From the moment we arrived in our pastel-pink villa in Kefalonia, I knew I’d stumbled across a hidden gem.
The £30 a night cottage sprawled across the ground floor of an elegant house and contained a large double-bedroom, hallway, bathroom, dining-kitchen as well as our own private terrace. It was heavenly. It was in the perfect location. It was on a budget. To this day I’m not entirely sure how I managed to bag us such an incredible find.
As if it couldn’t get any better, when we rocked up late after our flight had been delayed, we arrived to a full fridge and cupboards. The villa was loaded with milk, eggs, ham, cheese, fresh fruit, bread, biscuits and brioche. Not to mention it also had a vast array of teas and coffees. Had we landed in paradise?
AirBnB gets a bad rep sometimes. However, my experience with it has only been positive. This villa was another amazing find on AirBnB. I was so impressed with all of the homestays I had been to in Sri Lanka so naturally, I decided to use the app in Kefalonia too, and it did not disappoint.
When searching for a place to stay, location is of upmost importance. From there, I filter by user reviews to only find the most reputable of accommodations.
This cottage was called ‘Angeliki’ and was 1 of 2 cottages located on the site, known as ‘Moulinos’ Cottages. Recently renovated, the cottage was sparkling clean. We were actually fortunate to be in the largest of the 2 cottages.
As previously stated, location is very important to us.
We are fortunate in that our tastes differ from majority of people’s. We don’t like to be located in bustling towns and prefer a quieter location in the countryside. You pay a premium for being located at an ‘in demand’ location so we always bypass this premium as well as the competition for the spot.
The south of Kefalonia is the most ‘happening’ spot. There you have the island’s capital of Argostolion as well as the popular tourist town of Skala.
In contrast, our cottage was situated in north Kefalonia, exactly where we wanted to be staying. It was located in a small village called Kardakata village and is in the perfect location, surrounded by fields dotted with olive trees. Apart from the singing of birds and buzzing of bees that fed on the ripening grapes outside the cottage, the only other sound carried by the wind was the dingling of goat bells.
The cottage is perched upon a quiet crossroad which is actually a key feature in Kefalonia. This is the crossroad that allows access to the left side of the island.
Kefalonia is a very funny shape, made up of two peninsulas. The left peninsula is known as ‘Paliki’ and actually has its own capital, Lixouri. I gracefully refer to Paliki as ‘the dangly bit’ as that’s what it looks like.
So our cottage is in prime position to allow access to both peninsulas, making it a very central location. Just about anywhere in Kefalonia was at our fingertips!
One of my favourite features of the cottage (after the vast tea-making facilities, of course) was the grape vines outside. Although we didn’t know it quite yet, these grapes are grown by the cottage owner to make his own home-made wine. I’m a real sucker for local produce!
As well as being used to make some yummy wine, the grapes were also proving popular with the local wildlife. Bees, wasps and even butterflies were all enjoying any burst grapes. It makes me very happy to see such an abundance of wildlife.
Another feature which I loved was that the water was heated via solar energy. Huge solar panels on the roof absorbed as much sunlight as possible in order to fuel our hot water in a very sustainable way, cutting out the use of nasty fossil-fuels.
I think you’re starting to get the picture – I was very much in love with our cottage! It was the perfect base for our 4 days on the island.
You can rent this exact cottage through AirBnB here. I visited in September 2018 when the cottage was a new listing. Prices have gone up slightly since then to £42 a night. This post was not sponsored. I just really love this cottage!
