Rigas Boutique Hotel & Spa

We enjoyed an amazing two week holiday at Rigas in August with the family (3 sea view rooms - family consisting of grandparents + 2 teenagers). Our rooms were all together & had beautiful views of the pool (great for watching the amazing sunrise if you wake up early). They were spotlessly clean (& cleaned daily), had tea & coffee makings facilities, mini fridge, tv, ceiling fan, very efficient air conditioning, blackout curtains, mosquito net on the patio door and balcony with outdoor furniture. We opted for Bed and Breakfast and this was the right choice for us as it gave us the freedom to explore Afytos at night to eat. Breakfast is wonderful both in choice and quality, and the views from the breakfast room are stunning, The choice & quality of restaurants within walking distance of the hotel are great, and there is something for everyone. We also ate at the Hotel Restaurant (Tuna Concept) twice and have to say the food was excellent (perhaps a little more expensive than in the village but worth it). We always returned to the hotel bar for cocktails/drinks after our evening out and my son used to have the chocolate soufflé which he highly recommends! I have to say that the hotel staff are the very best. Absolutely everyone is helpful, happy and they smile all the time - they appear to really enjoy their work and want to make everyone’s holiday special. They work incredibly hard over long hours but still have time to chat. One night during our stay they had a large greek wedding reception at the hotel and still managed to look after us! The sandy beach is a short walk away and can be reached in three ways - short, steep ‘track’ just below the hotel; steps just along the front or via the road from the centre of Afytos. Teenagers opted for the track everyday and grandparents (fit 70 year olds) went for the steps! You will need beach shoes to swim in the sea as there are rocks in the shallows and sea urchins. We did spend one day by the pool (we just prefer the beach) when my mum and daughter has a spa trea**ent (they said this was pure bliss!) and this was a relaxing, chilled day and the views from the sun loungers are beautiful. They were plenty of loungers, umbrellas and bean-bags and we didn’t need to rush to reserve our beds! As this was our first time in Halkidiki we did hire a car for a few days. We explored a little more of the Kassandra Peninsula (Pefkohori, Kriopigi & Possidi) but all agreed that Afytos was the perfect place to stay as it has the very best of everything - beautiful beach, stunning views, fabulous sunrises, pretty village, great food and the most amazing Rigas Boutique Hotel!

The Rigas hotel Afytos is a cliff top boutique hotel just a short walk to the town centre. The hotel itself comprises a couple of accommodation blocks that hug the cliff line, a pool deck, spa, restaurant and bar, all with modern styling and good free WiFi throughout. Hotel staff are really helpful and friendly but we did have a few concerns with the set-up. The rooms are stylish, but noisy. You can literally hear every conversation and door close along the corridor when laying in bed which did result in being woken up before I planned. The bar and restaurant has an amazing view and offers breakfast and dinner for those included, or paid for brunch, snacks and meals. When purchasing we found the fare similar to pretty much every restaurant in Afytos, but overpriced by 1/3. (Caesar salad €14, everywhere else in town €9, chicken club sandwich €14 Vs €9, bottle of wine €28 Vs €18, glass of wine €7 Vs €4). This was a shame as the elevated pricing put us off using this more. I note the hotel has replied to other reviews that have commented on pricing by being comparable to Thessaloniki. This is a city over an hour away so a little misleading. The pool deck is a really good concept, but it's a bit shabby with ripped beds & umbrellas, the latter is not too much of a problem as the deck is mostly in shade come the afternoon. If you want a refreshing dip in the pool, they'll certainly take your breath away as the pools are unheated (very, very, very cold). Being close to the the town is a big plus point, stepping out for lunch or a drink is a two minute walk. We stayed a week, but given the points above I feel the hotel would be more suited to a mini break. Overall, location, friendliness and style - top notch. Noise and bar/restaurant pricing - troublesome.

Lovely hotel with a great pool area. Food and restaurant were lovely. Staff were excellent throughout. Our room was nice with a comfortable bed and a great view out to sea. The only downside was that we had an issue with the flush on our toilet all week which wasn’t resolved despite several attempts. This is why I gave the hotel an average score. Location is great, just 5 minutes into the lovely village and 10 minutes walk down to the beach. The beach itself is ok, there are far nicer beaches in Greece though. Not many sun beds available either.

One of the most perfect hotels we have ever stayed in. A beautiful setting with the most incredible view across the sea and the neighbouring peninsula and literally 2 minutes walk in to the village. The hotel is really modern and nicely decorated, with high quality finishes - definitely worth booking a sea view room for a more comfortable and luxurious bedroom. The on-site restaurant is one of the best in Afitos and the food and drink choice at breakfast and lunchtime is great and varied. Most importantly, all the staff are just incredible - they are so warm and friendly and can’t do enough to help.

This was my second visit to Rigas boutique hotel, I was there in June with girlfriends and loved it so much, I wanted to visit again with my husband. It is a beautiful, stylish hotel with stunning sea views. The staff are so welcoming and greet everyone with a smile. Everyone works hard to create an extra special place and I cannot wait to return next year.

This hotel is lovely beautiful views , all rooms are sea view , we stayed in the old part of hotel which is super clean but the bathroom needs replacing it’s corroded around bath , the shower is at a funny angle so water everywhere, there are no drawers in room but plenty of wardrobe space, I went in the newer rooms which were so much better they had a walk in shower, ours was a bath with a shower in which isn’t great . You are provided with pool towels but if you want a replacement it cost 1 euro I have never had to pay for towels in any other hotel. Breakfast has everything, cereal/ nuts / fruit / pastries/ cooked breakfast, the food in hotel is good if you want lunch or evening meal . There is a village 5 min walk away with lots of restaurants the best one was called Sousourada a little more expensive but worth the extra cost . The beach is a long way down and a hard slog back up so not easy if you are less mobile. The beds on the beach 30 euro for 2 beds and umbrella at the front 20 euro for back beds found them expensive. Staff are very friendly at the hotel. I would of given this hotel 5 stars if the bathroom was better and if there was no charge for towels.

Lovely hotel, great staff, great location, great view from the pool. Booked to go back before we even came home. The local amenities are within 5 minutes walk. There are plentiful places to eat, and loads of shops.

After reading all of the reviews and looking at the photos we decided that after the horrendous past couple of years, we’ve all experienced, the Rigas Hotel was the right place for us. The staff are special, they were always happy, polite and obliging, nothing was too much trouble. They would definitely get 5*. The public area of the hotel was nice, spotlessly clean, not too fussy and relaxed. The view is captivating and always changing. However our bedrooms fell way short of what we expected, or what the photos led us to believe we would be getting. Our first room, 26, definitely has a plumbing issue. The seal around the shower screen leaks and runs down the side of and under the door. Because of this, overtime the laminated flooring outside the bathroom has risen and we were always catching our feet on it. The shower screen was corroded, the bathroom door was mouldy and there was a damp smell and when the toilet was flushed the water came to the top of the toilet pan (no we didn’t put paper down there). After 4 days we asked to be moved and were given room 36. The bathroom was slightly better, but the air con didn’t work and the ceiling fan sounded like a chinook helicopter. After a of couple days and nights of no air con or fan we were told the only way we could have the air con on was for the reception to override it which meant it was permanently on. The ceiling fan was eventually made quieter, although we didn’t need it because we had 24/7 air con. The breakfast was average, and two mornings when we were at breakfast the coffee/tea machine wasn’t working. The pool area and bar food was very good, although there was a day when the pool was closed all day for cleaning. Yes, there are pool towels, but if you ask for a clean one (which as we were there for 2 weeks I didn’t think was unreasonable) then there is a 1 euro non-refundable charge per towel. We had two evening meals, one on our first night and the other because there was a storm. Our preference was to eat in the village; there is a really good choice of restaurants to suit all budgets and tastes. The Rigas is advertised a 4* boutique hotel, but the bedrooms are tired and in need of a complete revamp. Would we return, not as it is now. Overall disappointed.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week in Rigas. The breakfast is very good, plenty of pastries, greek yoghurt, fruit, eggs, bacon, even donuts etc. Pools are lovely albeit a bit cold - the beach is about 15-20 min walk away and sea is fantastic (and warm), we went snorkelling every day as the waters are crystal clear. Afytos village is a few mins walk away and absolutely bustling from 8pm-1am - plenty of restaurants, bars, ice cream parlours, shops... There was an incident where we were served raw chicken at lunchtime and the member of staff didn't seem to want to deal with it - maybe it was a matter of lost in translation, but it did put a bit of a dampener on things and put us off having any more meals at the restaurant. All in all we had a fab holiday and would recommend this hotel, the location is amazing.