To those who wonder why this accommodation entry is posted as an experience, it’s for two reasons – firstly, 500 words isn’t enough to convey the superb stay we enjoyed here and secondly, it was just that – an wonderful experience and display of local…Read More

To those who wonder why this accommodation entry is posted as an experience, it’s for two reasons – firstly, 500 words isn’t enough to convey the superb stay we enjoyed here and secondly, it was just that – an wonderful experience and display of local Greek hospitality, rather than merely a bed for the night.

We were first told about this simple but comfortable guest house on our first trip to Kalymnos two years earlier,. We had been sitting on the tour boat heading out to the island on a day trip in 2002 and had struck up a conversation with a New Zealander who had stayed in the pension on a previous trip and really sang its praises. Once we had berthed, he very kindly showed us where it was and we made a mental note to investigate further should a longer trip to the island ever be on the agenda.

Well, the longer trip was upon us. We had only decided on our itinerary at the last minute as there were so many islands we wanted to explore but Kalymnos had always beckoned again. We had booked the room by telephone from the UK just a couple of weeks prior to arriving and as such, did not have one of the lovely balconied rooms that looked across the rooftops to the harbour. But we didn’t mind at all. The pension sits in the Amoudara area of Pothia, to the north west of the harbour and on one of the concentric rings of buildings that overlooks the town.

The pension owner, a Mrs Flaskou was the epitome of kindness and caring and wanted to know all about us as soon as we arrived on her doorstep. That’s what I like about the Greeks; polite, inquisitive about foreigners, but NEVER nosey. One word sums this up – “filoxenia” or “love of the stranger”, one word that means both stranger and guest.

Mrs Flaskou showed us to our room which was clean and cool in the afternoon heat albeit rather garishly decorated. We had a comfortable double bed, a chest with several drawers, a wardrobe, a couple of chairs and a small en-suite bathroom with shower and toilet, everything we could possibly ask for.

Mrs Flaskou gave us an hour or so to freshen up before she returned to knock at the door. “Would you care to dine with us tonight”, she asked, “as our guests?”. Well, what could we say, such wonderful hospitality towards two people she’d known for barely an hour. Of course, we accepted her generous offer and sat down later at 9.30pm to a marvellous feast of lamb, chicken, fish and vegetables, all washed down with a lovely wine from one of the local co-operatives on Kos.

We stayed at the Greek House for three nights and felt as though we were so at home. Mrs Flaskou just couldn’t do enough for us and although all her few rooms were full, I got the feeling that she’d taken a bit of a shine to us. We certainly didn’t see any other Brits here during our stay so maybe that was why, who knows?

Well, the morning of our departure arrived all too quickly and we bade goodbye to Mrs Flaskou somewhat sadly and reluctantly. She had looked after us so well and had told us that we could have dined with her for the second and third evenings if we had wanted for which she would only have charged us whatever the food had cost her.

If I recall correctly, we ended up paying just 90 euros for our three-night stay which we thought to be great value for money, given the friendliness of the owner. The room was great, the food wonderful and the hospitality unsurpassed.
To contact the Greek House call Mrs Flaskou on 02430 23752. I really hope that she still owns it...Close