Corfu is one of the lesser known Greek islands. Located Northwestern of mainland Greece, Corfu doesn’t have the iconic barren landscape and blue-white buildings typical of Greek islands.
The island is filled with olive trees, 2 million to be exact. It is known for its unique Lianolia breed of olive trees.
As the starting point of our 3 month long Europe trip, we’ve decided to visit this unique island and stay at some of its interesting and luxurious properties.
Booking
We booked a room at Domes Miramare, Corfu with our 50,000 free night certificates. October is generally a low season on the Greek islands. Therefore, our room was only going at 43,000 Marriott points and US$190 a night.
This wasn’t a particularly great redemption, but we had to do it anyway as our certificates were expiring. The Domes Miramare Corfu also looked like a great place to use the certificates.
Jade Suite
During check in, the staff informed us that they were upgrading us a level to the Jade Suites.
2 distinct sections separates the Domes Miramare. The first section is on the hills with all the standard rooms. The other section is near the beach, where all the suites were. As we were staying in the suites, we had an almost direct access to the beach from our room.
The suite is 420 sqft large, with a separated living room and bed room. There is 1 bath room in each bed room, making the suite suitable for families to stay in.
As welcome gifts, we were given a bottle of sparkling wine, some fruits and Loukoumia which is a traditional Greek sweet.
There were 2 large 50” TVs in the suite. However, the one in the bedroom was not working during our stay. M and I typically do not use the TV during our stays anyway, so it didn’t bother us at all.
The bathroom in our suite is large, but to our surprise does not come with a bath tub. On the other hand, it comes with a rain shower which was one of the more powerful ones we’ve experienced.
I’d gladly take a powerful rain shower over the bath tub any day.
Bathroom amenities are provided by Eau De Magnolia, an up and coming brand founded in 2014.
Amenities
Swimming Pools
There are 2 swimming pools at Domes Miramare, with 1 on the hill and one by the beach. As it was low season, and most guests shifted to the suites, the pool on the hill was noticeably empty when we visited.
The pool by the beach was where most of the guests were during our stay.It was also slightly heated, which was perfect considering that the temperatures were around 19° in the day time.
There are plenty of lounge chairs available if you’re looking to relax by the pool or the beach.
Gym
There are 2 gyms at Domes Miramare, an outdoor gym right by the beach and and indoor gym, located on the hill where the standard rooms are.
The outdoor gym felt like a gimmick with only a couple of dumbbells and punching bag. I instead got a quick work out at the indoor gym. Even so, there were only a dumbbell rack, a couple of threadmills and some standard weights machines.
Breakfast
During our time of visit, every room rate comes with complimentary breakfast, including redemptions. This was great for us as we were travelling off-season and many restaurants nearby were already closed for the season.
The Makris Buffet Restaurant, located beside the main lobby, serves daily breakfast. Guests can choose to sit indoors or outdoors which directly faces the sea.
There was a reputable selection of food available. It was very standard greek breakfast foods, with ham, yoghurts and milk dominating most of the available options.
There was also an omelette counter where you can order custom omelettes. However, I find that the greek take on omelette is a tad too sweet and milky.
Conclusion
We’d highly recommend Domes Miramare, Corfu to anyone is travelling to the northern Greek island. The high service standards, coupled with modern luxurious facilities make it one of the better resorts we’ve been to in the past couple of months.
We’d recommend visiting during the shoulder seasons of late September to early October as the cash rates are significantly lower, and comes with complimentary breakfast. The weather will also be more pleasant as temperatures can reach a high of 40 degrees in the depths of summer.
