Well that is it for our set up time, after 29 days, 7 staff, 5 amazing volunteers and a few work men we are now ready to open the gates to Vassaliki 2019.

It has taken a lot of love, sweat and cups of coffee & tea to get the resort ready this year (we have even gone through a few bottles of wine, a barrel of beer and three bottles of whisky!) but I hope you will think it was worth all the hard work.

Many new things this year, new thermostatic showers, new gazebos around the pool to replace the umbrellas (we had issues with the umbrellas when the wind picked up) and a few new members of staff joining the team for you to meet.

Well let the summer begin!!

Well the summer season is about to burst into action in the next few days so I have just taken a few hours away from Vassaliki to have a quick look at our local naturist beach.

Avithos has been a popular beach with both our guests and other naturists on the island. The beach has two taverna’s and a beach bar (not naturist) with a large number of sun loungers and umbrellas. My visit on 28th April one of the taverna’s looked like it was just about to open in the next few days for the summer and the beach bar is well on the way to opening in a few days time.

The naturist beaches at both ends of this long beach are both looking stunning. Both are easy to walk to along the sand and both have a good amount of sand with more just inside the water line which I expect will come up on the beach in time.

Both beaches had only a few people on when I had my short visit but I think once again this beach will be as popular as ever with our guests.

This beach is a short 10 minute drive from Vassaliki.

Our bi-yearly reunion weekend has now been launched and will be held on 24th to 26th January 2020 at the Milford Hall Hotel and Spa in Salisbury.

Why not come and join us for a fabulous weekend away to meet up with your Vassaliki friends and catch up to reminisce memories from your holidays.

The weekend package includes two nights accommodation which includes breakfast, use of the thermal lounge with sauna, steam room and vitality pool which is naturist throughout Saturday exclusively for our Vassaliki guests.

Friday night meal with light entertainment and welcome drink with the Vassaliki team.

And the highlight of the weekend is the famous Saturday night black tie gala dinner with a full range of live entertainment – a great chance to dress to impress!

All this for a price of £249 per person.

This event is exclusively for guests who have been to Vassaliki or Vasnat only.

You need to book now as rooms are limited

What makes a resort like Vassaliki work?

Well the answer is to surround yourself with a great group of local suppliers. These people work all the hours during the busy summer season making sure companies like ours have all the supplies and services we need. They are the unsung heroes of Vassaliki and this article is a small introduction to some of these people. 

First we need a resort and we are lucky to have been working with a fantastic Greek family for the last 12 years. Lambros and his wife Kiki make sure at the start of every summer that Vassaliki is set ready for us to operate.  This includes yearly repairs and maintenance. We have a great working relationship with these guys and we are always discussing how we continue to maintain and improve the resort for both them and us. 

When you arrive in Kefalonia you need to get from the airport to the resort. We have been working now for the last three summers with Evangelia our taxi driver who lives only a stones throw from Vassaliki and she is always ready to help collect and deliver our guests to anywhere around the island with a big smile. Alternatively our guests may need a car. We have been working with Mercury car hire since we opened the resort back in 2007. They have been amazing, stepping up to even resolve issues with other car hire firms. We really appreciate the fast and efficient service they offer us and their generosity. 

So now you are here, you want a clean room to move into and Sam (Tinkerbell) and her mum Sheila have been a major part of our team for two years now.  But they cannot do their job without two major suppliers. First is of course our laundry service, Ionio Laundry have been cleaning our sheets and towels now for about 10 years at their state of the art laundry factory. This really is an amazing place, run mainly by solar, the owners are always looking for new ways to make their facility more eco friendly. The quality of the work they do is amazing, making it easy for our staff to turn rooms around quickly. 

Our cleaning team also requires a lot of cleaning chemicals, cloths, mops etc and our suppliers in Argostoli offers a full range of equipment and chemicals as well as a continuous stock of good old fashioned toilet roll. This little family business also provides us with many of our kitchen supplies such as plates, glasses (we go through quite a few) and the all important coffee! 

We seem to have moved onto drinks which we notice is very important to our guests! Our drinks supplier has been working with us since we opened in 2007. This family run business supplies all our beer (very important), soft drinks and water. Yaya (grandma) is always there to meet you with her infectious smile, whilst her daughter manages the paperwork and orders at her desk, as well as keeping control of all the boys in the warehouse.

Our other main food and drink suppliers are great characters and this team of brothers provides all our spirits, wine and basic ingredients for the kitchen. Kostis and Yianni run a tight ship and have everything we need to keep our fridges full with all the dry stock, dairy and cold meats. They are also very enterprising ensuring they bring the latest fashionable and popular goods to the island for businesses like us.

You cannot visit a Greek island without eating fish. Our fish market has an amazing selection of fish on offer, always fresh, always beautifully presented. Our fish nights at Vassaliki have become a must try evening thanks to this company’s efforts to supply the best fresh fish on the island. 

Two suppliers who I seem to visit every day are our veg market & butcher, luckily they are both situated only a short way from Vassaliki.  We rely on the team at the fruit and veg market to give us fresh produce throughout the summer.  This is no mean feat as working in the heat trying to keep the produce fresh is a constant battle. We hand pick all our own ingredients to make sure we get the very best for our guests.

The team at the meat market here run a very clean and efficient business. The meat is some of the best, I as a chef, has ever had the pleasure working with. Those of you who have had a fillet steak at the resort will agree I am sure.

Those of you who have visited Vassaliki will know we have a very small kitchen so making all the desserts and cakes is not always possible so we work alongside a young pastry chef and his father who make all our desserts. We have even introduced some english classics to their range, working with them to increases the range of products they sell.

If you have ever been to Vassaliki you would have most likely been to Marina’s Market in the local village. Marina and her family are so supportive of our business and not only do they offer our guests a market to purchase food and drink from but they collect our post, supply us our bread, deliver our welcome hampers and translate documents for us!  All this as well as running a beautiful cafe and bar for us to drink at. They are our pillar of support.

Another regular to our resort is Christine our masseuse, she has been working with us now for several years and is a ray of sunshine when she arrives with her infectious laugh. She offers an amazing range of massage and beauty treatments to our guests

We do this business as a living, so we need to make money and Maria is our accountant in Kefalonia. Not only does she do all our books and submit all our accounts to the correct offices.  She also makes sure we have all our licences and paperwork in order so we can run the resort and trust me there’s a lot of paperwork and blue stamps to collect!

So how does having a naturist resort set up on a small island affect the local people? Of course we pay all our suppliers for their products and services, so this is how we support the local islanders. We have always tried to make sure we offer as much work to the locals and this summer our new team members Angeliki & Kerry are Kefalonia based. 

So having a naturist resort in the local area is always going to be a positive thing! 

Thank you to our Guests Nick and Marian for your review of Vassaliki which has been published in the latest UIT magazine

English translation below –

“Dear editing,

We found our perfect dream spot on the isle of Kefalonia at the “Vassaliki Naturist Club“.

It is a small sized apartment complex when where you arrived are overwhelmed with hospitality.

The food taste great the wine is superb and the complex is maintained spotless!.

The room are simple , very tidy and clean.

On appointment you can book massage in open air under a great tent with mosquito net where you feel totally relaxed and happy.

When you want to escape from the “fast and stressed life” then is Vassaliki Naturist Club THE ultimate choice to make !!!

During our stay we enjoyed every minute from the relaxed ambiance en entourage the beautiful island and at last but not least the perfect care for from the team :

Mark, Samantha,Sheryl,Simon,Nicky and the “chef the cuisine” Nick

Kindly regards 

Nick and Marian”

We now have a new link on our website travel page with all the latest details of flights that now arrive direct to Kefalonia (EFL) airport.

Click here to view all the flights that now fly direct to Kefalonia.

I found this blog on Clickstay and just loved it. It is very cleverly written and I think it captures why we have our resort in Kefalonia. It is written by Nakita Mason

4 Reasons Why the Greek Islands Are Gross – 

We know, we know, you’ve heard all this incredible stuff about Greece and just can’t wait to go there. Well, not to be the metaphorical fly in the soup, but there is categorically no reason to go to Greece, especially the so-called ‘amazing’ islands you’ve heard people gushing about.

Of course, we suppose you feel like we need to defend ourselves on this? Very well, let’s get this sorted so you can book your next holiday to somewhere much nicer.

Ready?

The Food Is Deceiving

In life, there are just some natural laws that we can all agree on, like the fact buttered bread will always fall face down or that a cat meowing at a door will inevitably refuse to leave after you’ve gone to all the effort to stand up and let it out. These things are just a given, an irritating and weird alchemy that us humans can’t explain.

Well, another one that’s in a similar vein is this: food that tastes good is guaranteed to be bad for you. We know this, we’ve come to terms with it and have all secretly wept about what this means for our chocolate lust.

That said, it’s great to eat something bad and feel like a bit of a rebel, isn’t it? Play the maverick every once in a while? Throw off the shackles of goodie-two-shoes and snaffle up an extra square of Dairy Milk?

Well, Greece robs you of this.

Oh yes, in Greece the rules don’t apply, the food tastes amazing, we’re talking sinfully good, and then you find out it’s predominantly healthy! There’s the fresh fish and olives, sweet tomatoes and crisp greenery as well as the delicious Moussaka, delightful Calamari and t

he hearty Kleftiko. You can’t move for all the wonderful dining opportunities and you’re just going to have to accept that here, you can’t be the bad-food rebel you want to be.

In Greece, the sad reality is you’ll love the food and be better for it whether you like it or not! You’ll be coerced into a healthy way of life and frankly, it takes the biscuit.

Sorry, we wish things were different, but they just aren’t.

It’s Too Instagramable

So, there you are, notionally on holiday, and what do you find? Well, that the crystal-clear sea and blindingly blue sky, as well as everything in between, is all but crying out for you to start taking snaps. Oh yes, but where to start? And for how long? The choice is apparently endless whilst your phone battery is not. Before you know it the panic sets in that you might not capture it all and you’re reduced to a weeping mess against a staggeringly beautiful backdrop.

We don’t wish to cause alarm but the danger of visiting any of the Greek islands is that you are in real danger of catching a lethal case of the repetitive-camera-snapping lurgy. In really severe cases this can lead to obsessive scrap-booking and eventual social-shunning.

Just don’t bother ok? No good can possibly come of it.

Myrtos Beach

Myrtos Beach

If you head to Kefalonia (a particularly tricky island that’s full of the aforementioned issues) you’ll likely as not be directed towards Myrtos Beach, frequently held aloft as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and perfect for soaking up the sun.

Which is all very well but when we went there we discovered several real problems. For example, you get sand between your toes. Yep, real sand, right between your toes. Which had us asking what bright spark dreamt that up.

That’s just the start though, if you stand in the sea and don’t keep your wits about you, seaweed can tangle around your leg and make you scream like an 8-year-old because of course, your first assumption is that Nessie is on her holidays too and has chosen you as a snack. All of which can lead to awkward drinks with your friends afterward.

And then there’s the quest to get the perfect selfie while lounging on your towel. Well, let us tell you, even the likes of Margot Robbie and Benedict Cumberbatch would pale beside the backdrop of Myrtos, its just a natural looker and us mere mortals are always going to feel outshined in its presence.

Turns out life truly can be a real beach.

The Natural Attractions Are Dangerous

Oh yes sir, we know we sound like we’re being sticks in the mud, but we’ve lost more members of staff than we can count to Greek nature. You see, there’s this endless stream of things to do and see, from touring the many stunning caves (like the cave of Melissani with the ‘skylight’) to the diverse diving opportunities. Heck, you can just be sat having a perfectly pleasant meal outside and find a Turtle has had the audacity to swim past only a yard away!

Which is very well until you get a taste for it, before you know it every waking moment is in pursuit of another natural wonder! And if our staff are anything to go by it means handing in your notice and declaring you’re going to become a wildlife photographer!

Trust us, it’s all very well having your head turned by the sultry glance of a gecko but get too involved and you’ll find yourself pining for it all hours of the day.

And to think people encourage this level of curiosity…

So what have we learned? Well, that the Greek Islands are a gross waste of your time and a potential minefield of problems. All that health and beauty and fun (a greatly overestimated commodity in our mind) will one way or another be the ruin of you.

Please see sense and book somewhere nice.

Just a few images of the resort now we are all set up for the summer and open. Well done team Vassaliki!!

We are famous!  On the 4th of May while Samantha and I were in the UK for a short trip we got a call from Star TV. This is a big TV station in Greece and they were doing an article about a new website https://www.naturistbnb.com.

This website lists a large number of naturist accommodation from resorts to spare rooms in peoples houses but all are naturist friendly. 

To view our minute of fame you can view by clicking the image below. Sorry for the adverts, and it is of course in Greek but worth a look.