKAGEOur package was with Kosmar, whose reps proved hard to locate - I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing! We did Scuba diving and Greek Night with them, both of which I would recommend. They advised us to hire a car over a bike or public transport. Having hired a car and taken the bus to Corfu town, I would recommend public transport without a doubt. Of course, it doesn't give you as much freedom as a car but it only costs €1.60!    | ||||||||||
| Matt (Sunday, August 06, 2006) | 1 post by Matt | |
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The Rena Studios are the best we've had in Greece so far. The view from the balcony is just fantastic.They are very clean and comfortable. The beds and towels were changed twice a week and air conditioning is available at 7 euros per night. They are also well eqipped with a kettle, sandwich toaster and plenty of plates, glasses cutlery etc. There is a washing line on the balcony and a shower curtain and base(luxury in Greece). Rena herself is lovely and very helpful and the little shop below has everything you will need.
Very highly recommended. | ||||||||||
| karen paulin (Saturday, August 06, 2005) | 1 post by karen paulin | |
| - UK |
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| We booked a late deal that was fairly cheap, and so we weren't too
fussed what we got, but when we arrived we couldn't believe our luck!
Rena's is situated very close to the beaches (ok - it's up a bit of a
hill, but so is most of Paleo) and looks out over the bay and the
island with the monastery. And to open up your curtains every morning
to see that beautiful view is, quite honestly, priceless. I'm just glad
we had an upstairs room! The room had everything you needed, and it was nice and clean. There's a little shop downstairs that sells everything you'd ever need, and Rena is so friendly and helpful. The area isn't noisy even though it's central. Very very highly recommended!!  | ||||||||||
| Zoe McCormick (Tuesday, June 07, 2005) | 1 post by Zoe McCormick | |
| - UK |
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| Rena studios is a realy nice set of apartments very close the the centre of Paleo and the main beach. Our apartment was really clean and had an amazing view over the bays of Paleo. We would definitely recommend it and there are extras such as a small supermarket downstarirs which is really handy and air-con is available at 7 euors per night, definitely needed for this time of year (July). The only warning is that there are lots of steps and steep slopes down to the beach but all apartments are the same in this area, as Paleokastritsa is very hilly. The owner Rena and her family are very freindly and helpful for local information. Overall, had a brilliant stay and will definitely return again! | ||||||||||
| S Bell (Thursday, July 29, 2004) | View 2 posts by S Bell | |
| - UK |
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| Does anyone have any recent information about these studios? I'd appreciate any comments you might have. Thanks. | |
| Dayzy Jones (Tuesday, September 24, 2002) | View 3 posts by Dayzy Jones | |
| - UK |
[Available from Kosmar]
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