sunny16

We are planning to stay in Naxos town for a few days in October. I am having a hard time figuring out which part of town to stay in, and none of the hotels I've looked at has jumped out at me. I was all set to stay at Hotel Grotta, but then I read on this board that the Grotta area is a bit of a hike from town. My DH and I are walkers, so a A 10 - 15 minute walk from the center of town would be fine. We want to be close enough to the center of things so that we don't feel isolated, but far enough away so that we don't get a lot of noise at night. Would that put us at St. George Beach? Being on the beach itself won't be that important to us since it'll be October. Thanks in advance for any help!

jaclynpoulson

I just returned from Naxos (actually, twice in one trip!). Both times we stayed at hotel/pension Oniro. It is only a couple minutes walk to both the town square and St. George Beach. The owners, Petros and Georgia, are great, the rooms are nice, and they have a great rooftop balcony where you have a great view of the island.

cheryl8

Sunny15 you should not worry about Hotel Grotta. I have some kind of a disability and did not have problem walking to/from town from Grotta. It should not take you more than 15 (slow walking). At night, it should take you more if you decide to walk through the street as against the Grotta shortcut to town (kind of dark). It's a Mom and Pop hotel, the whole family is very accomodating and hospitable esp. Dimitris. Breakfast was very good with home baked goods by the Mom, local cheese, etc. The room that we had had a to-die for view of the portara, town and sea. We walked by St. Giorgios Beach and we thought that we would not like to stay there as the beach/water was dirty (this was last week of May). Enjoy Naxos, it's a beautiful island with wonderful people.

sunny16

Thanks for the help!

stanbr

Hi Sunny
We have just returned from Naxos and we scouted out the Grotta area because so many people ask about it.
In the past I was not impressed with the area because it is about as far from St George Beach as you can get.
Given you are going to be in Naxos in October perhaps being a two minute walk to the beach may not be as important.

Hotel Grotta is nicely appointed and has a fantastic view of the town, Portara, ocean and sunsets.

Yes it is a bit of a walk, probably 10 minutes or so. I was always a little concerned because the most direct route to town is down a footpath on the side of a hill. My imagination got thre better of me as I though about walking back up that hill from town in the dark after dinner and ouzo.

We also checked out Ilada Studios in Grotta. It is right beside Hotel Grotta, on the ocean side and believe it or not, it has an even better view than Hotel Grotta.

It is a studio so you can self cater. (Remember the baker) At the end of May the walk up price at Iliad was 40 Euros. That will likely be similar in October.
They don't have a web site address on their card but the E mail address is [email protected]

I did take a picture of the building and can send it to you if you are interested.

sunny16

Thanks for the input! You're right; in October we won't want to spend much time on the beach. We'll be exploring the town and the island.

I am a little concerned about the path to town, but I'm still interested in both Hotel Grotta and Iliada Studios. I'd still love to see a photo of you could send me one when you have a chance. You can send it to sunny16dotnet @ gmail.com (and take out the spaces).

Would it be very noisy in town if we decided to stay there? There don't seem to be many lodging options in town anyway.

cheryl8

Saw the Iliada also when we stayed at Hotel Grotta. Thought that place is interesting. Just wondering if anyone has stayed there already. We are hooked to Naxos (part of it, would be Hotel Grotta and it's wonderful hosts), think we'll come back soon. Stanbr, we discovered "your" bakery also. There's a big store (The Pan Co.) near Hotel Grotta where we get our cheese, wine and olives and when we asked for a nearby bakery, they directed us to the bakery. The bakery (a father-son operation) is about a minute walk from the store. Thanks, Stanbr, you've given me so many tips that made our Naxos trip wonderful.