Wish I could give 4.5 stars, instead of 4. It was very good indeed. Agelos is a hero, he never gets flustered or bad tempered and yet the man works round the clock - including coming to the airport to pick up guests which is a huge benefit. His wife and daughters who work with him are also fantastic.
The hotel is spotless, the rooms are cleaned daily to a very high standard, with frequent clean towels and sheets. We had room 304 on the top floor with two rooms, two balconies and space for 4 to sleep. For two of us it was bliss to have this much space. There was plenty of hanging and storage room and the furniture and fittings were all really good quality and everything worked perfectly. The beds had proper mattresses, not foam and were very comfortable. We had a good view of the sea.
What could have been better? A few little things - at breakfast a toaster for the bread, and also tomatoes, cucumber and feta as I've seen in other Greek hotels would be good - but there was plenty and the variety wasn't bad, though there were few changes through the week. The evening food was good, but it would be better if the menu had prices on (the costs were fine compared to other local places so there was nothing to hide) - and it would be worth writing up the specials each day on the board. The local wine was totally drinkable, but the prices at Arkadia were a lot higher for this than at other local places which was a great shame. The bar/restaurant played music when it was open which was fine, but we weren't as keen when the music was also relayed through speakers fixed just below either side of our balcony.
The hotel is fairly isolated - Vardiola restaurant and beach are 5-10 minutes walk away to the left, while to the right there is first an isolated cove then after 5 minutes another beach which is attached to the Eleon Grand resort. Very strange to come across as it is a very busy all-inclusive hotel. I do not recommend going in there as we were treated like criminals for asking if non-residents could use their spa (more details on a review I wrote about them!). We liked the fish restaurant (does other things too but that's how they describe themselves) another 5 minutes past the Vardiola. Zakynthos is a very green island, covered in olive groves. There's almost an Italian feel which makes sense as it was Italian for a few hundred years. Unfortunately the 1953 earthquake which destroyed much of neighbouring Kefalonia (see 'Captain Corelli's Violin'...) also destroyed almost everything old on Zakynthos which limits the sightseeing a little. We hired a car and found the Northern end of the Island best. The nearest resort is Tsivili which seemed like a mini-Benidorm after Arkadia, but we didn't have to go there!
