Kontokali Bay Spa & Resort
What's so special
For a hassle-free luxury holiday, the Kontokali is a fine choice. The hotel's management are renowned for providing guests with a reliable five-star experience. It's telling that many of the families here are repeat visitors. The hotel's other big selling point is its secluded location away from the crowds on the isolated Tourka Peninsula.
How they rate it
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This hotel has "upped its game in recent years", says The Daily Telegraph. The staff are among the best in the world. "Personnel are responsive and friendly, and the general manager is often seen going walkabout to check on things."
There are several different grades of room, "ranging from somewhat dated standard doubles in the main building (worth paying extra for a sea view on the upper floor) to deluxe suites to garden bungalows". The bathrooms have "shower partitions rather than the dreaded Hellenic mildewed curtain".
The menu
The food is "unusually good for a Greek hotel...though not cheap ordered a la carte". For something reasonable, try the beachside tavern or the buffet diners.
The cost
Prices start from £124 for a double room. For more information, visit www.kontokalibay.com, or call 00 30 26610 99000.
Villa de Loulia
What's so special
If you want to stay somewhere where you can experience the real Greece, try this hotel. It's situated in the tiny, traditional village of Peroulades. It may be only a few miles from the busy resort of Sidari, but you'll experience a quieter pace of life tucked away here.
How they rate it
Villa de Loulia "is a family-run retreat set in immaculate grounds", says Cond Nast Traveller. The villa dates from 1803 and has just seven "elegant bedrooms" and two suites. "The attic rooms have views over the walled gardens, where shady nooks and jasmine bowers abound and old almond trees cast their shade over a large swimming pool."
The beach is a stone's throw away and there is also a small spa within the hotel. If there are enough of you, or you just want some privacy, it is possible to hire out the entire villa.
The menu
The hotel restaurant produces traditional Greek dishes using local ingredients and vegetables from the gardens.
Thecost
A double room costs from €98 on a bed-and-breakfast basis. For more see: www.villadeloulia.gr, or call 00 30 26630 95394.
Stay in your favourite film location
Ever fancied wandering down the same beach as George Clooney or dining in the restaurant that featured in The Artist? Then try staying at these three film locations, says The Times.
Check into the W Hollywood (whollywoodhotel.com; doubles from £197) "under the shadow of the iconic Hollywood sign" and you can set out to explore the locations used in The Artist. Start off at the Orpheum Theatre on 842, where "Jack, the terrier dog, amusingly steals the show from the stars during a production of a silent film". Then dine at the "superb Art Deco restaurant Cicada (cicadarestaurant.com) popular with Hollywood A-listers". This was thelocation for "a crucial scene" between the two leads.
Or you could fly to Hawaii to the setting for The Descendants, which starred George Clooney. The film was shot on two islands, Oahu and Kauai. On Kauai, "more than 300 locals were hired as extras during scenes shot on the beaches at Hanalei Bay". The Tahiti Nui restaurant (Thenui.com) also featured in the film. Stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai (Kauai.hyatt.com; doubles from £254).
Finally, head to Dartmoor to see the locations used in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the children's book War Horse. "The sleepy villages of Sheepstor and Meavy are captured and Ditsworthy Warren House, a Grade II-listed building just outside Sheepstor, acts as the farmhouse at the centre of the story of the horse." Try The Old Inn in Drewsteignton (Old-inn.co.uk; doubles from £90) on the edge of Dartmoor.
