How I found Arillas!

[dimitris]

Well, I did not find Arillas It seems that Arillas found me!!
I was born in Arillas
I sometines ask my guests in the Taverna how did they find our little Arillas.
Was it recommended? By a last minute deal? etc.
It will be interesting  for me and for other people to know your story don't you think so?
Kalispera every one!

Dimitris

[Paul C]

We went to a travel agent with some dates in mind asked them to find us a holiday in Corfu.We had been to Paleo before, they found us a vacancy in the Rainbow and have never looked back. third year in Arillas.Not as many visits as most ,but we love it.
Paul

[gaye]

Always had a great affection for corfu having spent 4 holidays in Paleocastritsa After a break of some years and as a married couple, we had a holiday in Kassiopi and rediscovered the magic of this beautiful island. Our girls really enjoyed the holiday so we decided to book for the following year, anywhere on the island. This time we would be bringing a much loved friend of the girls........Maria.
At the Travel Agent, we were offered San Stefanos and as we had not been so far north on the western coast we took it.
We loved it and Maria did also, it being her first time abroad.
We arrived home on 21st August and Maria died 10 days later...sudden adolescent death. We were devastated. She was 13 years old.
Next Summer we felt that we needed a break so returned to the same travel agent asking what they had anywhere.
We were offered vavillas apartments in Arillas. O.K. we thought, maybe this would be theraputic. We had never heard of Arillas and had no idea how close it was to San Stef!
We arrived at 2 a.m. wondering whether we had done the right thing and when we hired a car and realised just how close we were to all of our precious memories it just felt so right. Almost fate!
Sorry to have gone on a little but just typing this has helped.
We have revisited Arillas 4 times since and just feel so at peace there. x

[blondegirl]

That was really nice to read Gaye.

We were what you might call regular visitors to Crete with our girls and decided we needed a change.  We didnt really fancy Corfu as we thought it was wetter than most Greek Islands, full of mozzies etc.  But we thought we would try and look for somewhere and ended up in Agios Gordios, had a beach bungalow and had a wonderful relaxing holiday, much more so than in Crete,  I think it was because we always hired a car and would visit friends there. Even though it did rain when in Ag. Gordios  it didnt put us off.   Anyhow, the following year we couldnt find the same accommodation in Agios Gordios and didnt want to stay anywhere else so looked at another part of the island.  Arillas came up, we didnt know anything about it, we booked for the Galini and it came at a time in our life where we were having some sad family problems too.  It was a bit of a recuperation and healing process for us and I think that is why it is a special place for us in that way.  These are our own personal memories we are making now, this is our time and we will always have special memories of other holidays but Arillas is for us very special. We took my best friend with us last year, she has been a real true friend and I wanted to share Arillas with her, I will shut up now or I will end up in tears too!

What have you started Dimitris?  You could write a book about the reasons why we all started visiting Arillas.

[RUSSELL]

We found Arillas through Thomas Cooks when I was looking for somewhere to go for our 25th wedding anniversary ,but like blondegirl we had a sad family problem before we could go
It was a healing and recuperation process for us also, thats why we love to go back.

[PaulnMaria]

To be honest, we never really fancied Corfu although we loved Greece and had tried numerous islands ..naxos, santorini, lefkadas, zakynthos to name just a few. We just pictured Kavos and Sidari and thought Corfu? oh no!!
Then, we were in the local travel agent looking for our next Greek holiday to suit Paul's fixed dates from work. The agent asked us where we had been in the past that we really liked. Naxos we said. At the time still quite traditional and off the main tourist track. The only flights that matched our dates were to Kos and Corfu. The travel agent said I have the ideal place for you...Arillas!  She was sooooo right. It is such a wonderful place, friendly, traditional and very relaxing (even if we do walk for miles during each stay). Prior to visiting Arillas we had never returned to the same holiday destination but we are now looking forward to our sixth visit and planning our seventh for later this year. We certainly have caught the Arillas bug!   

[Sandy x]

I had visited several Greek islands in my youth(!) ,including Corfu, and in 1993 was looking for somewhere to take my children aged 11 and 9 on a limited budget. Looking through the various holiday brochures, Corfu seemed to have the quickest direct flights and I wanted somewhere with a pool as they were not too keen on the beach. But I also wanted somewhere quiet and peaceful. So looking through the various options, I suddenly came across Arillas, described as quiet and off the beaten track....I noticed Manos seemed to do excellent deals for families....so I booked up!

And the rest is history. Simple really.

[justphil]

Our story, like so many others was about an accidental discovery. Friends of ours were searching for the cheapest foreign holiday possible that three couples could do together. None of us had been to Corfu before, though Jen and I had always wanted to. We had been to Rhodes, and adored the Greek culture and lifestyle. Linda came bursting in to our house one day and said "I've found this place called Arillas. It's dead cheap."

We were tarts for bargains so we booked there and then. Linda and I hugged and jumped up and down. The next few weeks we were singing "Oh we're going to Arillas" to the tune of "Oh I'm going to Ibiza" (Purists could tell us the exact song...)

We arrived and stayed at Elena Studios. It was an Olympic package, and the rep was the lovely Lorna. On the first day, I was dressed in matching red shorts and T-Shirt. Trinny and Suzanna would have had a heart attack with that red cloth against my milk-bottle white but very sun-reddened skin. I looked ridiculous but nobody cared. She asked if the holiday was all right, expecting a string of complaints, and I told her I had "died and gone to heaven." I already knew that I had fallen in love again, only this time it was a place and not a woman.

We had a fantastic holiday about which I could write Blondegirl's book. Jen who is supervising this post agrees with every word I am saying.

After this accidental discovery, we came back the next year. Jenny got eaten alive by mosquitos and had to have medical treatment. It kept us away for four years while our "friends" took us to Ibiza and Benidorm. What a mistake that was. We hate Benidorm with a passion. No sun on the streets because the high rise concrete flat blocks keep it out. I got robbed twice, and worse. We both knew where we really wanted to be, and Jen had the courage to say let's try a week in Arillas. That was last summer. Boots Jungle strength etc.

We had fantastic meals with Giannis and Litsa in Thalassa who treated us as if we had never been away. Brother Spiros spent ages talking to us and making us feel part of it all. Anna's Kostas came up to Jen while we sat in their bar and gave her a big hug as soon he saw us. She was overwhelmed to believe he even remembered her. Filipos and Angela Goudelis of the Christos Apartments welcomed us back. It goes on and on. So many more stories will have to go in this book BG - who should write it?

We had only experienced a small part of Arillas by then. We didn't "meet" Dimitris until the forum. We signed up to it just before last October when we came out to Arillas again, and when we met Eggy in the Coconut. It was fate.

If you want to have an accident - find Arillas. Life will never be the same but it will be better.

Phil and Jenny

[Erja]

I was working in Corfu for the summer season 1992 and I first arrived in Arillas when I delivered a hire car to client. Then I had to just sit on the beach and wait for someone to come and pick me up to go back to Corfu town. I remember thinking how perfectly nice the beach was and there were no crowds taking up all the space as the case was in some other beaches on the island.

I was dating a guy called Akis and we always came to Arillas on my day off to hang out on the beach for the day. This continued for the summer seasons 1992 and 1993. Then my first time back was last summer and although slightly busier, Arillas is still a haven for me and I just relax as soon as I get there

[TONYNEW]

We Found Arillas after staying in San Stef next door a good few years ago , after visiting several other greek islands we decided to go back to corfu last year and again this year this will be our 5th time so that just shows how much we love the place its the best of all the other islands we have stayed in
                                              Tony

[blondegirl]

I love reading these, please keep it going.

[sharonF]

First went to Corfu in 2005 on a last minute booking, ended up in Sidari!  Hated the resort, but we loved the people and the loveliness of the island so booked for Acharavi the next year.  It was nice but just didnt have that naturalness I was looking for.  Decided we would give Corfu one more chance.  Arillas came up, on special offer.  There were a couple of other resorts to choose from but I had looked up Arillas on the Net and it sounded exactly what I wanted.  Stayed at Leonidas across from the Tria.  That was in the July.  So we came and fell in love with the village and the people, booked whilst there to return that September to the Tria.

The rest is history, there is simply no where else to compare and I dont want to go anywhere else.

So that's how I discoved it Dimitris and i'm so glad I did.

Sharon x

[TerryW]

This is a really good idea for a topic. Here is our story.

This time last year we had our annual dilemma. Do we go to somewhere we know and have a very relaxing holiday or do we take a gamble and try somewhere new. The fear is that you go else where and spend two weeks at a place you don't like and wishing that you had gone to your normal destination.

We had been going to Mounda Bay, near Skala in Kefalonia since 1999, and if you look at this video you will see why http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDl_dye6FwY. Lots of beach with hardly anyone on it and a hotel that is right amongst the sand dunes (http://www.marinabay.gr/ )

The only problem was that you didn't really see anyone to talk to, except at night, ( and I like to talk ) and Skala was becoming too busy and being spoilt by large developments.

Four years ago we made a decision to try somewhere else and went to Tobago and stayed here http://www.castararetreats.com/fishermans.php. What seemed like paradise was a disaster, and we spent all holiday wishing we were in Kefalonia.

So, last February we went to a travel agent, described Skala,  and asked the assistant to find a similar place. The response from the girl helping us was instant. She said a place in Corfu called Arillas. She had been going there since she was a little girl and was planning here wedding there. She also recommended the Horizon.

I was a bit apprehensive because my vision of Corfu was night clubs, noisy bars and over commercialisation, so we went home to do some research. That night, I found this forum, and ended up talking to a lovely Scottish lady called Eileen, who told me lots about Arillas and her Villa and she convinced me that it would be the ideal place for a holiday and the Horizon would be a nice place to stay.

We booked up the next day. 

I never thought that I would find anywhere, that was better than Mounda Bay, but I did, Arillas. I was not sure during the first day, I liked it, but was not convinced.  During the second day I had a feeling that I was in a different world, that was unique to anywhere else I had been. It was like like being in a world full of wonderful friendly people, where the food was second to none, you had no fear of anything, and you could actually feel as if you were part of a community and not just a visitor. Arillasitus had set in.

Arillas is a magical place, and it also has the best holiday, website and forum that I have ever seen.

Arillas is a magical place.

[Ang]

It was 1994, our daughter then 8 was been taken by her gran and grandpa for a 2 week holiday in Florida, so we though whopeeee we can have a week away just the two of us,so off I trotted to the travel agents, we were not to bothered where we ended up but as I had been to Corfu a cpl of times before I met hubby I thought it would be nice to show him.
A holiday came up for Corfu I think it was just over £100 each with destination on arrival,wasnt too keen on that idea but it was a good price and flying from Manchester and returning on the same day our daughter got back from the states so It meant we could meet her at the airport...all worked out perfect.

We arrived late at night and got on the bus that seemed to go round the entire island,when we got to Sidari there was only a few of us left on the bus and the rep then pronounced that the bus was unable to take us to our destination of Arillas but transport had been arranged...
Along came our transport a beaten up van..so with intrepidation we jumped in with our cases  and others being thrown on the back....he drove like a maniac no street lights to see where we were going just pitch blackness..oh my I was thinking
We then entered the village couldnt see much, pulled up outside our appartments (Makris) given the keys and directed to the second floor.

We got in to the appartment which was basic but clean....looked at each other and said Oh poo where the hell are we??? we were tired so decided to just have a few hours sleep get up and scout around..
We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning...couldnt see the sea(had asked for a beach resort)I was now getting a bit cross with myself for booking this holiday..Oh come on said Hubby I need a coffee and a brandy, lets go see.
So off we strole down the road passing a cloths shop, tavern a disused building mmmmm though I ...then we took a right and walked a bit further and WHOPEEE I could see the sea.
We had our coffee and brandy at the Marine Hotel was greeted by George and we just sat there both with little sighs of Ahh this is nice.
What followed was one if not the best weeks holiday we have ever had, Arillas was very quiet but the people who we met up with were fantastic and I think we all had a fab week.

The following year we had to return to show our daughter...and the rest is history or another tale or two to tell another day
Ang

[angiem]

(Great topic, but I'm going to have to stop reading it at work - in tears at every one!!)