Hotel review: Elivi Skiathos with kids

Ask my daughter what her family holiday essentials are and she’s likely to say beach or pool. Possibly both. And ice cream. So as I prepared to review Elivi Skiathos with kids, knowing the hotel had access to four beaches and several pools meant that things boded very well indeed.

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Set in the south-west corner of Skiathos, in the Sporades group of islands near the Greek mainland, I’d been looking forward to having a relaxed sunny break – the island is larger than lovely Symi but with the same chilled-out feel, smaller than Corfu which we visited last year, and while it doesn’t have the historic sites of Kos, there was plenty to fill our days if we wanted. 

And if my six-year-old’s focus was on breaking out her pool toys and building a sandcastle, I was looking forward to a bit of luxury – a hotel that’s distinctly stylish but still family-friendly, with a large side helping of pampering. The fact that I still felt chilled out 48 hours after our return, despite unpacking, laundry and an unceremonious return to real life pretty much says it all – but for the details, here’s my full Elivi Skiathos review.

Elivi Skiathos hotel – vital statistics

The hotel near Koukounaries has 161 rooms, split across two parts of the site – firstly the main part of the hotel, with two of the restaurants and lobby bar, the spa, the kids’ club and the hotel-style rooms.

Those include the Grace hotel rooms, some of which have their own pool and seemed very popular with families, as well as standard double rooms and the superior doubles with access straight on to an infinity pool.

On the other side is The Nest, made up of standalone villas and suites, as well as its own restaurant – some, like ours, have access to a small pool on the terrace, others on the second floor have a small balcony sometimes with a hot tub.

Each side has a pool – The Nest’s is bigger with a sloping floor that’s good for younger kids – and there’s access to two beaches on each side, all with loungers and waiter service for beach snacks and bar.

While we were staying, some early season teething issues meant that a lot of the facilities on the Nest side weren’t open so you did need to walk to the other side of the hotel for the pool or restaurants.

There’s no way through the woods between the two halves, so if you don’t fancy the walk along the main path, the hotel has buggies to whisk you from one side to the other. It’s only around five minutes, although there are a couple of hills and you have to go off the path if you’re pushing a stroller.

Check prices for Elivi Skiathos on Booking.com

Elivi Skiathos with kids – the good

The beaches

Whichever part of the resort you stay in, there’s a beach within a few minutes walk. They’re all public in Greece but with areas reserved for Elivi Skiathos guests, I wouldn’t expect you’d have much trouble getting a lounger: we certainly didn’t at May half-term.

The loungers, incidentally, are the comfiest I have ever lain on, with ultra-thick cushions possibly squashier than my mattress at home.

Our room in the Nest was closest to Banana Beach which ended up being my favourite. Quiet and peaceful, the water is shallow enough for kids to splash around in and there’s some shade under the umbrellas.

It’s worth knowing that Little Banana Beach around the corner of the headland is a nudist beach, and one or two naturist sunbathers did venture over (my daughter was completely oblivious, and they did stick to the far end).

There are two other beaches next to the other side of the hotel: Ampelakia Beach which is the smallest and very easy to get to from the Grace rooms but loses the sun first (less of an issue with kids anyway) and Koukounaries Beach which is by far the biggest, reached down a set of wooden steps through the pine forest (you can also get a buggy down) and is a bit more buzzing.

The space

Rooms on both sides will sleep families, but with two separate rooms in our suite (each with its own bathroom) and the terrace, it meant we had plenty of room to spread out and for adults to sit after my daughter had gone to bed.

In fact, there was so much space in our bedroom that there was room for a sleek standalone bath in the corner.

Not to mention storage galore, a little safe and two small fridges in the two rooms, plus a coffee machine with pods (not Nespresso if you’re planning to pack your own) and a kettle.

Having our own little pool on the terrace was a great touch too, although as it was a bit deep for my daughter, we ended up going to the bigger pool nearby with a sloping floor. Lying on our loungers and sitting outside with a drink at the end of the day was wonderful, like the best of a villa with hotel facilities on tap.

The facilities

For a relatively small hotel, there’s a lot on site. A little spa if you can snatch some time away from the kids, with Elemis treatments.

For 2019, there’s also a new kids’ club opened – we got a sneak look inside and a chance to test it out before it opened officially to check out the sparkling new facilities. I was soundly thrashed at snakes and ladders.

The windowless room itself is downstairs, although they’re hoping to add an option to take the kids outdoors for some of the sessions, but there’s a nice mix of crafts and more active options, from kids yoga and pilates to gymnastics, Zumba and dance, as well as a cinema session a few times per week after lunch.

Open to age four and up, parents can also go along for the first session of the day which is a nice touch if your kids are nervous of stepping into a room full of unknown people. It’s tricky to judge without seeing everything in full operation but I’d expect it to be more popular with younger kids than older tweens.

As my daughter was the only one in during our visit, she wasn’t too tempted by the thought of going back on her own (understandably) but she did enthusiastically tick five sessions on the schedule that she fancied trying and eyed up another couple so I suspect would have visited at least once a day if the club was full of potential new friends. 

There are also three restaurants on site. The Nest restaurant wasn’t yet open unfortunately, as that sounded the most informal of the trio with Greek and fish dishes on the menu.

The other two include the hotels’ fine dining restaurant, Leda and the Swan, and the new Asian fusion restaurant Hagoromo. Both also have a children’s menu including some of the nicest looking chicken nuggets I’ve come across!

Although my daughter, in one of her random departures from being fussy, decided she wanted to tuck into my sashimi bowl and eat all my salmon (also some of the nicest sashimi I’ve ever come across).

At Leda and the Swan, there are plenty of fine dining flourishes but definitely no skimping on the portion size and my octopus was delicious.

During the day, there’s a huge breakfast buffet here including omelettes and generous stacks of pancakes which defeated both Minnie and me, as well as lunchtime options at the beach bars – we tended either to eat something light on our terrace or be out exploring though.

The staff

It’s the people as much as the facilities which make the experience and from Georgia in the restaurant who showed Minnie how to fold the napkins to make several different shapes to the friendly kids club staff who gave her the half-completed colouring book to take home, nothing ever seemed too much trouble.

I can understand how the family checking out as we did, were already on first name terms with the person in charge of booking (and why they had already booked in for a new stay before finishing the last one).

From a practical point of view, the hotel will also arrange transfers from the airport, car hire from the hotel (as the nearest car hire is in Skiathos Town or the airport itself) and offer suggestions for activities – we were given tips on the best day boat trip to take, a timetable for the water taxi from the beach to Skiathos Town.

If you’re planning to hire a car to explore Skiathos with kids, one of my favourite sites is Zest Car Rental

The location

It depends what you’re looking for, of course, but Skiathos can get very busy in peak season. Down in the south-west tip by Koukounaries, and with the hotel in its slightly secluded position on top of a hill, it’s easy to find a peaceful space to relax (though inevitably the summer is going to be busier than our visit).

But you’re still in a good position to explore: it’s a short walk down to the town if you want to visit a taverna or pop to the supermarket (a hot walk, so best to go earlier or later though) and from the end of May, you can also catch the water taxi round from Koukounaries Beach to Skiathos Town.

The island bus, which heads along the main road to Skiathos Town, leaves from very near the hotel too.

Elivi Skiathos with kids – the not so good

Some style over substance

I do love a bit of luxury, and it’s often the little touches which set a hotel apart. And when it comes to style, Elivi Skiathos has it in spades – quirky sculptures in the lobby, the hotel’s black swan icon appearing in artworks, chic decor and furnishings, not to mention endless attractive little corners where I was tempted to sit and read a book or soak in the views.

The majority of the time the stylish design is wonderful. But occasionally it isn’t. The huge sloping marble slab of a sink looks fabulous, but there’s very little room on the side to put toiletries (there is a low shelf underneath) and no plug as it drains cleverly through the back.

High towel hooks hinted that everything had been planned by a six-foot tall interior designer too.

And while the touchpads to control the lights and heat also looked impressively high tech (and not toooo fiddly), there’s no reading lamp by the bed in the second room, for example. 

Does it spoil your holiday? Not at all – perhaps it’s simply because everything else is so stylish that it draws your attention to the occasional little niggles.

Elivi Skiathos hotel review – my verdict

Greek islands specialise in family holidays: from villas to all-inclusive resorts, you’re not short of lovely places to stay. But I’ve never stayed anywhere quite like Elivi Skiathos.

Yes, it’s a pricier option and it was a shame not to see everything up and running – I’d have fancied wandering down to the Nest restaurant for breakfast as well as checking it out for dinner (not to mention a few hours relaxing in the sun while Minnie was at kids’ club).

But it’s one of the most luxurious and relaxing holidays I’ve had. From the wonderful room to the delicious food, the amazing loungers (seriously, check out the size of the cushions) and the choice of beaches and pool, as well as the smiling service which helped everything run smoothly, this stylish hotel is somewhere rather special.

Book a stay at Elivi Skiathos with kids on Booking.com

PIN FOR LATER: ELIVI SKIATHOS WITH KIDS – REVIEW

Disclosure: My stay and our meal at Leda and the Swan was courtesy of Elivi Skiathos for the purposes of review – we paid for our flights, boat trip and all other meals. All opinions about staying at Elivi Skiathos with kids are my own (and in the case of holidays requiring a beach or pool, my daughter’s). Contains affiliate links: any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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