me and my boyfriend are just back after a week stay in the Ghikas Appart. and we thought it was a lovely place to stay. the greek lady "suzie" that runs the place was like superwoman. as the other reviewer said, she was up at the dawn feeding the chickens and would be the last to go to bed after giving us food and drinks all night.

we were put in appartment no. 8 first, but it was more like a shed out the back of the building with no balcony, no sunshine, and it wasnt the cleanest. so we were moved to another room the next morning which was lovely, clean and bright. my advice would be say your not staying in no. 8 if they put u there.

the staff were very friendly/ helpful.
the only other thing is the road up to the appart is very dark and quiet @ night time so you wouldnt walk it by yourself!

Gouvia itself is nice enough but the beaches are bad. fortunately you are allowed to use all the diff appartments pools so we had a bit of variety.
i'd recommend the Govino Bay hotel down the road from the Ghikas which has lovely gardens, pools and its next to the bay.

and make sure to go scuba diving if you can, its fantastically cheap and worth it

What can I say....my fiancee and I are just back from spending a splendid week in the Gikas with Susie and her family. We booked it last minute on the Wednesday before the Friday we flew out. It was an absolute pleasure to stay there - we stayed not in the apartments but in a little house (cant find anything else to describe it!!) at the back of the apartments - the downside of this: absolutly nothing; the upside: no noisy neighbours (not that there was any there that week), free air conditioning AND safety deposit box! The apartments are basic but what do you want in an apartment??!! They are kept extremely clean and clean towels are given every second day. As we lazed by the pool each day, we got to learn that Susie is indeed what Oliver, our budget travel rep, described her as -THE HARDEST WORKING WOMAN IN CORFU!! She was the first up every morning to serve breakfast and the last to serve us a drink each night before we went to bed...and this was pretty late some mornings! She will cook you anything you like anytime you like!! The apartment block itself has fabulous views of the highest mountain range in Corfu and Gouvia sea which make for excellent photo opportunities!

Aside from the apartments, we had an excellent itinerary, clearly detailed by our travel rep who visited the apartments most days of the week. A few things we recommend you sign up for is the AQUAPARK/SHOP day - you will be collected on the main road at about 12noon to go the aquapark for about 4 1/2 hours then off to Corfu town for the nightly shop and back to apartments for about 8.30. Corfu town is a maze of streets and shops with excellent bargains and excellent photo ops when you see the views of the sea and the old fortress - which is visitable. Another great day out is with Spioros on his boat - he will collect you in Gouvia at 10am and take you up coast for a beach BBQ - one of the few sandy beaches on this side of Corfu - on the way there/back, we stopped off swimming and diving off rocks in the sea between Corfu/Albania - Spiros himself took us swimming into caves - an absolutly amazing experience. All of these days out and more are bookable through your rep with Budget. We would return to Corfu again next week! We totally loved it there and we recommend you book it asap before it becomes really popular and expensive!! The only downside of the holiday is the mosquitos so be sure and bring sprays/creams as these have the capability of ruining a good holiday!!