Booking our Villa holiday - Richmond Villa, Kefalonia
So as a little introduction. we are a family of 5 with 3 children aged 9, 4 & 2, we also take Nanny away with us on the holiday so in all we are a travelling party of 6.
Pre-pandemic (with only 1 child) we would always opt for an all inclusive break generally for a week or 10 days where we had all facilities onsite to occupy our Son with the ease of not having to do anything. But post pandemic with 2 more little ones in tow and Nanny on hand to help us along the way, when I searched for all inclusive options I was shocked by the prices I was being quoted. With children who on holidays tend to eat nothing more than plain pasta with a side of ice cream, it made me think that the all inclusive premium is wasted on them and led me to look at other options.
So, when a family member relocated for a new life in Greece earlier this year and purchased a holiday Villa in Kefalonia we jumped at the opportunity to go check it out as we had heard the island was stunning!
Flights
When looking at the flight cost I realised it was the same price to book flights giving us 2 weeks on the island rather than 1 so it was a no brainer, 2 weeks it was! We flew from London Gatwick to Kefalonia on a morning flight which meant when we arrived we could enjoy an afternoon of sun and the kids were straight in the private pool!
Getting around
As we were self catering I wanted the freedom of having our own transport and after searching I came across the most helpful company who assisted us in booking a hire car. Reservation done and no payment until arrival meant that spreading the cost of the holiday was so much easier! I can highly recommend https://simotascarrental.com and on arrival after lugging car seats all the way over I realised we could have had car seats added to our booking supplied by them at no extra charge!
Flights were booked with EasyJet, which I paid on booking but they may well have options to pay in instalments. For the accommodation I paid a 50% deposit and balance 6 weeks before arrival. (And since then Sally & Kevin have now set up options for you to be able to pay on credit card and in monthly instalments)
On arrival
We pulled up to Richmond Villa and immediately there were a few things that I noticed, one being the lockable front gate to the property which meant once inside I knew the children were completely safe. Also the pool.. being above ground meant my youngest could not just chuck herself in (as she would) there are fixed steps to navigate to a platform which leads onto the pool, it is perfect as the pool isn’t surrounded with slippery slides for the children to run around and undoubtedly hurt themselves!
Inside the villa
The bedrooms
The bedrooms are furnished with modern furnishings – In the master is a king sized bed in the master with a travel cot for our youngest. In the second bedroom are 2 single beds and a fold out bed was supplied which meant we had 3 beds for the other 2 children & Nanny.
Both bedrooms have large fitted wardrobes, and lots of hanging space with loads of hangers. I immediately unpacked all our clothes and then stored out suitcases out of the way under the staircase so they were out of the way completely.
A warm welcome
The owners have thought of EVERYTHING, tea, coffee, sugar & milk ready for us on arrival and they had also supplied some bread, butter, squash & pasta for the children. I think each welcome basket varies but it meant we didn’t have to rush straight out to a shop. We decided to enjoy the pool for the afternoon and then got ready and go to the local town of Poros for dinner and to collect a few essentials.
I will write about what we got up to during our holidays but will cut this blog short finishing with a summary of what we loved about Richmond Villa..
- The space, the Villa is spacious with ample room for the 6 of us staying.
- I LOVED the top floor balcony and sitting on there enjoying the views with a cup of tea in the morning before anyone woke and glass of wine in the evening after the bed time battle.
- The pool was so refreshing! Every time we got in it was the perfect temperature to cool us down and the children loved their before bed swims.
- The little extras.. Games we came across in the coffee table were perfect for the days we needed some chill out time. There was a DVD player and a selection of DVD’s the children enjoyed when it was the height of heat in the day and we could log into our Netflix account on the TV. Shampoo, soaps and all towels were provided so we could pack light and we barely used anything we packed because we made use of the washing machine (so I won’t have a big pile of washing to do when I’m home!)
- The children loved the air hockey table perfectly placed on the ground floor terrace in the shade.
- The peace and quiet.. I have never known a place like it, it has been so relaxing, the villas location is perfect and we have seen so much of the island using the car.
- The jukebox, we were concerned that the children would miss the evening entertainment but they have been the entertainment enjoying evening discos at the villa!
If we are honest, we had huge reservations about a self catering holiday but we had nothing to worry about! The space of a villa and the facilities probably suit our large family better than living out of a couple of hotel rooms for 2 weeks!
Richmond Villa has felt like a home from home which we will all be very sad to leave! Luckily I took lots of photos so we can remember this special break we have had!
The Marsh Family
