Villa 1870

Hotel review

Villa 1870 is a beautifully restored traditional five bedroom villa with sea views just to the north of Corfu town. Formerly the home of a wealthy Corfiot family, it was left abandoned for several decades, before being lovingly reborn as an exclusive luxury retreat by husband and wife team Dimitris and Nancy Kyriakis.
The restoration is sympathetic, retaining all the features of its former grandeur, while introducing the mod cons required to create a contemporary hideaway - for example a heated seawater pool overlooking the Ionian Sea and a state of the art games room for teenagers to colonise. Interiors have been remodelled by Nancy, with hand made artworks sourced locally, traditional stone and tiled flooring, light airy rooms, and bright colours. The villa is surrounded by lush tropical vegetation, and boasts a charming courtyard garden, as well as multi level terraces overlooking the sea.

The house can sleep up to 16, and is a perfect destination for family reunions or small corporate groups. A chef is on hand to provide a full catering service, (there is both a fully equipped family kitchen as well as a separate professional kitchen for event catering, with a carefully curated wine cellar) and a driver and van are on hand to take guests into town or around the island. The owners also have an arrangement with a local skipper with a beautiful 50ft yacht, offering day trips to secluded bays around the island.

Additional services include private swimming and tennis lessons from certified trainers, in-house beauty treatments and a concierge service. For larger groups, there is also a separate detached house available on-site to house a further four guests in their own private space.

Although Corfu is famous as a summer destination, full service 5 star properties like Villa 1870 enable year round tourism, with April/May and September/October great off-season times of year to visit, when rates are also great value.

James Dunford Wood Review published: 2024-09-20