Hotel Galaxy Reviews

We stayed at the Galaxy Hotel on the recommendations from others on this website and I thought I would fill in the gaps that I would have liked to have known about before we came. The Hotel is ok, the rooms are quite small but clean, as usual the room allocation is a lottery some rooms on the top floor facing the town are lovely, others at the back are gloomy and overlooked. When we arrived we were allocated a ground floor room with a pool view, we felt really overlooked as anyone around the pool could see right into our room. I asked for a change but was told there were no other rooms available. We had been up since two in the morning and after unpacking fancied a siesta (it was siesta time) The Eagles, Hotel California was blasting out from the bar and we couldn't sleep. I like the Eagles but when the CD started over again I had had enough and said I was not prepared to stay in that room. The receptionist could see I was far from happy and magically found another room at the top of the hotel away from the noisy pool area, it was quiet and had a view across Samos and all was well. So once you have got yourself a nice room you have to steel yourself before entering the bathroom. We saw 2 of the bathrooms for ourselves and they were the first thing mentioned by other guests that we met. Firstly they are very small, they are also very dark (which may be a blessing as you can not see the mould encrusted tiles until your eyes have acclimatised) they have no window and the extractor fan did not work (in either room that we saw) The ceiling is dark wood and the tiles are orange!!! It is probably the worst bathroom we have seen in over 20 years of visiting Greece although I am sure that are worse out there somewhere.

Ok, so once you have a nice room and have come to terms with the bathroom, what about the rest of the hotel, the town and other resorts. Well, generally the hotel is good, it has a very nice pool, good quality loungers, tables and chairs and nice gardens. The receptionists are friendly and helpful. Breakfast is buffet style and consists of bread, jams, honey yoghurt, cereal, cheese, meats, eggs (hard boiled) tea coffee and juice (more like squash) You can eat this inside, around the pool or in the gardens and can have as much as you want

It is a five minute stroll down the hill into the town where there are plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. Samos Town looks good from a distance but it is not really a tourist resort or as picturesque as some other resorts in the island. On the other hand it is very Greek, so if you ant to experience the culture it is a good base. The thing which spoilt Samos Town for us is the very busy dual carriageway separating the sea front from the shops and bars, there is nowhere in the main bay to sit right by the sea and have a drink or a meal, you have to take in the view looking across the busy main road. Having said that if you go east past the port and round the corner there are some bars and restaurants where you can sit by the sea, the sunsets are particularly spectacular from here.

We didn't get all around the island in a week but if we went again we would definitely stay in Kokkari, although if you want a beach holiday and have young children the sea may be a bit wild on the north coast. Pythagorian seemed a nice place although the beaches were small and packed and that was at the beginning of June. Samos was quite breezy while we were there, I am not sure if that is typical but we got the impression that it can be a tad breezy a fair bit of the time.

Despite the dire warnings at the welcome meeting we hired a scooter for the week, we hired a 250cc scooter and it cost £10 per day, 50cc scooters were about £7 per day. The main roads on Samos are very good and it is easy to get around, there are some nice walks too, get a map and head off into the mountains, there are some lovely views.

We did have one dodgy meal in Samos Town but the food was generally good and prices quite cheap. As a guide a meal for 2 with a starter and main course and beer or wine was about £14.00. We liked Steps - east end of town and up the hill a bit - nice views over Samos from here. Avli - off the High Street west of the main square, and The Garden - in the middle. Don't forget to go the bar with the yellow seats to watch the sunset - see above.

We went with Kosmar, in January we booked to go to Pythagorian but at the last minute (May) they changed our holiday, no apology just a letter addressed Dear Client saying that our accommodation had changed. The new accommodation was £80 each cheaper than we paid when they made the change but they refused to charge us less saying it was the same price when we booked originally. When we said we would cancel they said we would forfeit £200 being our deposit. Be very aware when booking with Kosmar, fine if things go to plan, but they really do not want to know if there is a problem and they do not respond to your letters either.

Hope this helps your holiday planning for Samos.

samos ought to be called the isle of steps but we still had a lovely 2 weeks holiday with fanstatic veiws and beautiful scenery we had very good meals at the avli resturant just passed the town square we stayed at the galaxy hotel loue and his two sons where great company running hotel bar and amy the receptionist was lovely and made every one welcome whatever the nationality

the weather was red hot the whole 2 weeks the only sandy beach is at psli-almos very clean and the sea is shallow for a long way out looking straight across at turkey one and a half hour across by boat the rooms at the hotel are basic but spacious breakfast a good selection for bb janice kosmar rep was great good fun and very helpful if you needed it hope this helps if if travelling to samos for hols enjoy

Visited late May, lovely Island. Hotel was great, basic clean rooms, lovely view at front. bathrooms small and dark, but clean. Maid service daily. Continental breakfast, can eat by pool. Best pool we've had in Greece! Clean, expensive pool furniture, beautiful peaceful garden setting. Excellent bar staffed by the charming Louis and Marianne...a real pleasure.

Hotel is two minutes from town up some steep steps....perfect setting. Town is cheap, all tavernas great. Turkey worth a trip. There's a park below the town hall..end of the shopping street that runs parellel to the front.Cafe in park..as you enter park in lefthand corner are stray cats and kittens, also top of park left to cafe are 2 cats that live on foof of a small building...please feed!!! All strays seen in Samos Town (not too many) look quite well fed, best I've seen in Greece. Park ones seem not to be fed by locals. Visit Vathi the old village above Samos Town. Very steep walk but worth it. Shops with red chinese lanterns outside are cheap for clothes.