Apollonion Asterias Resort & Spa
Apollonion Asterias Resort & Spa is a large five-star resort on the quiet Paliki Peninsula in west Kefalonia, two connected complexes sharing gardens, pools and restaurants above the red sand of Xi Beach. Families come for the aqua park next door, the largest water attraction on the island, a shallow beach that suits toddlers and a calm countryside setting away from the busier east coast.
On this page
Is it worth it?
The quick read before the detail: who it suits, how it is laid out and the facts to skim first.
Apollonion Asterias is a large five-star resort in quiet countryside on the Paliki Peninsula, the western lobe of Kefalonia. It is really two connected complexes on one site, the original Apollonion from 2010 and the newer Asterias from 2019, sharing one set of restaurants, pools and gardens. What sets it apart for families is the aqua park right next door, the largest water attraction on Kefalonia, with three big slides, a children’s splash zone, a relaxation pool and a lazy river. You can book it on bed and breakfast, half board or all inclusive.
Set against that, it isn’t on the beach: Xi Beach is a walk downhill, and the grounds run over slopes and steps, so it suits a family who wants a pool-and-slides holiday more than one who needs flat ground and sand on the doorstep. Guests rate it consistently well, around 4.5 out of 5 on TripAdvisor and Google and between 8.4 and 9.2 on the booking sites, with particular praise for the cleanliness, the food and the staff. It is one of the highest-rated hotels in Lixouri.
Best for
You want an aqua-park and pool holiday at five-star level in a calm setting, with cleanliness, food and service that guests rate highly.
Maybe not for
You need babysitting, want a lively resort town on the doorstep or need flat ground and a beach right outside.
Best ages
Babies and toddlers upwards. A shallow beach and a 45 cm splash pool for the littlest, slides and a mini disco for school age.
What stands out
The Asterias Aqua Park next door, plus the gardens and the staff.
What to check
Aqua-park access on your board basis, the children’s club ages and that you have booked the airport transfer separately.
Where is it?
On the southern tip of the Paliki Peninsula above Xi Beach in west Kefalonia, about a two-hour transfer from the airport including the ferry.
Quick facts for families
What the resort is like
Where it sits, how the two complexes are laid out and what the terrain means for getting around.
Apollonion Asterias spreads over 67 acres of gardens on the southern tip of the Paliki Peninsula, in quiet rural countryside above Xi Beach. The grounds are densely planted, with cobblestone paths, stone walls, vine-draped pergolas and off-white buildings under terracotta roofs. It is two complexes on one site, sharing a single entrance and reception and more than 300 rooms, bungalows and suites between them.
The original Apollonion, opened in 2010, holds the main buffet restaurant La Primavera, the main lagoon pool, the children’s splash park, the indoor and outdoor play areas and most of the standard rooms. The newer Asterias, added in 2019, has its own pool and pool bar, the suites and right next door the aqua park. The two sides share the spa, gym, tennis court, the rooftop restaurant and bar, the open-air cinema, the art gallery and the mini-market.
This is a multi-level site with slopes and steps, and the resort’s own guidance asks guests to move carefully across it. A pram works, but there is no shuttle or golf buggy to call, so you push it up and down the slopes yourself, and a baby carrier is worth having for some areas. Specially adapted rooms and accessible parking are available, and the resort lists the whole site as wheelchair accessible, though the terrain still makes it hillier than a flat, purpose-built family village. There is a mini-market and a cash machine on site for the basics, so you don’t have to leave for milk or sun cream.
Board and all inclusive
The three board bases, what all inclusive covers and where it stops.
You can book on three board bases: bed and breakfast, half board or all inclusive. Book direct and the standard rate includes breakfast and dinner, so half board is the base unless you have agreed otherwise in writing; bed and breakfast is offered through some operators.
On all inclusive, breakfast, lunch and dinner are served as a buffet at La Primavera, with show cooking at breakfast and dinner, and you can ask reception the evening before for a Breakfast-To-Go box. Between meals, the Delice snack area does a salad bar, light snacks, pastries, yoghurt, fruit and ice cream from midday to 5pm. Drinks run to soft drinks, juices, local draught beer, house wine, cocktails, ouzo, brandy and a set list of spirit brands. French champagne, French cognac and premium spirits aren’t included, and the all-inclusive service stops at midnight.
Guests staying seven nights or more get one à la carte dinner a week, at either Trattoria Oliva or La Pergola, from a three-course set menu with a reservation booked ahead. On a fortnight you can’t use the same restaurant twice. Tennis, aqua aerobics, the pools, sunbeds, umbrellas, pool towels and the gym are included; the spa, table tennis, foosball and snooker cost extra even on all inclusive. All-inclusive guests carry a Black Key Card and show it to be served at the outlets.
Meals have a light dress code: casual but tidy, no swimwear indoors except at the poolside Delice and no flip-flops or hats in the restaurants. The official policy is relaxed about shorts, so trousers or shorts are both fine for men at dinner.
Three restaurants, three barsEvery restaurant and bar
There are three restaurants, an all-day snack area and three bars, and every restaurant has high chairs.
La Primavera is the main restaurant, an international and Greek buffet open to every board basis. Breakfast runs 07:30 to 10:30, lunch 12:30 to 14:30 and dinner 19:00 to 22:00, with show cooking at breakfast and dinner. It is the easiest room with young children: no booking, a broad buffet a toddler can be walked to whenever hunger strikes, high chairs and a microwave on hand for warming baby food.
La Pergola is the poolside Greek grill. Lunch is a buffet from midday to 4pm at an extra charge, and dinner is à la carte from 7pm to 10pm every day except Thursday. Its Greek dishes are a recurring favourite in reviews. On all inclusive it is one of the two restaurants you can use for the weekly à la carte dinner, with a reservation.
Trattoria Oliva is the Italian, à la carte on the roof terrace, open for dinner 7pm to 11pm every day except Monday. It carries an extra charge unless you are using your weekly all-inclusive visit, and it needs a reservation booked ahead. In the quieter early and late-season weeks it opens depending on how full the resort is.
Delice is the all-day snack area by the pool, self-service salads, light bites and ice cream from midday to 5pm, included on all inclusive and the one place swimwear is fine at the table.
For drinks, Medeo is the cocktail and pool bar on the Apollonion pool, open 10am to midnight with all-inclusive service until 6pm. The Asterias Pool Bar serves the Asterias pool with cocktails, coffee, cold sandwiches and fruit from 10am to 6pm. The Apollo Music Bar is the adults’ evening bar on the roof terrace, 6pm to midnight, with cocktails, spirits and lounge music.
How booking works
The buffet at La Primavera never needs a reservation, so it is the fallback if a plan falls through. The two à la carte restaurants, Trattoria Oliva and La Pergola, need a table booked in advance, and so does the once-a-week à la carte dinner that comes with all inclusive. The early sittings suit small children and go first, so book them as soon as you can.
Rooms and suites
Every room type with its official size, then the pools, the aqua park and the beach below.
There are twelve room and suite types, six in each complex. The table below lists every one with its official size and how many it sleeps; the guidance after it is which suit a family with a baby or toddler, and why.
| Room | Complex | Size | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Suite | Apollonion | 108 m² | 4 |
| Maisonette Suite | Apollonion | 61 m² | 5 |
| Family Suite | Apollonion | 58 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Family Maisonette | Apollonion | 42 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Triple | Apollonion | 32 m² | 3 |
| Deluxe Double | Apollonion | 30 m² | 3 |
| Premium Suite | Asterias | 45 m² | 3 |
| Junior Suite with Pool | Asterias | 35 m² | 4 |
| Junior Suite with Balcony | Asterias | 35 m² | 4 |
| Premium Family 2-Bedroom Room | Asterias | 41 m² | 4 |
| Premium Family Room | Asterias | 41 m² | 4 |
| Premium Double | Asterias | 31 m² | 3 |
The split that matters most for a family is between the two complexes. Apollonion rooms have marble bathrooms with a bathtub in most categories, which is the easier setup for bathing a baby or toddler; Asterias rooms have walk-in showers and twin sinks instead, with no bath.
For a separate bedroom you can close the door on at nap time, the Family Suite (58 m², sleeps four) and the Maisonette Suite (61 m², sleeps five) are the ones to look at: both give parents and children their own separate sleeping areas. The Maisonette Suite spreads its two bedrooms across two floors, with two bathrooms between them, so there is a bathroom on each level rather than one shared by the whole suite. The Family Suite keeps its two bedrooms on one floor with a single bathroom, and its own private terrace opens straight onto the garden, useful if you want children playing somewhere you can see from the room. The Deluxe Family Maisonette (42 m², sleeps four) is also on two levels, but its upper bedroom is open-plan with no door, so it separates a nap less well than the name suggests; it has a single bathroom with a bathtub and a private balcony. The Maisonette Suite is the only room that sleeps five.
Asterias has two 41 m² family rooms that are easy to confuse. The Premium Family 2-Bedroom Room puts a door between its double bed and the twin-bedded area, so the two sleeping spaces close off from each other; the Premium Family Room has the same double-plus-twin layout but no door between them. Both sleep four, with a shower and twin sinks rather than a bath, and both have a terrace. If a nap space you can close off is what matters most with a baby or toddler, ask for the 2-Bedroom Room by name, since the two look identical on a room list. The Junior Suite with Balcony is the still-water twin of the poolside Junior Suite with Pool, sleeping the same four but swapping the private pool for a balcony with views.
Children aged two to twelve stay free with two adults on an armchair or sofa bed, but only in two room types: the Deluxe Double in Apollonion and the Premium Double in Asterias. The resort’s policy pages sometimes call that Asterias room the Premium Deluxe Asterias, though it is the same 31 m² room. A complimentary cot for babies up to two comes on request and goes next to the parents’ bed; one family travelling in June 2026 found a travel cot sat comfortably beside the bed in an Apollonion room with a large balcony.
Four types have a private pool off the room: the Executive Suite and Maisonette Suite in Apollonion, and in Asterias the Premium Suite (a 29 m² pool) and the Junior Suite with Pool (a 20 m² pool). The Executive Suite is the largest room in either complex at 108 m², with two king bedrooms and a separate living area across two bathrooms, plus three flat-screen TVs between them; its water-jet pool connects through to the shared suite pool. The Premium Suite in Asterias pairs a king bedroom with a living room on a sofa bed, so it sleeps three, and has two bathrooms and sea views alongside its own 29 m² pool. Most rooms share the same kit: a flat-screen satellite TV, air conditioning, a safe, a mini bar on request, a Nespresso machine and kettle, a balcony or terrace, Apivita toiletries, a hairdryer and free Wi-Fi, with bathrobes and slippers in the Apollonion rooms. One thing worth asking about if you are travelling with a pram is ground-floor access, which the resort doesn’t confirm room by room, so check with them directly before you book if stairs would be a problem.
Pools and water features
The resort has two big outdoor pools, a children’s splash park and, next door, the aqua park. The Apollonion main pool is a freshwater lagoon-style pool with a waterfall at one end and the Medeo bar at the other. Sunbeds and parasols surround it, and pool towels come on a card system with a €10 deposit per card. The Asterias pool is a second freshwater pool on the newer side, with its own bar and plenty of loungers, and guests rate it highly for space and cleanliness.
The Splash Park, in the Apollonion complex, is a shallow children’s pool just 45 cm deep with a tipping bucket, water guns, sprinklers and cannons, made for small children.
Next door on its own eight-acre plot is the Asterias Aqua Park, which opened in July 2024, was expanded for 2025 and is marketed as the largest water attraction on Kefalonia. It has an Adventure Pool with three slides (riders must be 120 to 220 cm tall and 30 to 120 kg), a Children’s Splash Zone for smaller children (100 to 150 cm), a 320 m² relaxation pool and a 160 m lazy river; on the slides, height matters more than age. It is open 10:30 to 6pm daily. Entry is complimentary to all in-house guests throughout their stay, with no package or reservation needed, though some tour operators tie it to specific board packages, so confirm your access when you book. No glass is allowed in the aqua-park area, and young children need an adult with them at all times.
A few pool rules apply across the resort: babies in nappies need snug rubber swim pants (ordinary nappies aren’t allowed in the water), everyone showers before getting in, children under 14 must have an adult with them and only small inflatables such as armbands and rings are allowed.
The beach
The resort isn’t on the beach. Xi Beach is a public beach roughly 300 to 550 m away, reached on a gentle downhill road walk; the return is uphill and can be hot work in peak summer. Guests hire sunbeds and umbrellas on the day, and there is a watersports centre and beach bars and tavernas within about fifteen minutes’ walk.
Xi is known for its distinctive reddish-gold sand, coloured by iron-rich clay, and for water that stays very shallow over a gently sloping seabed. That shallow, calm water is what makes it one of the better Kefalonia beaches for toddlers: a small child can paddle a good way out and still be in a few centimetres of water. It doesn’t currently hold Blue Flag status, whatever older tourism listings say. If you want a change, Megas Lakkos beach is about 0.74 km away, closer than Xi, quieter and less developed.
Babies and toddlers
The baby kit, the children’s programme, everything that fills a family day and the days out beyond the gate.
The baby basics are in place: a free cot for under-twos next to the bed, high chairs in every restaurant and a microwave at La Primavera for warming food. One rule catches families out, so it is worth knowing before you pack: nappy-wearing babies need snug rubber swim pants in the pools, not ordinary nappies, and you will need to bring them from home.
Through the day there is a children’s animation programme with its own team, running games, sports and activities. The club itself is aimed at school-age children, though the resort doesn’t publish an age range and the figures quoted around the web don’t agree, so if your child is on the edge of it, check the current ages with the resort directly. For younger ones, and for wet or hot afternoons, Little Apollo is an air-conditioned indoor play area with toys and games for all ages, and Mogli is an outdoor playground beside the open-air cinema. The evening mini disco comes up again and again in reviews as a real highlight for young children.
There is no babysitting or in-room childcare, so an evening out without the children isn’t something the resort can arrange. A few family extras cost more on top of any board basis: the spa (minimum age fifteen), snooker, table tennis and foosball, beach sunbeds, room service and the airport transfer. One charge to budget for is the Climate Resilience Fee of €15 per room per night, which isn’t included in any rate and is paid locally at check-in.
On resortThings to do
Beyond the pools and the aqua park, there is a tennis court and aqua aerobics, both included on all inclusive, and table tennis, foosball, snooker and darts, the first three at an extra charge. For downtime or a rainy hour there is an open-air cinema in the Mogli area for family film nights, an in-house contemporary art gallery and an arcade.
In the evenings the entertainment programme runs a mini disco, live music, karaoke and a DJ, regular from July to mid-September and occasional in May and June, and guests mention a Greek night of traditional music and dancing.
The spa has a sauna, steam room, whirlpool and hydrotherapy, alongside a range of massages and body treatments, open 10am to 7pm at an extra charge, with a minimum age of fifteen; there is a hair and beauty salon on the same terms. The gym is a small 30 m² room with cardio equipment, free to use, open 7am to 6pm, minimum age sixteen.
Off resortThe area and days out
The resort sits in quiet countryside, and there is very little right outside the gate beyond one nearby taverna, so days out mean a short drive or the ferry.
Lixouri, Kefalonia’s second town, is 6.5 km away, about a ten-minute drive: supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, tavernas and an evening square where children play while parents eat. It is the place to go for anything you can’t get at the resort mini-market. Argostoli, the island capital, is 13 km away across the water, a 25 to 30-minute ferry crossing from Lixouri (the ferry runs every 30 minutes in high season, every 15 minutes at peak, for around €2.80 a foot passenger and around €4 for a car). It has a waterfront promenade, an aquarium of local sea life, the scenic Drapano Bridge and wider shops, and makes a good family day out.
Further afield, Melissani Cave, about 45 km away on the east coast, is an underground lake you tour by boat for fifteen or twenty minutes, short and striking enough to suit young children. Myrtos Beach, around 35 km north, is Kefalonia’s most famous view, a dramatic pebble cove, but the steep access and the pebbles underfoot make it better for older children than toddlers or prams. Fiskardo, a preserved Venetian harbour village in the north, is about 57 km and 95 minutes away, a full day out. Closest of all, the most natural day with little ones is Xi Beach itself, or quieter Megas Lakkos nearby. For the wider island, its beaches and when to go, see our Kefalonia guide.
Good to know
The practical and health details, what guests rate and flag, how it compares, the journey in and the weather by month.
On site there is a mini-market and a cash machine, room service from 9am to 9pm and laundry and dry cleaning, both at an extra charge. The nearest pharmacy and supermarket are in Lixouri, 6.5 km away, and nothing is walkable from the resort. If someone falls ill, reception can arrange a doctor to visit the room at your cost, and the policy asks guests who feel unwell to let reception know and stay in their room. The kitchen handles dietary needs well, coeliac guests included, so flag any allergies at check-in and ask for the Maître D’ or head chef.
In July and August the UV index reaches nine, which is very high, so young children need full sun cover through the middle of the day. For anything you can’t pin down before booking, such as the children’s club ages or aqua-park access, the resort is on +30 26710 94400 or [email protected].
What guests sayLoves and gripes
What families love
- The gardens and landscaping, singled out as beautifully kept.
- How clean everything is, across the board.
- The warmth of the staff, with individuals named again and again in reviews.
- The food, from the buffets to La Pergola’s Greek dishes and Trattoria Oliva’s Italian, including careful gluten-free cooking.
- The aqua park, a hit with families since it opened.
- The evening mini disco.
- The outdoor play area for young children.
- The quiet, peaceful west-Kefalonia setting.
- Reliable free Wi-Fi throughout.
Common gripes
- It isn’t beachfront: the 300 to 550 m walk to Xi is uphill and hot on the way back in summer.
- The aqua park doesn’t open until 10:30, which some parents of early risers found late.
- No Do Not Disturb signs, so one family had housekeeping come in during a child’s nap.
- Check-in can be slow and crowded at busy arrival times.
- The isolated setting, with next to no shops or cafes nearby, so you need transport to Lixouri.
One older, isolated complaint is worth keeping in proportion. A strongly negative review from late September 2025, near the end of the season, stands alone: nothing else from that period repeats it, so it reads as a one-off rather than a seasonal pattern.
Against the other Kefalonia resortsHow it compares
Within Kefalonia, the closest comparison is the Ionian Sea Hotel & Aqua Park down the Lixouri peninsula, which also pairs an aqua park with a red-sand beach but rates lower with guests, around 7.6 against Apollonion Asterias’s 8.4 to 9.2, and Apollonion Asterias has the more premium rooms. Apostolata Island Resort, over on the developed east coast at Skala, has a strong all-inclusive and more reviews behind it, plus a shuttle down its hillside, but no aqua park and a busier, more built-up setting. For families who would rather have calm than a slides-and-animation holiday, the boutique-scale Emelisse Nature Resort near Fiskardo is quieter and rates a touch higher, though it has no aqua park or evening animation. Against the island’s mid-market hotels, Apollonion Asterias is the premium five-star choice for a family aqua-park holiday.
Getting there and when to goGetting there and when to go
The resort is on the Paliki Peninsula, the far side of the island from the airport, so getting there takes some doing. You book the airport transfer separately, ahead of time: it is a coach or taxi to Argostoli and then the Lixouri ferry, roughly two hours all told including the crossing. Luggage has to be carried onto the ferry by hand, as there is no through-loading. The resort’s own site quotes a faster direct route of about 70 minutes by road or 23 minutes by ferry, but that is the direct line, not the group coach transfer most families book. A local bus does stop at the hotel in the mid and high season, but it is infrequent and not a practical way to get around with a pram.
The resort is open from around 1 May to the end of September. May and early June are quiet and cooler, with the aqua park uncrowded, though the sea is still on the cool side for small children and some evening entertainment is occasional rather than nightly. Late June to August is the peak: the full programme runs, the sea is at its warmest, and it is busiest and priciest, with intense midday heat that makes shade and water time matter. September keeps warm water and pleasant days as the crowds thin, though the resort starts to wind down towards the end of the month.
Month by monthWeather
Apollonion Asterias opens from around 1 May to the end of September, and the figures below are long-term averages for this stretch of west Kefalonia. Heat and humidity are highest in July and August and most comfortable in May, with June and September moderate. The July and August sun is strong, with the UV index reaching nine, so full sun cover matters for young children.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | 23.5° | 14.5° | 16 mm | 2 | 19° |
| June | 27.5° | 18° | 2 mm | 0 | 23° |
| July | 30° | 21° | 9 mm | 1 | 25° |
| August | 30.5° | 21.5° | 13 mm | 1 | 27° |
| September | 26.5° | 19° | 56 mm | 5 | 26° |
Typical monthly averages from weather-station records. Sea temperature is the open-water figure, so a sheltered bay can feel a degree or two warmer. The resort opens from around 1 May to the end of September.
Questions
The things families ask most, the useful links and when this guide was last refreshed.
What ages does the children’s club take?
The resort doesn’t publish an age range, and the ones quoted by third parties don’t agree, so if your child is a borderline age, email the resort to confirm before you book rather than assume they’ll be old enough. The daytime programme is aimed at school-age children; for under-threes, plan around the splash park, the pools and the beach instead.
Is the aqua park free, and when is it open?
It’s free to every in-house guest for the whole stay, open 10:30 to 6pm daily. If you’re booking through a tour operator, check whether their package ties it to a particular board basis, as at least one has, and get your access confirmed in writing.
Is the beach private to the resort?
No. Xi Beach is a public beach a short walk downhill, where you hire sunbeds and umbrellas for the day like anyone else. The resort’s easy access to it is the draw, not a reserved section, so don’t expect a private stretch of sand.
Can we get a babysitter for an evening out?
No. The resort doesn’t offer babysitting or in-room childcare, and there’s no evening children’s club to hand them to either. If a child-free dinner matters to you, this is one to weigh before you book.
How do we get there from the airport?
You arrange it separately because it isn’t laid on with the holiday, so book it when you book the room. It takes about two hours including the ferry crossing, so keep a young child’s first and last day gentle.
Are there extra charges to pay at the resort?
Yes. A Climate Resilience Fee is charged per room per night and paid locally at check-in, on top of whatever you’ve paid for the room, so treat it as an unavoidable extra when you budget. Spa treatments, some games, beach sunbeds and room service also cost more.
What should we check before booking?
Three things: that you’re happy with the walk and the slopes if you’ll be pushing a pram, that your board basis or operator package includes the aqua park and that the room suits your family, which for a baby means an Apollonion room with a bath and a bedroom you can shut for naps.
See more Apollonion Asterias photos
Open the Apollonion Asterias photo gallery →Useful links
- Apollonion Asterias Resort & Spa: the resort’s own site for rooms, board, the aqua park and the children’s facilities.
- GOV.UK Greece travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Kefalonia with little ones: our guide to the island, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 12 July 2026.
