Every country has its peculiarities. If you’re travelling with children, kids are already full of surprises – you don’t need more from your vacation rental to trip-up your travel plans. What are the less obvious things to look out for so you don’t get caught off-guard in Greece?
An “air conditioned holiday home” without air conditioning in bedrooms
When my husband said there was air conditioning in his parent’s home in Evia, I was a little surprised to discover that meant one air conditioning unit to cool all three bedrooms in the apartment. So everyone sleeps with the doors open at night.
Most Greeks are not big on air conditioning, and are quick to cite its health-inducing hazards, from stiff necks to sore backs. Raised in Singapore (also dubbed the air-conditioned nation), where we have learned to expertly dodge the sweltering year-round heat and humidity, I need an air conditioner in my bedroom in summer.
If you’re anything like me, check to ensure that air conditioning units are in all the bedrooms you need them in. You can sometimes tell from pictures, or ask your host. And while summer nights are usually cool enough in Greece to sleep with the windows open, who’s ready to wake with the sun on a holiday?
Cycladic villas with one-too-many child-unfriendly features
Cycladic houses have a unique beauty for me. Shaped by necessity, cubic shapes and minimal lines used little resources in spartan conditions of the time, while an all-white façade is heat reflective in the blistering summer sun.
Children, however, were clearly not a design priority. Staircases often have no railings, while balconies have low slung rails with child-sized gaps in between. And then there’s concrete everywhere – built-in sofas made of concrete, concrete bedside tables, concrete wardrobes, concrete walls for shower cubicles, concrete floors…it’s all just a little harder on falls than wood and other softer material alternatives.
Of course, we don’t mean to suggest avoiding Cycladic houses altogether – just look out for the features that are important to you, depending on where you are at with your children.
Floor plans with odd layouts, particularly with multi-level units
Many Airbnbs in Greece were designed for the sole purpose of serving as a holiday home to rent. As a result, some have unusual layouts that are not quite ideal for long-term living. A recent beach house in Paros had the third bedroom connected to other areas by an external staircase – quite beyond the point of booking a three-bedroom apartment for us. And if you need to be next door to sleeping infants and toddlers, check to make sure you have two bedrooms on the same level for this.
Bedrooms in basements (unless you like bedrooms in basements)
I’ve often booked a three-bedroom villa for a tidy sum, only to find myself disappointedly descending into not-quite-so idyllic basement-level rooms on the arrival house tour. Not the end of the world, but something I try to avoid. Particularly since, ambience aside, basements tend to get musky and attract dirt when windows open up into the ground level. Look closely at the window placement of bedrooms in featured photos to avoid a similar disappointment. If they are placed in a strangely high position, this is likely to be a basement-level room.
Why does this happen in Greece? “Agricultural” land plots (also allowed to accommodate commercial facilities like hotels) allow for a maximum allocation of built-up area, in addition to a maximum of two floors. Clever developers try to maximise this allocation by converting basements into room space, inserting small windows at the top to make them more pleasing. Others do a more impressive job by digging extensively around the entire house to create a sunken area. And while they even manage to put in full doors and full windows here, these are essentially basement-level rooms.
