Come with us to the Louros Beach Hotel and Spa in Kalamaki on the island of Zakynthos

In 2021, during a brief lull in the pandemic lockdown, G and I managed to book a weeks’ holiday on the beautiful island of Zakinthos, staying at the Louros Beach Hotel situated about a third of the way down the beach road in the family friendly resort of Kalamaki. As anyone who knows us will know, we just love Zante - it is somewhere we have been coming for many years but this was our first time at the Louros.

The Louros has a nice beach bar serving food and drinks all day, a spacious seating area, a nice pool, a jacuzzi, a separate spa with a whole host of treatments on offer (payable locally), clean spacious rooms hosted in low level buildings and has lovely gardens. You do have to pay the extras here for the air conditioning and safe, although these days there is also the dreaded city tax which is payable on arrival.

Breakfast is included here, being served until 9.30am each morning. There are plenty of yoghurts, fruits, breads, pastries and cold meat items to choose from together with the addition of some hot food like eggs, bacon and beans. There are also cereals, juice and a tea/coffee machine. The addition of breakfast really does make the hotel a value for money experience, however I would definitely consider this to be one of the nicer hotels in the resort.

We visited again in October 2022, staying for 5 nights, and G visited with a friend for a 4 week stay in the summer of 2023 on the ultimate girls trip! We also visited Kalamaki again in October 2023 and October 2024, although this time we stayed in different accommodation (only because the hotel was closing mid October and G was staying until November). We still popped into the Louros to have a cocktail and a catch up with the ladies. Our next trip to the. Louros is booked for July 2025 and this time we are staying for 9 days.

So what is it that makes the hotel such a nice place to stay? I would say that the first thing is definitely its location - it is literally a 5 minute walk to the beach and a 3 minute walk in the other direction to the beginning of the strip. There is a taxi rank outside of the hotel should you wish to travel to one of the other resorts or maybe into Zante Town, but the reception staff are happy to call one for you should there be none outside.

The second thing of note are the staff - they are so friendly and accommodating and just make your stay so relaxing. This is a calm hotel, yes there is music playing in the bar but it is not thumping. It is adults only too which is a bonus. The ladies who work in the bar and in the reception area are always around to assist, they can advise on where to visit on the island, they can store your bags for you if your transfer is a little later in the day, they have a weighing scale in reception (1euro) should you need it and they have a book shelf that you can borrow from.

On one trip the fridge in our room was not working and as a diabetic I needed to keep my insulin cool. The ladies arranged for me to store it in their kitchen fridge whilst maintenance were called to deal with the problem. On my next visit I was asked if my medication needed to be stored as the fridge in the room had only just been turned on! Talk about great service!

I must also mention that when G and her friend stayed for a month, they gave her the large corner room which gave them more floor space and an extra bed. You can imagine how much luggage they had between them and we were really grateful that they were able to give them the larger room.

Although there are plenty of beds around the pool area, you are just a few minutes from the beach so if you do decide to have a lie in one morning and maybe miss breakfast (and the sun beds around the pool will be taken in peak season by around 10am), then head down to the beach which is just 5 minutes away. There is a beach taverna run by our good friend Takis where you can get breakfast, lunch and an early dinner with snacks and drinks. There are beds on the beach which will cost around 20euros for 2 beds and am umbrella, with those on the grassed area costing around 12euros.

As mentioned previously there is a taxi rank outside of the hotel and if you walk up to the strip you can pick up a bus at Belizes Bus Stop during summer season. This is also a common stop for picking up your tour bus. There are also several places at this end of the strip to hire cars and quad bikes and there are a couple of larger supermarkets.

This really is a lovely place to stay - you can book independently through the hotel or like us, book through Tui. There are definitely cheaper places to stay in Kalamaki, but for space, location, service and of course the breakfast this is really good value. We have stayed cheaper but ended up spending more money hiring a car and doing a big shop in Lidl in Zante Town (or paying for a taxi each way).

One thing is for sure, wherever you do decide to stay in Kalamaki you can still pop into the Louros for a cocktail as the bar is open to non residents.

See you soon

Tracey and Georgia xx

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