Porto Skala Hotel & Village
Porto Skala Hotel & Village is an independent, family-run four-star hotel on a south-facing hillside above the Ionian Sea, three kilometres south of Skala village in the quiet south-east corner of Kefalonia, Greece. Built to look like a low-rise Greek village, it has 74 pastel rooms with sea views, a large pool, its own pebble cove for snorkelling and a name among families for warm, attentive staff. It runs on bed and breakfast, with lunch, dinner or all-inclusive to add on.
On this page
Is it worth it?
Who Porto Skala suits, what you get for the money and the facts to skim first.
Porto Skala is a quiet, family-run hotel rather than a full-service resort, and that's the thing to get straight before you book. What families come back for is the warm staff, the sea views from nearly every room, a big pool and a pebble cove for snorkelling, all in a calm setting with no crowds or sunbed wars. What it doesn't have is a kids' club, an evening programme or a sandy beach on the doorstep, and the rooms are dated. It sits three kilometres from Skala on a rural stretch of coast, so most families hire a car. You'll get the most from it if you want a relaxed base to explore the island from, and you'd rather have friendly service and a view than organised entertainment.
Best for
You want a calm, family-run base with warm staff, sea views from the room, a big pool and a cove for snorkelling, and you're happy to hire a car to get out and about.
Maybe not for
You want a full-service resort with an all-day kids' club and evening shows, flat ground you can push a pram around or a sandy beach on the doorstep.
Best ages
Babies and toddlers who nap well, helped by the Studio's separate bedroom, and older children who'll snorkel the cove. There's no children's club, so children who want organised activities are less well served.
What stands out
The staff, singled out by families again and again, the sea views from almost every room and the quiet, unhurried feel.
What to check
That you're happy without a kids' club, how you'll get around without your own car and whether you want a low room to avoid the steps.
Where is it?
On a hillside three kilometres south of Skala in south-east Kefalonia, Greece, about 40 to 55 minutes from the island airport.
Quick facts for families
What the resort is like
The setting, how it's laid out over the slope and what that means for getting around with a pram.
Porto Skala opened in 1997 and is built in the style of a traditional Greek village: low-rise, pastel-painted blocks set in an amphitheatre shape on the hillside, with gardens, bougainvillea and sea views from nearly every room. There are 74 rooms across garden buildings on different levels of the slope, and the pool and restaurant sit at the centre as the social heart of the site. The feel, across many families' accounts, is quiet, well kept and unhurried, closer to a Greek family taverna than a resort hotel. That suits families who want to wind down, though it won't be enough for anyone expecting round-the-clock entertainment. For the wider island, its beaches and when to go, see our Kefalonia guide.
Because the buildings step up the hillside, some involve steps and sloped paths between them, and one room high on the slope is described by a guest as having quite a few steps up to it. If you're travelling with a pram, ask for a ground-floor or low-elevation room when you book, and confirm it's available. The site sits directly above the coast, with the main road from Skala towards Poros running in front of the entrance and the cove on the far side. A recent guest found that road not too busy, with little noise reaching the rooms, and families consistently describe the hotel as calm, with no late-night noise and no scramble for sunbeds. Parking is on site and across the road, so guests do cross the main road to reach the car park.
Every restaurant and bar
The buffet restaurant, the bars, how the board options work and the discount for booking direct.
Eating at Porto Skala centres on one main buffet restaurant plus the poolside bar. The main restaurant runs a buffet for breakfast and dinner, with sea-view tables. Breakfast is the meal families rate most: a wide choice of Greek dishes, continental options, cooked food and fresh-squeezed orange juice, and several reviewers call it the best breakfast they've had in Greece. One long-stay guest in 2025 felt it wasn't quite as good as on an earlier visit and would have liked more variety, and another noted the buffet dishes aren't labelled, which is worth knowing if you're managing allergies or a fussy eater.
Dinner is more mixed. The Mediterranean cooking and the choice draw praise, and some guests rate it as good as eating out locally, but the buffet comes round again after about a week, so families on a longer stay notice the repetition. Lunch isn't part of the bed-and-breakfast rate; it's available as an add-on, and there's a lunch-basket service on request that suits families heading out for the day. An early continental breakfast is laid on for guests leaving before the main buffet opens, and room service is available.
The reliable bar is the outdoor pool and snack bar, open through the day, with drinks and snacks that guests describe as good value. Some families found the pool-bar food pricier than they'd like, and on one recent stay the food service was intermittent. There's an indoor bar and lounge too, though its opening through the season isn't something you can rely on, so treat the poolside bar as your main daytime and evening spot. All-inclusive is an optional add-on rather than the hotel's focus. One reviewer called the package "very disappointing, with limited times and menu", so it's worth checking exactly what's included and the bar hours before you choose it over bed and breakfast.
Board and booking direct
Board runs from bed and breakfast, the standard rate, with lunch, dinner or all-inclusive added on. Booking direct through the hotel's own site brings 10% off all the bars and restaurants, a bottle of wine and some fruit on arrival and entry into the hotel's prize draws. A local accommodation tax of €10 a night applies from April to October and is paid at the hotel (last checked 2026). A rollaway bed can be added for a daily charge if you need one.
The rooms
Every room type, which suit a family with young children, and what to expect of their condition.
Every room has air conditioning, a satellite TV, a radio, a telephone, a mini-fridge, a kettle with tea and coffee, a safe, a hairdryer, WiFi and a furnished balcony with a partial or full sea view. Pool towels are provided and there's a laundry service. The table below sets out every room type by how many it sleeps, the beds and which suit a family.
| Room | Sleeps | Beds | Family fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double for Single Use | 1 adult | One double or twin | A solo room, not a family room. |
| Double or Twin Side Sea View | 3 | One double or two singles | Two adults and a child on a camp bed or an infant in a cot. |
| Double or Twin Sea View | 3 | One double or two singles | Two adults and a child on a camp bed or an infant in a cot. |
| Triple Side Sea View | 3 | A double plus a single or bunk beds | Two adults and an older child or three adults. |
| Double Room with Bunk Beds (Side Sea View) | 4 | A double plus a bunk for two children aged 0 to 12 | Two adults and two children in one room. |
| Studio | 5 | Two bedrooms: a parents' double and a children's bunk, plus a cot and a kitchenette | The standout family room: two adults, two children and a baby. |
| Two interconnected Side Sea View rooms | 6 | Four beds plus two camp beds or cots, joined by a door | The pick for larger families. |
| Wedding or Honeymoon Sea View | 2 | One double | A couples' room, not a family room. |
For a family with a baby or toddler plus older children, the Studio is the standout. It has two bedrooms, a double for the parents and a bunk for two children, plus a cot and a kitchenette, so there's a door to close on a sleeping child and space to prepare formula, snacks or warm food. The Double Room with Bunk Beds is a single room sleeping two adults and two children in a bunk, and for larger groups two Side Sea View rooms can be booked interconnecting through a door, sleeping up to six across four beds and two camp beds or cots. That interconnected option is priced on a minimum of four adults, which is a pricing basis rather than a limit on who can stay. Rooms come as either side sea view or full sea view, so the balcony outlook is worth asking about when you book.
The most common criticism is the rooms' condition. The complex dates from 1997 and many rooms still have their original fit-out, so reviewers repeatedly call them tired or in need of renovation. It's an uneven picture: some rooms have been partly refurbished, and one guest in 2025 found a recently updated shower. Set against that, guests rate the housekeeping and the setting, and rooms are commonly reported as serviced daily. In the peak of summer the rooms can get hot at night, the air conditioning is on the loud side, and there are no mosquito blinds, so you can't easily leave the balcony doors open to sleep.
The pools
The main draw for a family day on site is the large outdoor pool, open through the season, with plenty of cushioned sunbeds and free pool towels. It's one of the most consistently praised parts of the hotel, and guests note there's no fight for a lounger. Alongside it is a separate children's paddling pool, a shallow pool for young children, with no depth figure published and no splash pad on site. One recent guest found the children's pool needed a better clean during their stay, though no other reviews raise it. There's no adults-only pool and no indoor pool or spa.
The beach
The hotel has its own pebble cove, about ten metres from reception down steps, a secluded natural cove with clear, calm water that's excellent for snorkelling; there's a deeper section off the headland to the right that swimmers use for diving, with a guest caution about rock fall. Getting to it means steep steps across the main road, so it isn't practical with heavy beach kit or a pram, and there's no flat way down. The pebbles make water shoes worth packing. This is a natural, unsupervised cove: it isn't a Blue Flag beach and has no lifeguards, showers or toilets, so it suits older children and adults snorkelling more than a paddling toddler.
For shallow, calm water with little ones, the answer is Skala's main sandy beach, roughly 2 miles (3 to 3.5 km) away. It's long, sandy and Blue Flag, with gently shelving water that's good for toddlers, plus sunbeds, watersports and cafes along the front. You reach it by the hotel shuttle or a taxi rather than on foot.
Babies and toddlers
What the hotel does and doesn't have for very young children, the activities on site and days out around the island.
The first thing to be clear about is childcare, because it's where the hotel is thin. There's no formal kids' club. It runs only occasional children's animation, likely in the evenings, with no set ages, hours or staff you can leave a child with. What families single out instead is the staff: reception and restaurant teams who make a fuss of young children, and who guests describe warmly again and again, with children remembered and looked after at mealtimes. Two names come up repeatedly across reviews, Evelyn and Marianna on reception, and more than one guest has summed up their welcome simply as "a Greek welcome". It's a long-standing part of the place and one of the main reasons families return. Booking.com's staff score of 9.2 out of 10 is unusually high for a hotel of this tier.
On the practical kit, cots are available, and camp beds for the room types that take one. The Studio's kitchenette means you can make up formula and warm your own baby food and snacks. Whether the hotel itself lays on high chairs or baby food isn't confirmed on its own site, and nor is babysitting, said to be available for a fee, so check anything you'll need directly with the hotel when you book. There's a children's playground on site, though one long-stay family in 2025 found it tired and unused, and no review particularly praises it. A mini shop sells gifts, soft drinks and basic supplies, but it isn't a supermarket; the nearest proper pharmacy and supermarket are in Skala, about a 15-minute drive, which is another reason families hire a car.
On siteThings to do
Away from the pool and cove, the on-site activities are low-key: mini golf, table tennis, billiards, a fitness centre and a Dolby Surround cinema room that shows a film most days. There's a cards-and-games table, and snorkelling straight off the cove if you bring or hire your own gear, since none is offered on site. The hotel arranges car hire, which repeat guests and staff both recommend given how rural the setting is, and can help with excursions such as boat trips, island tours and cave visits from Skala. What there isn't is a spa, thalassotherapy or beauty treatments, and there are no watersports at the cove; pedalos and the like run from vendors on Skala's sandy beach. Entertainment overall is minimal, the pool, the cinema room and the occasional children's animation, with no evening programme or show, so this isn't a resort hotel in that sense.
Off the parkThe area and days out
Skala village, three kilometres away, has around 20 to 25 tavernas at peak season, a long sandy Blue Flag beach, shops, car hire and a taxi rank; family-run tavernas such as Paspalis, Dona's, Kaliva, The Pines and Old Times are the names that come up. Within a couple of kilometres on foot there's a pastry shop, a taverna and a mini-market, the ruins of a third-century Roman villa with mosaics and the ancient Doric Temple of Apollo on the edge of Skala. Loggerhead turtles nest at nearby Potamakia beach in season, which older children tend to find a thrill.
A hire car puts far more of the island within reach. Drogarati Cave, about 28 miles (45 km) north near Sami, is a short walk among stalactites that toddlers manage carried in a sling, given the steep steps. The Melissani cave lake nearby, about 31 miles (50 km), is a guided boat trip suitable for all ages, though you carry toddlers rather than take a pram onto the boat, and it has toilets and a small cafe, so the two caves combine well in a day. Antisamos Beach, about 31 miles (50 km), is a spectacular white-pebble bay with very clear water, though it drops off quickly and isn't for toddler paddling. Argostoli, the island capital about 28 miles (45 km) away, makes a half-day for shopping, cafes, turtle-spotting at the lagoon causeway, the old Drapano stone bridge across the bay and the lighthouse at the harbour mouth. Further out, Xi Beach on the west coast, about 37 miles (60 km), has red sand and very shallow calm water that's excellent for toddlers; Myrtos, about 43 miles (70 km) to the north-west, is the famous white-cliff beach, best seen from the viewpoint since it's exposed and not for young children; and Fiskardo, the Venetian village at the north tip, about 50 miles (80 km), is a longer day out.
Loves and gripes
What families rate and what they flag, how it compares on the island, the journey in and the weather by month.
Porto Skala is well liked overall, and the pattern across the reviews is clear. Booking.com sits at 8.4 out of 10 from 157 reviews, with staff scoring 9.2, cleanliness and location at 8.4, comfort, facilities and value at 8.1 and WiFi the clear weak point at 5.8. TripAdvisor points the same way at roughly 4 out of 5, though that is an approximate figure rather than a confirmed score like Booking.com's. Treat these as a rough steer rather than a verdict.
What families love
- The staff, the standout by a distance, warm and attentive and good with young children.
- The large pool and its cushioned sunbeds, clean and never a scramble for a lounger.
- The breakfast, rated by many the best they've had in Greece.
- The sea views and the setting, with one guest noting the only noise was cow and goat bells.
- The pebble cove, clean and clear and good for snorkelling.
- The calm, quiet feel, with no crowds and no late-night noise.
- The value for a four-star and the well-kept public and pool areas.
What families flag
- Dated rooms in need of renovation, the most common criticism.
- Poor WiFi, much weaker in the rooms than at reception.
- Rooms hot at night in peak summer, with loud air conditioning and no mosquito blinds.
- The distance from Skala village and beach, with the shuttle charge per person adding up on a longer stay.
- Minimal entertainment and no evening programme.
- A tired playground and pool-bar food that felt pricey with intermittent service.
- A dinner buffet that repeats on stays of a week or more and parking across the road.
How it compares
Porto Skala's edge on the island is the setting, the staff and the price, not the range of facilities. Here's how it lines up against four other Kefalonia family hotels.
| Resort | Tier and setting | For families | Board |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porto Skala | Four-star, 74 rooms, on the coast | A pebble cove, a big pool and a paddling pool; occasional children's animation, no club | Bed and breakfast, with lunch, dinner or all-inclusive to add |
| Apostolata Island Resort & Spa | Four-star, 166 rooms, on the Skala hillside | Three restaurants, two bars, a children's pool, a spa and a children's programme | Full all-inclusive |
| Avithos Resort | Four-star, near the airport | Family studios with kitchens and a large pool, 15 minutes from the airport, no direct beach | Various |
| Apollonion Asterias | Five-star, Lixouri peninsula | A water park, a kids' club and all-inclusive, a tier up in price | All-inclusive |
| Ionian Sea Hotel & Aqua Park | Family aqua-park hotel, Lixouri | An aqua park and a kids' club for ages 4 to 12, on the west coast | All-inclusive |
For families who want a full all-inclusive, several dining venues, a children's pool and a resort-scale programme, Apostolata a short way along the Skala hillside is the stronger choice, though its beach is a shuttle or drive away. Avithos Resort, near the airport on the other side of the island, is a similar mid-range hotel with family studios that have their own kitchens and a large pool; it has no direct beach access of its own, with a shuttle to Avithos Beach instead, and its airport transfer is only about 15 minutes. If organised family entertainment is the deciding factor, the aqua-park hotels over on the Lixouri peninsula are built for it. Porto Skala is the pick if you'd rather have the warm staff, the quiet, the cove and the big pool, and you'll hire a car to see the island. It's the wrong hotel if you're counting on a club to look after the children through the day.
From the airportGetting there and when to go
Kefalonia airport is about 28 miles (45 km) from the hotel, roughly 40 to 55 minutes by road depending on the route and traffic. There's no hotel transfer from the airport, so you arrange your own. Most families use the car hire the hotel sets up on site. The alternatives are a metered taxi, where fares vary by operator, or a coach transfer if you've booked through an operator such as Jet2 or easyJet holidays. Once you're there, the paid hotel shuttle runs to Skala village and beach, a small charge per person each way, booked at reception; the current fare and timetable can change, so confirm both when you arrive, and note that taxis in the Skala area stop at about 11.30pm. You can walk to Skala in around 40 to 50 minutes, but it's a quiet, unshaded, hilly road that isn't practical with a pram or young children in summer heat.
A few hotel services are worth knowing about if your flight times don't line up neatly with a normal check-in or check-out: reception and the telephone centre run 24 hours, there's a wake-up call service and a pillow menu, a tablet is available to rent and the hotel will store luggage after you've checked out. That last one matters if you land early or leave late, since it means bags don't have to stop you having a last morning at the pool or the cove.
The hotel opens on 21 May and closes on 3 October. The warm, dry family window runs from late June to early September, and within it late June and September are the calmest weeks for young children, with the sea between 22 and 25°C and fewer crowds than the July and August peak.
Month by monthWeather
Skala sits on the sheltered south-east coast. The figures below cover the hotel's season, from the cooler opening weeks in May to the warmest sea in late summer.
| 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° |
| October | 23.5° | 16° | 90 mm | 7 | 23° |
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 hotel opens on 21 May and closes on 3 October.
Questions
The things families ask most, the pages worth a bookmark and when this guide was last refreshed.
Is there a kids' club?
No, and it's the main thing to weigh up before booking. What runs instead is the occasional bit of children's animation, not a programme you can leave a child in. If a daily drop-off club is your priority, a bigger island resort such as Apostolata or the Ionian Sea aqua-park hotel is built for it, and this isn't.
Do we really need to hire a car?
For most families, yes. The hotel sits three kilometres from Skala on a rural stretch of coast, with the nearest proper shops and pharmacy in the village. The paid shuttle and taxis cover trips into Skala, but a car is what makes the sandy beach, the caves and the rest of the island easy. The hotel arranges car hire, and repeat guests and staff both push it.
Can a toddler paddle safely at the hotel beach?
Not really. The hotel's cove is pebbles reached by steep steps across the main road, with no lifeguard, and it suits snorkelling and older children more than a paddling toddler. For shallow, calm water take the shuttle or drive to Skala's sandy Blue Flag beach or further out to Xi Beach on the west coast.
If we go into Skala for dinner, how do we get back?
The paid hotel shuttle covers the village and beach by day, but it doesn't run late, and taxis in the Skala area stop at about 11.30pm, which can mean a long wait or none at all. With young children you're unlikely to be out past that anyway, but if you want the freedom to eat out and come back on your own timetable, a hire car is the answer.
Is babysitting available?
It's reportedly available for a fee, but it isn't confirmed on the hotel's own site, so check directly with the hotel at the booking stage rather than leaving it to the day itself.
We've read the rooms are dated. Is that a problem?
Yes, some are. It's an uneven picture: a handful have been refurbished, most haven't. If a modern room matters to you, ask the hotel which have been updated before you book.
Which board should we choose?
Bed and breakfast is the base rate, and the breakfast is the meal families rate most. Adding dinner suits anyone who'd rather not drive out each evening, though the buffet repeats on longer stays. All-inclusive is an add-on rather than the hotel's focus, and some guests have found it limited, so check what's included and the bar hours before you commit.
When's the best time to go with young children?
The warm, dry season for a family stretches from late June to early September. Of those weeks, late June and September are the quietest and gentlest for small children, with a settled, warm sea and fewer crowds than the July and August peak. Late May and late September are cooler and quieter still, at the edges of the hotel's season.
See Porto Skala photos
Open the Porto Skala photo gallery →Useful links
- Porto Skala Hotel & Village: the hotel's own site for rooms, board, facilities and direct-booking offers.
- GOV.UK Greece travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Kefalonia with little ones: our guide to the wider island, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 17 July 2026.
