Robbos World

Welcome to my latest Corfu adventure with my wife, Joanne! 🇬🇷☀️🍷

There are holidays where everything goes exactly to plan… and then there are holidays where you take a bit of a gamble, book a hotel with a few mixed reviews, cross your fingers and think, “Well, it looked alright in the photos and info on the website!”

A gamble that paid off, thank god we arrived in Corfu on an early flight Sunday, which I absolutely love, none of this mid afternoon or evening flights arriving at silly times to the hotel.

Yes its get up early, get on the plane for 3.5 hours, before you know it, you’re somewhere warm with a cold local beer in your hand, and your on your holidays.

As we arrived at the family-owned hotel, the Amalia Hotel Dassia, by mid-afternoon, our room was ready giving us plenty of time to settle in, unpack and start enjoying the holiday.

My mission was to locate the pool bar and try the beer 🍺. Priorities! 😂

The Amalia is generally classified as a 3-star hotel, and if I’m being completely honest, choosing it was a bit of a long shot, we booked it late like alot of people we spoke to in the pool, and although it ticked most of our boxes, the reviews were certainly mixed.

Some people complained about the food.

Others complained about the size of the rooms and storage.

And some reviews seemed to suggest that there was absolutely nothing nearby, So, naturally, I thought: “Let’s find out for myself.”

First impressions of our room

Our first thought when we opened the door was…

“That’s cosy, and very clean!”

Hotel Room

The room isn’t huge, but it is modern, clean and perfectly functional for a 7 day holiday, we have a really good-sized balcony overlooking the pool and bar, the room has a fridge, kettle, tea and coffee facilities, a hairdryer and a huge mirror for those ladies who require it, unlike some 4 star hotels where Joanne’s complained about lack of space to dry hair or put on make up without a good mirror, in the right place.

Meanwhile, on our first night I sat on the balcony with a glass of wine, cheap €6 bottle from the supermarket across the road, and it was ok, thank god for thr fridge though…

Everyone was happy. 🍷😂

The wardrobe space is actually miminal, although our room came with the grand total of six coat hangers, and you wouldn’t get much more in there, so if you’re bringing your entire summer wardrobe, perhaps pack a few extra hangers!

The shower is definitely on the cosy side, especially when you’re attempting to wash off sunscreen, sand and the day’s activities without accidentally headbutting the wall, and you can’t bend down in it either.

But overall the room is, clean, modern, comfortable and with a good sized balcony.

The Location & Area

On our first day I overheard a British holidaymaker complaining that she’d been sold the hotel with the promise of bars and restaurants nearby — apparently she’d been told there was nothing around.

So, being the travel professional that I am, I decided to investigate.

And guess what?

Walk out of the hotel and within minutes you’ll find La Casa Restaurant with beautiful food as above, with my favourite wine bar Delvino Wines & Spirits, a fantastic wine bar, along with a very busy family restaurant just a few steps away.

Walk for another six minutes towards the area opposite the luxurious Ikos Dassia and you’ll find at least another six bars and restaurants.

Carry on walking and, within roughly 20 minutes, you’ve got around a dozen places to eat and drink.

And if you’re feeling particularly energetic like I did in 37c heat, Ipsos is only a 30 minute walk or  around 1.4 miles away from the hotel, or €2 on the number 7 bus, Ipsos is full of bars, restaurants and nightlife with day time beach clubs to rent your sunbeds and drink service right on the beach from only €20 pp which includes a free drink of choice 😉

So yes…

There are definitely places to eat and drink!

Perhaps the lesson here is:

Don’t always believe the keyboard warriors. 😂

And then there’s the food…

Hotel Dining

Another big complaint in some reviews was the food.

Well, I’m pleased to report that we’re enjoying it, it’s tasty, fresh and changes from day to day, real homemade dining, not massive choices but we do like to eat out a few times anyway, even on all inclusive.

You’ll typically find fresh chips, a meat dish, Greek dishes, fish, vegetarian options, vegetables and rice — sometimes couscous — along with fresh bread and lovely salads, complimented with a small dessert selection and the ice cream freezer! 🍦

The restaurant it’s self is quite basic, but it’s clean, hygienic and incredibly well run, not like eating in a huge foodhall or canteen, the staff are fantastic, In fact, the moment you put your knife and fork down, someone seems to appear and clear your plate.

With around 40 tables, it’s also a lovely size.

Hotel Overview

And that’s one of the things we’ve really enjoyed about the Amalia Hotel, Dassia, is it’s friendly holiday hotel, everyones talks to each other, and you see the same faces around the pool, at breakfast and at dinner, so much more personal than some of the enormous resorts we’ve stayed in.

The Bar

The draught beer is to be fair, very drinkable, cold and Creatan Beer brewed in Crete by large brewery 3.5 vol, so no rowdy larger bouts around our pool, no matter how many you drink, the there’s the draught wine white or red, both poured warm, certainly needs ice, now, I’m a real wine lover, so I’m going to be honest…It’s not exactly Napa Valley!

The wine is little warm and certainly isn’t the highlight of the drinks menu, the cocktails are available too, although the quality seems to depend slightly on who’s behind the bar, the standard spirits aren’t really my choice, but you can pay around €9 for premium spirits such as Jack Daniel’s.

The post-mix drinks haven’t always been brilliant during our stay, although today they’ve been using bottled Coca-Cola instead — and us northerners certainly appreciate that, but the Rola Cola is a no.

Pool life 🏊‍♂️☀️

The pool is a really good size for the hotel, you can generally get a sunbed before around 9:30am, although there’s no need to panic if you’re not up at dawn clutching your towel, as people come and go throughout the day, so sunbeds become available regularly.

The pool bar is a great little spot too, there’s toasties and burgers available at set times when the restaurants closed with local beer, cocktails and plenty of drinks flowing throughout the day.

And, of course, there’s something particularly satisfying about sitting by the pool in Corfu with a cold drink knowing you’re supposed to be doing absolutely nothing.

So… would I recommend it?

Absolutely, we normally stay in 4-star luxury hotels, so I wasn’t sure how we’d feel about dropping down to a 3-star family hotel.

But you know what, It really did feel like home with friends, such a lovely mic of ages and people, certainly not luxury, not 100% perfect, but you know what your getting, a lovely family owned hotel with great service, great location – but a friendly, clean, welcoming and full of lovely people.

There are things I’d change, the wine could be colder, the drinks could improve, but somethings are what they are, you can’t go extending room sizes, building bigger wardrobes and bigger showers, but the air conditioning is the best, you couldn’t enjoy your holiday without it.

Remember not all holidays need to be posh marble lobbies, infinity pools and gold-plated everything, maybe cold wine though…

Sometimes they’re about good people, great hospitality, sunshine, a cold beer, finding those local bars you love for a good glass of local wine, a decent meal and somewhere that makes you feel comfortable.

And that’s exactly what we’re getting here, so if you’re looking at the Amalia Hotel Dassia and you’ve been put off by some of the negative reviews…give it a chance.

⭐ Robbo’s Honest Rating: 5/5

Wine: 🍷
Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rooms: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Setting: ⭐⭐⭐
Experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read the reviews, absolutely — but remember that everyone experiences a hotel differently.

What one person calls a “small room”, another calls cosy.

What one person calls “limited food”, another calls fresh, simple and tasty.

And what one person calls “nothing nearby” might simply mean they didn’t walk far enough! 😂

As for me?

I loved my holiday at the Amalia Hotel, Dassia, my hardworking wife really needed this so much, and joanne loved her no thrills holiday, we’ve met some lovely people, we’ve eaten well, we’ve had plenty of sunshine.

And I’ve found Delvino Wines Bar closed by, more to come on Greek wines.

So, in my book…that’s a pretty successful holiday. 🇬🇷❤️

Would I book it again?…

And if you’d like me to tell you honestly what I think about Dassia, Corfu, the Amalia Hotel or any other destination — rather than relying solely on the keyboard warriors — come and have a chat with me at Best Destinations Great Harwood.

After all…

Don’t be led by price. Be led by knowledge & experience from people that under travel a d value for money over bells & whistles.

Drop me an email: 📧 ian@bestdestinations.co.uk

Ian Robinson
Best Destinations Great Harwood

From my personal travels, experiences and opinions in Corfu — August 2026.