A Famous Russian

It's amazing what interesting people we meet when out showing properties - another reason I love living here, I'm sure I would never have met them in my old life working for an insurance company in Swindon!

Today we had some Russian clients looking for a smallish house near the sea where they can bring their family to enjoy the sunshine and life here. The lady told us, " Corfu has magic. When you have been here you can't go anywhere else".

Chatting in the car, I asked what they did for a living in Moscow, and was told that the husband is a writer. I further enquired - a writer of what? She modestly replied that he writes science fiction books and in fact is the most famous living author in Russia at the moment, with his books translated into many languages. No name dropping, but we Googled him and sure enough, he is VERY famous!
Sarah

Sharing My Corfu

We had family visiting from North Carolina, USA, last week. It was their first visit to Corfu, although they had heard a lot about it from us and been avidly reading Island Magazine and this blog! Their holiday here started off in Italy with guided tours of several cities and then the Minoan ferry from Venice. Corfu was their chance to relax and unwind after the organised sightseeing, and the Chandris Hotel in Dassia provided the ideal base to do so.

Leaving hot and very humid North Carolina in the summer, they were expecting to cool down when they arrived here, but we were in the middle of our seemingly regular June heatwave. The heat didn't deter them though. As long as the car was air-conditioned and the ice cubes plentiful, they kept their cool.

I knew that Lucy had enjoyed the quaint villages of England, so we took them to some of our most traditional and picturesque villages - up to Old Perithia, through Ano Korakiana, the harbours at Agios Stefanos and Kassiopi. These she found enchanting, but was less impressed with the narrow roads, being more used to the wide straight highways of her home.

Both Lucy and her husband Robert were keen to sample as much local food as possible and largely left the choice of menu to us. What a great excuse to eat out at our favourite haunts every evening! One very memorable evening was spent at Agnadio Taverna on the road to Spartilas. The food was excellent, the view (of course) breathtaking, and to top it all there was live Greek music to entertain us. To contrast, we then introduced them to "our local" - Strapounto in Kato Korakiana for grilled meat and the best chips in Corfu.

It was a real delight to share "my" Corfu with such appreciative guests, and by seeing it through fresh eyes, a reminder of how lucky we are to be living here.
Sarah

All Inclusives - the last word

Some friends had a conversation yesterday with guests at an all 'inclusive hotel'. They had come out for a walk and a drink. The guy said ' It's so nice to have a pint in a a glass - in the hotel everything comes in plastic cups.' and then he said 'It's nice to have a pint - in the hotel you would have to go to the bar and get five separate plastic cups to make up a pint.' Finally he said, 'Anyway it's nice to come out - everything finishes in the hotel at 11 pm.' He also said that the food was fairly grim and there was nothing the kids liked to eat, so they were living on chips! Having said that of course, they had paid under £2,000 for their entire holiday and, unless they wanted to, they could have spent absolutely nothing at all whilst they were on holiday.

Final, final gem. Apparently some hotels give the kids different colour wristbands, as this gives them a different entitlement to food and drink.

The world is definitely not as we used to know it. The other day, having been to take photos of some beachfront land in Halikouna, we went to eat in the nearby taverna. It is an area known to visitors but not in a resort, just a pretty taverna above a tiny harbour at Alonaki. The mix of fellow diners was local Greeks, local foreign residents, Serbian visitors, Italian visitors, German visitors and British visitors - a wonderful mix - just how it always used to be.
Diana

Corfu's Best Kept Secret?

It's not meant to be a secret, obviously, but from the amount of use it gets, it might as well be. What am I talking about? The basement parking at Lidl in Alikes!

We are very quick to criticize supermarkets and other large department-type stores that do not provide enough parking space. My own family's particular bugbear is that there is ALWAYS someone who parks practically inside the supermarket, totally ignoring the marked parking spaces all of 10 metres further away.

Yesterday (Saturday) in temperatures of 39C, at peak shopping time, with the car park at full-to-bursting, Lidl's wonderfully cool basement parking area was virtually empty (see photo). So praises go to the architect who designed this building, even if it is under appreciated by the majority of shoppers, and praise also to the management of Lidl who, presumably, ordered the building to be built with plenty of parking.
Susan

The 'All Inclusives' Again

This week we heard that a prominent hotel group is taking over the largest hotels in Agios Gordis, and in Pelekas and the aim is to provide 'upmarket' all-inclusives. This led to yet more discussions about why anyone would want to come 'all-inclusive' to Corfu.

In our office in Dassia people often wander in and chat to Helga about their holidays, many of them wearing the famous wristbands. (Are they not reminiscent of those issued to hospital patients?) She has noticed increasingly that when she asks if they are enjoying their holidays, they say 'Fine thanks', but none seem to say 'Its great'. One frequent comment is 'There isn't much to do here - its very quiet and a lot of places are closed'. Sorry, but what to do you expect if all visitors eat, drink and shop entirely within their hotels and spend absolutely nothing out in the villages - the business owners are going to sit there just for fun!

In a conversation with the manager of an AI hotel Helga asked him how they managed on such a low 'per head' budget. Among the points made was that in the a la carte restaurant of a four star hotel they have to give prawns as a choice once a week and they give large fresh shrimps. On the all inclusive meals they have to use the cheapest tinned prawns, mixed with rice. And in the four star the waiters serve you. In the all inc. you serve yourself - how can the hotels afford to pay waiters on the budget they have?

Perhaps if we costed out the holiday before booking we would calculate how much it costs to buy food and cook yourself, plus the flight, plus the room, plus the cleaner, electricity, air fare, transfers etc. If you calculate all that (and the tour operator's profit) how much is left for food and drink? How can the hotel afford to offer high quality?

Net result, guests leave Corfu dissatisfied, not having sampled the best of anything! Guests who have been out all over the island, tried local restaurants, talked to loads of local people, visited different beaches, shopped in local shops - they are the ones who go home happy and come back time and time again - and they are also the ones who decide to buy property and spend larger parts of their lives with us here in Corfu - so do their families and their friends. This is the perfect tourism, one which enhances all our lives - locals, 'adopted locals' like us and visitors who become friends and 'adopted locals' themselves'.
Diana

There's No Place Like Home

And for me that's most definitely Corfu!

I've just returned from a couple of days in Athens with my daughter who was taking some University entrance exams. We left Corfu on Wednesday evening, feeling very hot because of our June heatwave, only to arrive in Athens and find it even hotter! That, together with the non stop noise of a dual-carriageway at the end of our road and a flyover on top of the dual-carriageway round the corner made our city break less than relaxing. What else was there to do after the exams finished apart from heading for the air conditioned shopping mall and factory outlet?

What joy to return to Corfu on Friday, find the roads uncongested, the air sweet and peace and quiet! I was woken in the morning by the sound of birdsong instead of traffic noise. When it got too hot, instead of heading for the shops we swam in the lovely clear sea and cooled off then sat in the shade of the beach taverna.
Sarah

Buying For 'Investment'

It would be possible to write reams and reams about 'investment' property, and many people want their overseas purchase to offer them investment potential as well as a new home or a holiday home in the sun.

There are several ways of looking at this. One is if you are looking for a 'lifestyle change' and have always dreamed of moving to live in the sun and perhaps having a block of apartments, small hotel, restaurant or bar. Generally the first rule of thumb is if it looks to be too good to be true it probably is! Corfu is awash with elderly 1970s and 80s blocks of apartments, built for the boom years of tourism in Corfu. They are usually small studios, basically equipped and furnished, and often on the edge of a village or resort. The temptation is to think that you can buy them and let them as they are. Unless they are right on the beach - WRONG! Usually the reason for sale is that the owners, who probably have many years experience, cannot make them work. This means that unless you have funds for considerable refurbishment as well as the purchase price, you are probably not going to make them work either.

If you budget for a 'refurb' then you are on the right track. With imagination, studio blocks can be transformed into a smaller number of comfortable and well-equipped apartments, offering a home for you plus a letting investment. These days, unless you are virtually on the beach, you need to have space and funds for a swimming pool. Once you have made your transformation, you are ready to begin. An economic choice could be St George Studios where the studios are unfinished but only a very short distance to the beach. An alternative would be Afionas Studios or on a higher budget Kyknos Pension in Doukades.

Another option is to buy just two or three units of accommodation and live in one whilst you let and manage the others during the summer season. Examples are Katsaros Apartments in Pirgi which have stunning views or Kaminaki View Apartments located in one of most sought-after areas of the north-east coast.

For a similar investment to a small block of studios you could buy several apartments with scope for upgrading and then let for a good rental return. Another choice could be a new build - either two or three of the same size or a combination of one and two bedroom homes. Properties like Daffodil, Mimosa and Daisy Cottages in St. George South which would bring in good summer revenues.

Buying a villa to let when you are not using it has always been popular and there are several excellent properties, some of which have ongoing tour operator contracts plus periods blocked off for your own use and represent a steady investment. Typical examples are Verde Blu Villas in Barbati, Rastoni in Vigla, Villa Cicada in Kalami or Villa Serena in Avlaki. Any one of these fit the bill perfectly - offering a tried and tested property, with a good letting history.

Overall, Corfu offers excellent investment opportunities. Nowhere will you find that you have thousands of other properties in direct competition, as in Spain or Bulgaria. You probably won't find an instant 'get rich quick' solution but you will find a great selection of possibilities to offer you either that all important 'lifestyle change' or even just a perfect holiday home which not only pays for itself but also represents a steady investment and provides all your family holidays into the bargain. What more could anyone ask?
Diana