Golden Mare Resort

Just back from this beautiful resort . We thoroughly enjoyed staying here . We spent a lot of time by the pool ( be prepared to have your breath taken away by the view of the mountain from the pool ) . Green bus stops right outside for a trip into Corfu town ( by far the cheapest way to travel ) . We ate out most night ( hotel food was not our taste though many people were enjoying it ) and there are lots of nearby restaurants to choose from. Entertainment goes on late at night and is very loud especially if staying in main building . ( so if planning an early start bring earplugs ) . There is a little shop in the hotel which we found really handy , also larger supermarkets within easy walking distance.. Overall a fantastic place to stay .

We had a really nice 11-day stay at Golden Mare Resort in Barbati. The hotel has a beautiful location, amazing views and a lovely atmosphere. There were a few things that could definitely be improved, such as the food being quite repetitive during a longer stay and some issues with the facilities, but the friendly and helpful staff made it much easier to forget about these little shortcomings.

I would especially like to mention Ronaldo, who was always very kind, friendly and helpful. He made us feel welcome and was always happy to help.

The staff were definitely one of the best parts of our holiday. Their attitude, kindness and willingness to help really made a difference and often made us forget about the hotel’s imperfections.

Overall, we had a great time in Corfu and came home with many lovely memories. Thank you to the whole team for making our 11-day stay special.

A thoroughly strange experience - beautiful location and some really saintly staff in what must be very trying circumstances, but standards have slipped at this hotel and it seemed to be teetering on the edge of insolvency. It looks like it used to be luxurious or at least aspired to be so, but is just not managed well and appears to run on a shoestring budget which is inadequate for the 4-star rating. However we walked further up the hill one night and found a whole set of new apartments with the hotel logo and a swimming pool with building/finishing in progress. Just added to the puzzle. Our first room was disappointing - while exploring the small space I opened the bathroom drawer and it fell on my foot, containing the towel rail which belonged on the opposite wall. There was mould on the walls (poorly painted over) and my son's duvet had bloodstains on it. The exterior walls could have done with several coats of paint and garden areas badly needed some basic weeding and pruning. TV was not working despite my husband's finest ministrations (no functioning tv in the hotel - the front desk said they had a problem with the supplier, but we did suspect this to be the sort of problem which might be solved by subscription payment). We enlightened the cheery reservations manager as to our main issues and although she hilariously informed us that our first room had already been an upgrade (God help those in the basic level!) she moved us to a bigger room with a fabulous sea view, high up on the hill, which was ideal. Apart from no shower gel or dispenser - which proved, over the next couple of days, impossible to supply and the last straw for my husband, who was driven to expressing himself very clearly at the front desk and extracted three tiny samples for the family's week. I will say that regular human drama and despair at the front desk was our main daytime source of entertainment (in the absence of a tv). Housekeeping was a bit intermittent - one day we found beautifully concertina-ed clean towels on our bed but they were still very damp. The food was not terrible, just unimaginative / lacking seasoning or spice, with some cheap cuts, odd combinations and a shortage of Greek staples such as olives, stuffed vine leaves, halloumi, tzatziki, houmous and baklava. I overheard one of the other guests describing unhappily how she had found chunks of burger in the curry, which was described as chicken. When she asked the chef why there were burgers in the 'chicken' curry, he explained they had run out of chicken. Desserts were avoidable (a 'gateau' and three colours of ice cream - all flavourless). The coffee was nothing short of atrocious, propelling us out of the hotel every morning in search of an antidote in a couple of local cafes. Evening entertainment was entirely excellent on every night (well done entertainment manager!) albeit served alongside dubious cocktails for which the lovely bartender did his creative best with few of the standard alcoholic ingredients. Others have mentioned the desalinated water and this did add a certain unforgettable salty aspect. We hired a car and drove to Kassiopi and ate out a few times. Local restaurants were fabulous, beaches were pebbly but beautiful.