Plastic reduction at Vassaliki.
We all know now we have a major issue on our planet with single use plastics. We have become so dependent on them that we now seem to be unable to exist without them.
We are producing over 300 million tons of plastic every year, 50% of which is for single-use purposes – More than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans every year.
So who is to blame? Who needs to sort this out? Well it’s clear every single one of us needs to step up to the mark and make some very fast changes to how we live.
So what are we doing to make the change? Vassaliki is constantly looking for and implementing ways to reduce waste produced on resort.
This year all our rooms have had recycling bins installed – this allows us to separate and recycle glass, cans, plastic bottles and cardboard/ paper. All this waste is collected by us and taken to the local recycle bins.
Our pool bar and restaurant have been recycling glass, plastic bottles and cardboard/ paper now for several years. We also now have a strict no plastic straw policy and we don’t automatically offer straws with all our drinks. Plus we don’t plastic decorations to our cocktails.
Our biggest plastic waste issue has been the water bottles – We have been working now for a few years to reduce the number of bottles we dispose of each year. The last two years we have been offering guests the opportunity to refill reusable Vassaliki water bottles at one of our cold water stations situated on resort for a small fee. This has proven very popular and has made a huge reduction to our plastic bottle waste. Our drinking water is delivered in 20 litre water barrels and attached to a cooling machine. The barrel when empty is then returned to the water company to be refilled.
Our next stage to get rid of plastic bottles is to install a larger water filter and cooling system at the bar area. This we hope will allow guests to either fill their own reusable water bottles or one of our Vassaliki bottles. We will then serve chilled filtered water in reusable water bottles to the tables at meal times. With all our other drinks being sold in recyclable cans and glass bottles we hope to be free of single use plastic bottles by 2021.
So what other changes do we have in the pipeline? Well unfortunately we are fazing out our complementary shower gel, shampoo and body lotion bottles, but we are looking into replacing them with a refillable shower gel bottle in the shower and we already have hand soap in refillable pump bottles.
We are also stopping supplying washing up sponge and scourers in each room from 2020 but the washable dish cloth, tea towel and oven gloves will remain on offer in your room on arrival.
The other issue to tackle is the bin bags in the bathrooms as we are unable to allow paper down the toilets, so we are now investigating into biodegradable bags.
We are starting to do our bit and are always looking for further ways to reduce our waste. So if you can think of anything else we can look into please let us know we are very keen to improve on reducing our waste.
Vassaliki selling faster than ever!
It’s time to book your holiday! Samantha is working hard now taking bookings for summer 2020.
The resort will open on 16th May 2020 and we still have a few rooms available for this beautiful time of year. The flora is amazing around the island and the beaches are still quiet and peaceful.
As always June is one of our most popular months with 80% of our rooms now sold, so we have very little availability left:
- 2nd – 11th June in a One Bedroom Apartment
- 8th – 18th June in a One Bedroom Apartment
- 14th – 30th June in a One Bedroom Apartment
- 20th June to 7th July in a Roof Studio (JUST SOLD SORRY)
July and August are selling well with 65% of our rooms during this period already sold. We still have plenty of gaps, so give Samantha a call or have a look online.
September is once again very busy with 85% of the rooms booked up well in advance. We have just one gap to fill:
- 15th – 22nd September in our Maisonette
We also have availability in One Bedroom Apartments and Roof Studios from 23rd September onwards until we close the resort on 6th October.
While writing this article Samantha has taken a further three bookings, so if you are planning a stay with us, please book as soon as possible as we hate having to turn you away.
(All bookings must be 7 or more nights – we will launch shorter 3 and 4 day stays in May subject to availability.)
Fun poll ! Who are you?
Brexit and your passport to your Naked Holiday
We get asked all the time how Brexit is going to affect our business in Greece. We have not really looked into it much as it seemed to us like Brexit was never going to happen and the information we were finding was not confirmed, confusing or incorrect most of the time. Now with the election all done, it looks like we may finally, after several failed attempts, leave the EU.
So what do we know for summer 2020? Well not much! But what we do know is that you will be able to travel as we have been since we joined the EU. Nothing will change except you may need to make sure you comply to the new rules below:
New rules will apply for travel to Europe if/when the UK leaves the EU without a deal on January 31st 2020
You should have at least 6 months left on an adult or child passport to travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland).
If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. Any extra months on your passport over 10 years may not count towards the 6 months needed.
Implementation period
The Withdrawal Agreement sets out an implementation period lasting until 31 December 2020. This is a time-limited period before Brexit-related changes take place.
During the implementation period, your rights and those of your family members will not change. The rules on travelling to the EU will remain the same during this period. You can travel to a different country in the EU in the same way as you can now. More information is available on this link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/passport-rules-for-travel-to-europe-after-brexit
So now what? I think book your flights, book your room at Vassaliki and lets spend the summer relaxing naked in Kefalonia and let the government sort the rest out!
End of Summer Newsletter 2019
Well that was one very busy summer and the weather was amazing right to the end of the season ( and is still hot now!). Samantha and I have now returned to the UK. Elfie our young resort assistant has also returned to the UK for the winter. The rest of our amazing team Kerry, “Tinkerbell” Sam, Sheila and Shane live on the island so will spend the winter in Kefalonia. We are hoping all of them will join us again next summer.
This newsletter has some exciting news about our new online shop linked up with Marina’s Market, a review of Simon and Sheryle’s new naturist accommodation, an article about our fight against single use plastics and a reminder of the up and coming reunion weekend.
Hope you enjoy and we are always happy to hear your ideas for the resort or newsletters.
New online shop replaces welcome hampers
This summer we have been working alongside Marina’s Mini Market (our local convenience shop) to build an online shopping service to allow our guests to have a fridge full of food and drinks already in their rooms when they arrive.
This new service will replace our welcome hampers. The hampers have worked well but many items get left in the fridge when guests leave, creating unnecessary waste. We all have different preferences when it comes to food and drinks, so we feel now the hampers are not suitable.
So it’s simple… before you are due to arrive (a few days is best) visit our online shop at http://www.viglanatura.com/marinas-market Just fill in your name, booking details and then follow through the five pages of products on offer and select what you would like in your room.
The groceries will be in your room when you arrive and the cost of the items added to your room bill. The service can also be used during your stay to top up on things you may need. In both cases a small delivery charge of 3 euros will be added to you room bill.
The service also offers a small number of branded toiletries and sun products, so for those who wish to travel light and avoid paying for luggage in the hold, you can order all your shampoos and sun creams before you arrive.
We hope you like our new service.
Reunion Weekend
Now that the summer is officially over, we focus our efforts on the Reunion Weekend in Salisbury, UK on the 24th to 26th January 2020.
The 2020 Reunion is our fifth event and each year we have made the party bigger and better. We have moved to a new venue as we outgrew the last one and have found a great hotel only a short walk from the centre of Salisbury.
Salisbury is a medieval cathedral city in the south of Wiltshire. It’s 9 miles south of the iconic prehistoric stone circle at Stonehenge, which stands on the grassland of Salisbury Plain. The city’s ornate 13th-century cathedral has a 123m spire, a working 14th-century clock and an original copy of the Magna Carta (the Great Charter), a key document from 1215 A.D. This along with a bustling shopping / market city centre, there are many great things to see during your stay.
At the hotel you will receive breakfast both Saturday and Sunday morning. Friday night you will enjoy welcome drinks and a buffet dinner with live entertainment. You can visit the hotel’s Thermal Lounge with steam room, sauna and vitality pool throughout your stay but it is exclusively naturist for our guests all day on Saturday.
The Saturday night Gala Dinner is the highlight of the weekend with a three course meal, live entertainment throughout the night and a chance to dress to impress.
Mark and Samantha will be at the event throughout the weekend and we hope some of our staff past and present will join us for our Gala Dinner.
It really is a great way to wash away the winter blues and meet up again with your Vassaliki friends and reminisce about the blue skies and warm waters of Kefalonia.
We still have a few rooms available for an amazing price of £245 per person for the complete weekend. If you cannot make the full weekend then why not consider joining us for the Gala Dinner at only £45 per person.
Lets get the party started!
The battle against single use plastics
We all now know we have a major issue on our planet with single use plastics. We have become so dependent on them that we now seem to be unable to exist without them.
We are producing over 300 million tons of plastic every year, 50% of which is for single-use purposes – More than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans every year.
So who is to blame? Who needs to sort this out? Well it’s clear every single one of us needs to step up to the mark and make some very fast changes to how we live.
So what are we doing to make the change? Vassaliki is constantly looking for and implementing ways to reduce waste produced on resort.
This year all our rooms have had recycling bins installed – this allows us to separate and recycle glass, cans, plastic bottles and cardboard/ paper. All this waste is collected by us and taken to a local recycle bins.
Our pool bar and restaurant have been recycling glass, plastic bottles and cardboard/ paper now for several years. We also now have a strict no plastic straw policy and we don’t automatically offer straws with all our drinks. Plus we don’t use plastic decorations to our cocktails.
Our biggest plastic waste issue has been the water bottles – We have been working now for a few years to reduce the number of bottles we dispose of each year. The last two years we have been offering guests the opportunity to refill reusable Vassaliki water bottles at one of our cold water stations situated on resort for a small fee. This has proven very popular and has made a huge reduction to our plastic bottle waste. Our drinking water is delivered in 20 litre water barrels and attached to a cooling machine. The barrel when empty is then returned to the water company to be refilled.
Our next stage to get rid of plastic bottles is to install a larger water filter and cooling system at the bar area. This we hope will allow guests to either fill their own reusable water bottles or one of our Vassaliki bottles. We will then serve chilled filtered water in reusable water bottles to the tables at meal times. With all our other drinks being sold in recyclable cans and glass bottles we hope to be free of single use plastic bottles by 2020.
So what other changes do we have in the pipeline? Well unfortunately we are fazing out our complementary shower gel, shampoo and body lotion bottles, but we are looking into replacing them with a refillable shower gel bottle in the shower and we already have hand soap in refillable pump bottles.
We are also stopping supplying washing up sponge and scourers in each room from 2020 but the washable dish cloth, tea towel and oven gloves will remain on offer in your room on arrival.
The other issue to tackle is the bin bags in the bathrooms as we are unable to allow paper down the toilets, so we are now investigating into biodegradable bags.
We are starting to do our bit and are always looking for further ways to reduce our waste. So if you can think of anything else we can look into, please let us know as we are very keen to improve on reducing our waste.
Naturist Break in Valencia, Spain with Simon and Sheryle – Written by Vicky B
Simon and Sheryle our 2013 – 2016 team members
This time last year we updated you about where Simon and Sheryle (2013-16 team members) have gone. How they have moved to Spain and set up there own small holiday accommodation which is perfect for a naturist break. Our guests Andy and Vicky along with Jen and Pete (who they met at Vassaliki) took a trip to Simon and Sheryle’s villa in Villamarxant, 30 kilometres from Valencia, at the end of May and this is their report.
“Arriving at Valencia airport we hired a car and drove the short distance (15 minutes) to Villamarxant to meet up with Simon and Sheryle for our first Spanish lunch followed by a bit of shopping at the local supermarket.
The villa is only a five minute drive from their local town in a beautiful rural setting amidst the orange groves.
They have both worked immensely hard to create a superb 2 bedroomed accommodation with living area and kitchen on the ground floor. Simon and Sheryle have their own separate accommodation upstairs.
Outside is a stunningly landscaped garden with swimming pool and sunbathing areas in sun and shade. Also there is a fire pit area and undercover seating area for dining and post dinner coffees and / or drinks. If required Sheryle will cook both breakfast and evening meals for a very reasonable cost. We had a delicious three course meal with them upstairs on our first night on the verandah overlooking the orange grove and countryside. The rest of the time we made use of the well equipped kitchen area and then one night the barbecue that is available.
The villa is placed within easy reach of the metro to get into Valencia itself which we did for two days. Valencia has lots to offer for all with lots to see and do, we certainly feel we need a return visit. We also went to Xativa to explore an amazing castle high up in the Spanish countryside. Our last day together we went to El Palmar in the Albufera region where paella rice is grown. After a boat trip on the lagoon and canals we had a great paella lunch by the canal side.
Simon and Sheryle are amazing hosts and made sure everything was available for a really comfortable stay and a great time. One evening Simon set up an outside cinema for a showing of The Greatest Showman. Hot dogs served by Sheryle at the end. The following night we had screenings of Live Aid and Mick Jagger, all with the aid of some extra heating from the fire pit area.
Our last day we took Jen and Pete back to the airport as they needed to get an early flight. We then spent some time with Simon and Sheryle at a local Spanish market followed by coffee and then our last Spanish lunch. There was still time to doze in the sun for the afternoon before heading off to the airport for our late flight back.
Many thanks Simon and Sheryle for an amazing stay, we will return for more!!”
If you would like to visit Simon and Sheryle then email them at lasco@btinternet.com
Few rooms left for Vassaliki Reunion Weekend
Now that the summer is officially over, we focus our efforts on the Reunion Weekend in Salisbury, UK on the 24th to 26th January 2020.
The 2020 Reunion is our fifth event and each year we have made the party bigger and better. We have moved to a new venue as we outgrew the last one and have found a great hotel only a short walk from the centre of Salisbury.
Salisbury is a medieval cathedral city in the south of Wiltshire. It’s 9 miles south of the iconic prehistoric stone circle at Stonehenge, which stands on the grassland of Salisbury Plain. The city’s ornate 13th-century cathedral has a 123m spire, a working 14th-century clock and an original copy of the Magna Carta (the Great Charter), a key document from 1215 A.D. This along with a bustling shopping / market city centre, there are many great things to see during your stay.
At the hotel you will receive breakfast both Saturday and Sunday morning. Friday night you will enjoy welcome drinks and a buffet dinner with live entertainment. You can visit the hotel’s Thermal Lounge with steam room, sauna and vitality pool throughout your stay but is exclusively naturist for our guests all day on Saturday.
The Saturday night Gala Dinner is the highlight of the weekend with a three course meal, live entertainment throughout the night and a chance to dress to impress.
Mark and Samantha will be at the event throughout the weekend and we hope some of our staff past and present will join us for our Gala Dinner.
It really is a great way to wash away the winter blues and meet up again with your Vassaliki friends and reminisce about the blue skies and warm waters of Kefalonia.
We still have a few rooms available for an amazing price of £250 per person for the complete weekend. If you cannot make the full weekend then why not consider joining us for the Gala Dinner only at only £45 per person.
Lets get the party started!
Another summer comes to an end!
Well that’s it for another amazing summer here at Vassaliki in Kefalonia. We close the gates on what has been our busiest summer ever.
I want to thank all our team here at Vassaliki for all their hard work and dedication to making the resort the success it is, without them Vassaliki would never function. I wish them all a quiet and restful winter and we hope to have you all back again next summer.
We also want to thank all the suppliers who have been really hard working this summer, making sure we have all the services and supplies we need to run the resort. I have a blog dedicated to this hard working team of suppliers at Vassaliki Suppliers
And of course it would all be a waste of time if we did not have all of you visit us. We would like to thank all our guests this summer and from all our previous 13 years of being open for your continued support.
Well we now take a break, head back to the UK and get ready for the Vassaliki Reunion on 24th to 26th of January. If you need a winter pick me up with a little Vassaliki magic then book your rooms now.
SEE YOU NEXT SUMMER IN KEFALONIA!
Book now for 2020 – Rooms selling fast
We are well and truly into our 2019 summer season here in Kefalonia, Greece. The island is now in full flow with beach parties and festivals nearly every day of the week.
Vassaliki is now fully booked until we close on October 6th. We reached our best occupancy level ever this year which is great news for us but we are sorry to the people who tried to get booked in for this summer and were disappointed (we hate having to turn people away!)
With this all in mind we have been requested by many of our travel agent partners to release our 2020 prices and dates early this year.
We launched our prices and availability online early in July at Vassaliki Bookings and the enquiries are coming in thick and fast.
We have already sold 30% of our rooms for 2020. Especially popular are June, July and September with some periods already reaching over 75% occupancy . So if you are planning a trip in 2020 you need to act fast to get your preferred dates.
Nearly all the airlines have launched their flights for 2020, so this includes RyanAir, Jet2, Thomas Cook, TUI, British Airways. EasyJet is the only exception and will announce their flights up to August 2020 in September, date to be confirmed.
I know many of you may not have had your 2019 holiday yet, it may be worth pencilling something for 2020 as we don’t want you to miss out next year.
We hope you can visit us in 2020 and we look forward to meeting you all.
We still have a few rooms left on our Vassaliki Reunion Weekend!
If you have visited our resort in Kefalonia and would like to join us at the Vassaliki Reunion weekend on Friday 24th to Sunday 26th January 2020 at the Milford Hall Hotel and Spa in Salisbury just click on this link http://www.viglanatura.com/vassaliki-reunion-2020 and secure your place for this great weekend to meet up with fellow Vassaliki guests, enjoy great food, and maybe some amazing entertainment.
- Two nights accommodation inc. breakfast
- Thermal lounge with steam room, sauna, and vitality pool naturist all day on Saturday
- Friday night meal with entertainment and welcome drinks
- The famous Saturday night black tie gala dinner with a range of entertainment
All situated an easy five minute walk from the centre of historical Sailsbury and all for just £250 per person!
Hope to see you in January.
The Naturist Beaches of Kefalonia
We are very lucky to have a number of amazing beaches on the island of Kefalonia and many of them have areas where naturism is unofficially accepted.
We have our Kefalonia Naturist Beaches page on our website that gives you up to date information regarding all the naturist beaches on the island
So if you are joining us at Vassaliki this summer just ask one of our staff who are happy to give you directions and information on the best beaches to visit.
We ask that you always respect other beach users. Do not undress near tavernas, beach bars or religious buildings. Never undress next to other beach users who have settled on the beach before you and have decided to wear clothes ( if you are there first and nude its there decision if they stay) Thank you for keeping our beaches tidy and remove all your rubbish when you leave.
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