What can we say about the Atrium in Skiathos, it is located between bus stops 16 and 17 on the opposite side of the main road from the sea and up a steep hill. They state that they are a 4 star, when really it is a 3.5 at best, not quite a 4 star.
Yes the facility is lovely and the staff, well some, go out of their way to help, like Xenia one of the waitresses, Anastasia and Ionna in reception, who are both helpful and knowledgeable about what to see and do on the island and how to best achieve.
Rooms, we had a sea view with balcony, however, although yes it was a sea view, if you stood up and looked over the balcony, we would say ours was partial, as we had one of the buildings right in front, which took away the experience. The layout of the room was great and the bathroom was in our opinion the 4 star, as it provided the little things, like shower gel in the shower and makeup remover and cloth for those that needed it. The facilities in the main bedroom let it down, there was breakfast tea, instant coffee sachets,3 max and sugar sachets, however this should have been fresh tea leaves, with a choice of type, plus a cafetiere and filter coffee, to be 4 star, plus we had to constantly go to reception to get additional coffee, as they kept forgetting to fill back up, like they expect you to buy your own, rather than them supply.
The food, well that's hit and miss and they charge 4 star prices for 2-3 star food and as long as you don't have any diary allergies, you'll be ok, as nearly every dish has cheese and will not even make a simple omelette. Breakfast and evening meal are buffet, help yourself, a la carte only lunchtime or bar snacks. Breakfast, you have a choice of three cereals, breads, pastries, cold meats, cheeses, hot food and fresh fruit, usually pineapple, watermelon, orange/grapefruit. Due to restrictions of choice, we did not eat at the hotel in the evening, we went out instead and in our own opinion, the best meal we ate at the hotel, which was the one time we ate an evening meal, which was from the barbecue that they do once a week.
Pool, does have a shallow and very deep section, but the beds are very close to each other, with not enough, for the amount of guests staying, if they hadn't have opted to go to the beach and if you like the sun and the person next to you puts up their brolly, well you'll instantly be in the shade.
Beach, the nearest route down is overgrown, so have to turn left and go 5-10mins walk down the road and along side of Princess hotel to get to, near bus stop 16.
Eating out, either turn left and go down to the tavernas near the Princess hotel, which is also where nearest supermarket is, or turn right and go up the hill and down to next section of tavernas and supermarket, which in our opinion, has one of the better tavernas, Zorba the Greek, with traditional Greek music playing, rather than English speaking songs, but do play occasionally and freshly grown vegetables and herbs. This route definitely keeps you fit, or in our case, slightly out of breath, but well worth the food experience and the walk back gets rid of some of the calories you've just eaten.
Excursions, island hopping is well worth the experience to see and walk round Skopelos and Allonosis. If you want to visit the monastery, cheaper to hire a Jimmy for the day, definately need 4x4, due to steep and in places rubble rutted roads, cost us 150 euros for three days, which the hotel can arrange for you and you pay the car hire company when they deliver, make sure you have cash or card that doesn't need you to insert to put pin in, as they do not have card machines that allow for that, only card machines that you tap cards. To go into the monastery is free, just 2 euros each for their museum, which is worth a look around and the shop sells locally produced oils, preserves and nik naks.
Skiathos Town, is worth a wonder and ladies, if you forget to pack a certain colour bra, or need more underwear, go into Skiathos down, walk along the docks and turn right between the tavernas, to get to the shops behind, go right along, near the end, past the Lobby bar and two or three shops down is Mapia (Maria) with swimwear out front and in back are all the underwear, extremely helpful shop. Lovely shops for both male and female cloths, usual swimwear, fridge magnets, etc.
Exchange, you can now only exchange money in banks, which are closed over the weekends, the government has taken this away from local shops to be able to offer, so either ensure you have enough funds, or have access to your money from ATMs, which depending on who you bank with, may or may not charge a fee for drawing out.
Buses, well they run the length of the island, every 10mins or so, from the airport to koukounaries beach, with stops every 500 metres, stops 16 or 17 to get to the Atrium, unless you need to go to the supermarket on the way back, which is stop 16, if you don't need to stop for anything we would suggest getting off at 17 and walking down the hill, rather than up from 16. Cost from Skiathos main bus stop by dock to hotel cost 2 euros each one way. Taxi cost 20 euros one way, ordered through hotel, may cost more from other direction.
Note, none of the buses go to the width of the island, only the length, so will need 4x4 to explore the other side.
GB