Art Hotel Debono

We stayed at Art Hotel Debono in Gouvia in the first week of September, booked through TUI, and overall had a really lovely holiday. A quick note about arrival: Corfu Airport was extremely busy. We had been warned it would be, and it’s worth being prepared to potentially wait outside after landing — bring water and patience! After clearing customs, we waited over an hour on the transfer bus for other passengers, which felt long after a travel day (especially when you’re hungry). That said, the island isn’t huge, so the actual transfer time once moving wasn’t too bad. The Hotel The hotel itself was absolutely immaculate — one of the cleanest hotels I’ve stayed in. The staff were warm, friendly, and consistently helpful. We stayed in one of the newer bungalows, which was beautiful and peaceful — one of the nicest rooms I’ve experienced. The only minor issue was that the shower didn’t drain particularly well and the bathroom floor flooded slightly, but it didn’t impact our overall enjoyment. The pool area may be a little tired in places, but again, everything was very well maintained and spotless. Food The food was genuinely very good quality, with something different each evening. I don’t eat meat, and there was only one night where I struggled slightly for options. Highlights: • The crêpes Suzette — delicious • The kumquat ice cream — heavenly Location The hotel absolutely deserves its strong reviews. However, the location is something to be aware of. To reach the nearby bars and restaurants in Gouvia, you need to cross a dual carriageway, which isn’t ideal. The immediate area felt a little run down in parts, and the local beach was pebbly and fairly basic. Because of this, I would highly recommend hiring a car for a couple of days (if you’re confident driving — some of the roads are quite narrow and winding). We hired a car and visited: • Afionas — a beautiful village with stunning views • Monastere Restaurant in Paleokastritsa — pricey but worth it for the sunset and quality of food • Corfu Town — highly recommended. Beautiful architecture, lovely shops, and a wonderful place to wander. Final Thoughts Check-in felt slightly long-winded, though that may have been influenced by a long travel day. Some travellers may prefer arranging a private transfer to avoid airport waiting times. Overall, I would definitely recommend Art Hotel Debono for its cleanliness, peaceful atmosphere, lovely staff, and high food standards. Just consider the location and plan accordingly.

This week away, for some warm weather and sunshine, certainly did not disappoint. The hotel has been refurbished in the not too distant past. The standard throughout is very high. The room was of a very good standard, very well maintained and the room maid was very good, always helpful and friendly. The restaurant, was on the smaller side, compared to many hotels, was very good, with a great food selection and was always extremely good, Staff throughout the hotel, were friendly and helpful. The hotel is a real "hidden gem," although the surrounding area is somewhat rundown. There is too much litter away from the hotel, which is not an issue if you stay within the hotel grounds. It is just an observation, from my point of view.

Just returned from a wonderful week at Art Hotel Debono. We were upgraded to the best room ever….bungalow junior suite, it was very clean, spacious, quiet, large balcony with fabulous views about 100 metres from the main hotel. All the staff were friendly and helpful especially the ladies on reception. The food was so good, could have been a little warmer, however, the taste made up for it, half board was great value for money. Large pool (not very deep though) with plenty of sun beds too. The only thing we didn’t like was Gouvia…not much there for us, although it was easy and cheap to get to Corfu Town by bus, (hotel sells tickets) which was really lovely.

Beautiful hotel with comfortable rooms . Very clean all round . Staff all very friendly and seemed happy in their work . Food was great and plentiful . The slow cooked lamb was divine !!! Fabulous little hotel for a week of late summer sun . Tennis court fencing could do with some maintenance as our balls kept escaping through holes !

The hotel is beautiful but certain points let it down but I would definitely recommend staying here. You could stand at the bar for 10 minutes and no one will come to serve you despite reception being next to it. Numerous times we didn’t bother and just walked off. While we were at the hotel we could see how dirty the pool was getting, no one really seemed to do much cleaning. The mould around the edges got progressively worse and even a grotty clump of tissue wasn’t moved all of our stay plus weeds around the spa started taking over. However the design is beautiful. The whole hotel design is gorgeous and it sparkles. On our arrival despite us being 3 hours late we were greeted with a friendly smile and a picnic waiting for us as the restaurant was closed. Most of the staff were really nice but some had faces that said they really didn’t want to be there. We were in the main hotel room 236 and the maid did a brilliant job and was always friendly. Our room overlooked the lovely gardens and was very peaceful. Food was great with plenty of choice and Sunday night is BBQ night. You get a couple of cats wandering round the outside part of the restaurant and the hotel has signs up saying not to feed the cats, despite this a female guest was bringing tinned cat food in and fed them under her table, then she’d dish more out and place it at the outer edge of the restaurant and the staff just ignored it. Maybe it was the time of year but if you eat or just have a drink at the pool bar you’re sure to have a visit from bees or wasps, they are a bit of a nightmare.One of the drawbacks to the hotel is its position in Gouvia, it has very few safe paths to use and the local drivers see pedestrians more of a target than something to avoid. We took a torch as it can be quite a dark walk in the evenings, we had read reviews about how bad it was. You do have to be prepared to walk into Gouvia as there are no bars or shops on the street. You also occasionally get road noice from boy racers. I know it isn’t the hotels fault but having to pay the tourist tax really makes my blood boil, €140 for our 2 week stay and you know the money won’t be spent anything useful like the sewage system or street lighting in the area.