shaiutto

I'm working on booking a vacation to Naxos for this June (2007). I received email back from the inquiries I sent, and now I'm having trouble deciding which hotel to go with.

One factor in picking hotels is that my significant other needs wifi access. (I know, I know, who wants to use a computer on vacation? He owns his own business though, and needs it only in case an emergency comes up.)

Hotel Glaros is 58 Euros for a top floor room and 52 for the other rooms, plus a fee for using the wifi. (I haven't heard back yet what the fee is.)

Hotel Galini is only 45 Euros, plus free wifi.

My understanding is that both hotels are in about the same area, but Glaros has a better ocean view. Both hotels get good reviews on TripAdvisor.

Are there other reasons that I should choose Glaros even though it's more expensive? We are going to be there for 11 days, so it might be best to pick the one with larger rooms.

I'd appreciate any advice you experts can give me!

Thanks,

Sue

ourjetboat

I would vote for Glaros...but wonder why you are spending all 11 days there. Even though you can ferry to different spots..why not a couple days somewhere else?? 11 days is a longgggg time

opi

I emailed Hotel galini for june stay and we were quoted 50 Euros. hmm...

we're actually thinking about taking the top floor room and they're adding 20 more euro for that.
Has anyone stayed there?

shaiutto

Thanks for the input.

ourjetboat:
11 days is really long... what we want to do is rent a car and go all over the island, do some hikes, visit the different beaches, and take side trips to Delos and maybe Paros. So, we were trying to decide whether to stay in multiple places or just one. I am currently thinking it would easier to find one place we like as our homebase and do our excursions from there. We will be traveling on to Santorini after the 11 days on Naxos.

opi:
I just double checked to make sure I got the Galini price right. Here's the email I received:

"We have available 1 rooms from 7/6/2007 to 28/6/2007 out the price for the double room will be 45 Euro with breakfast."

shaiutto

I just noticed the dates in the email I got from Galini were wrong - I inquired about June 17 through June 28.

opi

this is what i got from their email
:
"We have available 1 room from 26/6/2007 to 1/7/2007 out the price for the double room will be 50 Euro with breakfast"

The dates kind of overlap. hm hmmm
i feel like i should bargain for the rate of our room at the top.

is bargaining a no no in greece?

stanbr

For what it is worth, Glaros is about 10 meters from St George beach and all the rooms have an ocean view. The top floor rooms are substantialy larger and better appointed and have a large patio deck overlooking the ocean which is for the exclusive use of the top floor guests only.
Galini while only 30 steps away does not share the view.
I do however think Galinis breakfast is better as it is a buffet.
Glaros breakfast is served on the shaded patio overlooking the ocean and is served to you and consists of a boiled egg a pot of coffee bread cakes and orange juice ( tang I think)
I have a couple of pictures of the view from the top floor of Glaros at:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/65008339
YYjlTb

Most people do not stay as long on one island as you are proposing however I for one highly recommend staying longer and really getting to know one place. Naxos has lots of variety including a wonderful main town which takes days to figure out where you are going, great beaches and many lovely villages in the interior and a number of ancient sites. It is also well situated for day trips to Ios Paros and Delos.
We have been astonished in our many trips to Naxos that we always find someting new to explore every time.

stanbr

I ust checked my previous post and the link to my pictures didn't work. Here it is again.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/65008339YYjlTb

yipper

Thanks to all of you for this info. Also I can not think of anything much better than spending 11 days on Naxos. Have a great trip.

shaiutto

Thanks for the reassurance about staying so long on Naxos. I wanted to time to explore the different villages.

Would you recommend renting a car for the entire trip, or just get one for the day when we want to explore?

Thank you again for all of the great advice.

Traveling_Mum

Hi Shaiutto,

I think it is great that you are spending 11 days on Naxos. My father's family comes from the island and my husband, son and I are also visiting this year in July. It's a great island to explore, however I am biased. Make sure you visit the village of Apiranthos ( about 40 min drive by bus from the main town , Hora) also the beaches Agia Anna and Agios Prokopis are lovely. There is a great taverna at Agios Prokopis called 'Yoryona' which means 'mermaid'. These beaches are about 10 min by bus from main town. If you tire of car rentals we have found the buses very reliable.

Hope you enjoy your stay.

Hania

Negotiating a lower rate for a hotel room in Greece is common especially in May and June when occupancy rates are lower than the summer. Naxos town has allot of accomodation so they are competitive up to July. Even if you are pre booking, you can ask for a lower rate and they will probably reduce it. 11 days on Naxos is not too long. It is a large island.
I would book the car a day at a time unless you get a much better rate. You don't need to decide before you get there. This is still quiet season and there is competition between the rental places. I rented from a place in the square across from the Scirroco restaurant.
The nearby island of Amorgos is worth visiting. The old town above the port is pretty with shops and restaurants. Sometimes the ferry connections aren't often enough to make it an easy visit.

opi

i did try to negotiate a lower rate, even with the "if we pay with cash" line, but didn't get anything. All we got was "If you'd like a lower rate, you can book the other room".
So i just booked the room with the rate he gave us. I'm hoping it'll be as good as i hope it'll be. (we're staying at Galini)