Eleonas
Just perfect : The setting, the views, the meals, the welcome you get...
Less so : The village of Rovies is not particularly charming.
Just perfect : The setting, the views, the meals, the welcome you get...
Less so : The village of Rovies is not particularly charming.
Prices in Euro per room per night (taxes included)
Breakfast is included in the prices
The prices are valid until 31 December 2010, but may be subject to change – please verify prices when you make your reservation
Greece’s second biggest island, Evia, is one of its most beautiful, but also one of its least discovered by tourists. There are some beach resorts, but most of this mountainous island has remained blissfully wild and unexploited.
Some ten years ago, Marina and Stefanos Vallis relocated with their children from Athens to Rovies, a seaside village in northern Evia, to enjoy a simpler and healthier outdoors lifestyle on the family olive grove estate. A few years later they thought of sharing their new way of life with others. They picked a spot in the middle of the beautiful 36-hectare olive grove to build Eleonas, which became a wonderfully quiet, rural retreat where Marina and Stefanos visibly enjoy having people to stay. At Eleonas you can learn about the olive harvest, the production of olive oil and the preparation of olives (weekdays only) or sign up for a week-long "all about the olive" programme during the harvest period (end of October).
Eleonas is built on a hill overlooking the olive grove which stretches all the way to the sea. It consists of two buildings: one with the guest quarters, and a second, smaller, with a cosy living and a dining room. Both are newly built in an attractive Mediterranean style. They were not designed to impress, but simply to please. The rooms are comfortable, very well cared for and nicely done with little touches such as the old photographs of the beginning of the oil production in the 1960s, but without any excessive decoration or luxury. The living room has a roaring fireplace in the winter, while in the summer it opens up to a large terrace overlooking the impressive expanse of the olive grove below. For dinner, you can choose between some simple country dishes prepared with the freshest of ingredients, and with the ever-present olive always in sight. Breakfast similarly consists of home-baked bread (including olive bread!), excellent coffee, freshly prepared juices, and perfectly boiled eggs.
Eleonas is an unassuming, honest, lovely place, where you can relax and enjoy a slower pace of life.
Throughout the estate there are signed paths so that guests can wander around. You will be given a map with 3 proposed routes and can guide yourself. There is also the opportunity for Bird Watching as there is an observation on the Estate and you can use the dioptre or borrow some binoculars, it simply needs a little patience and time. You can also learn a little about Astronomy with the help of Marina and of course Olives!
Your experiences
* "I couldn´t have been happier"
Finding your greece was like discovering the diamond in the rough. I am not one for staying in big mainstream hotels as I like the unique personal qualities of smaller hotels. yourGreece supplies many wonderful options that otherwise one might never discover. Working through email with them was easy and I felt like I was being taken care of. I ended up at a beautiful small hotel Eleonas on the island of Evias and couldn´t have been happier. It was exactly as yourGreece described it; there were no hidden horrors. It was beautiful, relaxing and the owners were very sweet. For me it was perfect. So thank you to the people at yourGreece for setting up such an easy way to access these special gems.
Mckenzie M,
USA
Open
All year
Rates
From 120 Euro
For further information regarding rates and booking periods please go to the tab ''On line booking''.
Rooms
10 doubles
Breakfast
From 8.30 onwards
Restaurant
Open for dinner
Only for guests
Notes
Dogs not allowed
Room facilities
En-suite shower or bath
Telephone
Refrigerator in most rooms
Air conditioning
Other facilities
Sitting room with a fireplace
Playroom with television
Garden/terraces
Parking
Distances
Airport: 180 km
Harbour: Edipsou, 20 km
Sea: 600 m
Beach: 600 m
Shops: in Rovies, 1 km.
Restaurants: 1 km.
Nearest town: Halkida, 94 km
How to get there
Cross the suspension bridge to Evia at Halkis and follow signs for northern Evia, Agios Ioannis, Kirinthos, Limni and Rovies. Alternatively, follow the national road up to Arkitsa and take the ferry to Edipsos (45 min), from where you take the coastal road towards Rovies. From Rovies you call Eleonas and you will be picked up.
Activities
Participate in the walks, bird watching or astronomy as they are all free and available once you arrive. Eleonas are happy to give you further local information upon arrival.
You can use Eleonas simply as a base for relaxing beach holidays, and make trips to nearby fishing villages, waterfalls in Drimona, the hot spas of Edipsou, A Folklore museum in Limni, Nautilus Museum in Agiokampos and other museums in Istiaia and Kerasia. At about half an hour by car, there is a place to go horse riding.
On the hillside in the middle of an olive grove, near the sea.

