Our stay at On the Rocks was one of the nicest holiday rental experiences my family and I have ever had. John and Emmanuela have thought of every detail in outfitting their home for guests. The property is beautiful with stunning views of the sea and a short walk to Valmas Beach, the perfect spot for any afternoon or morning swim. The hosts are very accommodating and helped us with car rentals and picking us up at the port. They curated wines for us and invited us into their homes for coffee and biscuits. The property is well stocked with grills, beach toys, games, cooking basics and they supply bread and water every day. The host live on the property and are easy to contact in case of any problem but they are not intrusive in any way. They employee two cleaners who straighten up the house daily. They were both very nice and helpful.
We found Ios to be fantastic. We were a large group of 12 people; adults, kids, and teens. We were a little concerned about the party reputation of the islands but we found that it did not start until well after we were asleep.. We were able to enjoy Chora, nice restaurants and bars that were geared towards a more mature clientele and the presence of the youthful party scene added to the vibrancy of the island. We were there at the end of June so things were still pretty quiet. We found that while a car is not necessary, it made our trip more enjoyable as it allowed us to take day trips to the islands other beaches. I found the walk into Chora to be pleasurable but others in my group thought it was too far. We chartered a boat one day with Stelio’s Boat Tours. We had gotten the name from our hosts. The owner was an experienced boatman from Ios and took us to several remote beaches for snorkeling and swimming. This was a trip highlight.
There are very few criticisms I can make about this rental. I will add a couple suggestions for the owners but by no means did the lack of these items cause us any real inconvenience.
- Magnets or hooks to lock the windows open would be nice. The wind is strong so leaving them ajar without a means to secure them doesn’t work.
- An outdoor shower would be a nice touch. There are spigots to wash the sand off your feet but an outdoor shower would be better and seems like it would be an easy add
- A way to hang towels outside would be helpful. Because of the winds our towels were always on the ground and never quite dried.
That’s it. Everything else was wonderful.
