Thetis Studios And Apartments Reviews

We stayed at Thetis for a week in mid September 2008, booked through Thomsons. The transfer from Kavala was well organised and quick. The apartments are less than 10 mins walk inland from the new harbour which is the western end of the town. Our studio was basic as expected but clean. Our balcony overlooked the pool with views of the hills to the east beyond. There was some traffic noise from scooters and lorries as the apartments are set back only 50m from a dual carriageway which connects to the port, but we were out most of the day and it was quiet at night.

We can highly recommend the Thetis apertments. They were immaculately clean and reasonably well equipped. A small fridge, hob, a kettle (not that common in Greece we've found!) and enough plates and cutlery for 2 people to cobble together a breakfast.

There is a nice pool area which was well used by some of our fellow guests and a small pool bar providing the usual snacks and drinks.

The rooms are well furnished with very comnfortable beds, decent sized wardrobe, dressing table and a TV. We had a balcony overlooking the pool and spent many a happy afternoon playing Scrabble just looking out at the view over the mountains - bliss!

Special mention to our fantastic Thomson rep Emma. It was her first season but she was wonderful. Nothing was too much trouble and she went out of her way to find the answers to your questions.

Thassos Town is a typical Greek village/town with a reasonable amount of tavernas and shops. On the main high street was a local potter's shop (Costis) who is 3rd generation potter native to Thassos - his workshop is just out of town. He had some lovely pieces, however some where a tad too large to fit in hand luggage!!

There are a number of tavernas in town which is about 15 minutes walk from the Thetis, enough to build up an appetite! We ate at a number of them - we were disappointed with Patriko's in the old harbour area - food was cold but it seemed to be a pretty popular place so we could have caught the chef on a bad day.

The Doukas and Thassian Tavernas were excellent - they are next to each other near the Dolphin on the main promenade. It was amusing to watch them competing for customers each evening! Of the two though the Doukas was our favourite - we went back a number of times, we almost knew the menu better than the staff by the end of our holiday!

One word of warning though - if you book the Mountains and Meze trip with Thomson it is not a 'gentle walk up a gradual incline' as advertised. It was more a trek up a precipitous path!!

All in all we had a fantastic 2 weeks and would recommend both the Thetis and Thassos if you are looking for a relaxing Greek holiday.

What a fantastic two weeks we have had. Decent weather (except a first night thunderstorm)not stupidly hot but good enough for a deep tan, lovely people, excellent food and not one drunk Brit. spotted for the whole fortnight.

The outbound flight was on time and the transfer to the ferry simple, provided that you followed your nose, and the herd. A shower of bread (quick tip here, do not sit on the lower deck, downwind. The kids upstairs throw bread to the seagulls and they do not have the greatest aim) Or maybe they do...Transfer at the other end for the 200 yard coach trip to our accomodation. This was discovered after we had clambered through to the back of the coach but at least we made an impression on our fellow guests.

Arrived at our digs and and we were met by our host who ushered us in the general direction of our room. Typical Greek box with a balcony, we got what we paid for basically. What I have trouble understanding is how, some 38 years after man walked on the moon, our Greek friends cannot put in decent enough plumbing to accept some loo paper. Still it was amusing to find an alternative use for a Threshers bag!

We ended up spending many of our days around the pool here at the Thetis and I have no complaints. The food was great, lunchtime snacks knocked up with no complaints and a smile at any time and when tensions rose slightly because of some sunbed ";blocking"; they simply put out more sunbeds. The real super-nova of the Thetis is the lady who cleans the place. I have never seen a human being work as hard as she does, each room six days a week and the outside area daily. A quick word about the Thompson rep as well. Normally I rate reps in the same category as estate agents, politicians and journalists but this chap was honest, approachable and friendly, without any angles, at least any I could see. Andrew, take a bow.

The rooms are a good schlep from the town and by the tenth day my quizzes and songs were getting repetitive as we tromped along but in a way there were advantages to being this far out. Very quiet, beautiful scenery and the walk sharpens the appetite.

Big shout for our favourite pub here. The Petrino. The beers and the Malamatina (retsina) were cheap and cold and the pub was ideal for some people watching.

Directly in front of you is the pedestrianised bit. A run of shops selling identical bits of tat and jars of honey, interspersed with bars and the odd taverna, some more odd than others and a few street vendors, hair braiders and the like. This street was very busy by nine o'clock and you need to keep moving! Day time is the best bet for souvenir shopping and for the kids amongst the group a quick go on the swings. On the subject of kids there is a dodgem place at the end of the pedestrianised street, down by the old harbour, and that is fun for ten minutes.

Going around the harbour from here, toward the town beach, is a pile of restaurants, all of which look similar and we only tried one. The food was bland and the service worse but it may have been a bad night so no point in giving the place a bad name. Not worth the walk because if you turn right out of Petrino and walk into the main square you will happen across a restaurant called Takis. And this was the walk that made our holiday. The food was heroic, Takis himself took the time to show me what was fresh and to explain how he would cook it, the service from young Elvis and his two partners in crime was always excellent and I cannot praise this place enough. Wonderful in every way, including the price. We went back time and again.

We managed a few trips: Makryannos private beach was a 5 euro cab ride away and the sea here was shallow and warm but the whole complex had a false feel to it. It gave the impression that it could have been anywhere in the Med. and that was not what we were after. Seven euros for the umbrella and bed and five and a half euros for a couple of coffees made for a fairly pricey day. We took the bus to Golden Beach, so called because of the colour of the ";wasp carpet"; that covers the beach front and promptly got the next bus back. I have never seen so many wasps, possibly some wasp convention in town, so once again not really our cup of Mythos.

Best trip was the boat trip around the island on the Eros II. 28 euros, booked next door to the Cheers bar, not too many on the boat and a good lunch provided by the captain. We were the target of wasps whenever we dropped anchor on the east side of the island but some of the scenery was breathtaking and the opportunity to dive off the top of the boat into the crystal clear cool water will never be forgotten.

We will not return purely because of the wasps but if you are immune to them then Thassos is a great choice for a relaxing holiday and the Thetis a fine base.

This was our third holiday in Thassos, but the first time staying at Thetis Studios and apartments.

The apartments are on the outskirts of the town approx a 20min steady walk all on the flat. Our rooms were really nice and were cleaned and bed sheets and towels changed every 3rd day, the bins were emptied daily. We had a balcony which was quite large (enough for 4 adults to sit). The owners were friendly and helpful and you could get food and drinks throughout the day and evening .

The pool is very clean and quite large, there are plenty of sunbeds, parasols and tables around the pool and also a grassed area which has several olive trees which give you shade whilst you sip a cool beer!!!!!

Although you have to walk 15/20mins to get to the beaches and town it is all on the flat and well worth the effort in the blistering heat ( we had a heatwave reached 45 cent. most days)

I would also recommend that you try using the local buses to get around the island, they are cheap and usually run on time. Bus stops are near to the accomodation, however you have to purchase tickets from the bus station in town.

There are numerous tavernas, however every body has different tastes and I think its part of the holiday to visit and make up your own mind.

We will hopefully return in June 2008 and stay at the Thetis again.

We have just returned from Thassos after some poor weather I guess we were unlucky. We had one of the downstairs Studios which was very dark and cold although this would be an asset in high season, they were very clean but very poorly equipped. Most people we spoke to agreed with this it seems that the owners rely on their guests providing basic utensils, our contribution was a washing up bowl so that we could wash a few clothes while we were there.

The Island itself was very beautiful and we had some great walks. One criticism however is of some of the beaches which although are lovely sand they have been spoiled by Hotel complexes right on the edge of the beach, not my idea of an unspoilt Island.

Restaurants were on the whole pretty good we did not have a bad meal in the whole fortnight.

The trip over on the ferry is sooooooooo relaxing , you can see the island from the ferry port and it just keeps getting tantalisingly closer.Kosmar made a good job of making it all run smoothly.The apartments are very clean , my only critisism is they do not cater for teenagers at all . The owners boys stay in the shade all day playing board games and take it in turns to run the pool bar with their parents.They are all very pleasant people but the atmosphere is quite sombre.The pool bar was dead every night and we felt quite uncomfortable sitting there , so much so that we went back to our room after our meal .

Through the day you can hear a pin drop it is very very peacefull as is the whole island , too quiet for teenagers.There is absolutely no jumping into the small pool and to prevent this there is a chain the whole way around it , apart from the ladders to climb in and out.The other guests we spoke to loved Thassos but all felt the same about the apartments , they were great but could be even better if run by different owners .

Many people were planning to come back to Thassos next year but would not go back to these apartments for all the above reasons.Thassos Town is small but packed full of shops and tavernas on the main street , with lots of tantalising little alleyways shooting off for you to explore.Many ";tacky"; souvenir shops have sprung up , but in and among there are some more appealing places to shop . We ate at a different place every night and never once had a bad meal (and i am soooo fussy).Would we go back to Thassos...yes certainly (but without the kids), would we stay at the Thetis...no definately not their were friendlier places we visited.All in all it was a very relaxing holiday , and if you hire a bike or car the island is beautifull . We have visited many islands over the years and this was one of our favourites , it was clean , relatively untouched by tackiness and very very pretty.