Skiathos Avaton Suites & Villas
Skiathos Avaton Suites & Villas is a small, boutique hotel set on a hillside above Megali Ammos beach, a short walk from Skiathos Town in the Greek Sporades. It’s run by Philian Hotels & Resorts, and every one of its suites and villas comes with its own jacuzzi, hot tub or private pool. The draw is design-led space close to town and its own Blue Flag beach, on bed and breakfast, with a private soak on your balcony at the end of the day.
On this page
Is it worth it?
The quick read before the detail: who it suits, what a booking includes and where to set your expectations.
Skiathos Avaton Suites & Villas is a small, boutique hotel built for couples and small families who want design-led space and privacy over resort programming. Every one of its six suite and villa categories has its own jacuzzi or private pool, and it sits a short walk from Skiathos Town and its Blue Flag beach rather than sealed inside a compound. What it doesn’t have is any structured childcare: no crèche, no kids’ club and no children’s entertainment, which the hotel’s own listing reflects, tagging itself a luxury hotel rather than a family one. The site is a steep hillside, though a free golf-buggy shuttle runs the slope from early morning to late at night. It suits a family with older, more independent children more than one with a baby or a toddler who climbs, given that hill and a jacuzzi or pool in every room.
Best for
You want a boutique, design-led suite with its own jacuzzi or pool, a short walk from Skiathos Town and its beach, and you’re happy to plan your own days rather than lean on a kids’ club.
Maybe not for
You want a purpose-built kids’ club, flat and pram-friendly ground throughout, or babysitting so you can have an evening out.
Best ages
It reads best for older, more independent children. The hillside and the in-room jacuzzis mean a baby or a climbing toddler needs constant eyes.
What stands out
Every suite and villa has its own jacuzzi, hot tub or private pool, and you’re a short walk from town rather than sealed inside a resort.
What to check
How steep the walk up feels with a pram, and, if anyone has a mobility need, contact the hotel directly, as no step-free information is published.
Where is it?
Megali Ammos, on Skiathos in the Greek Sporades, around a kilometre from Skiathos Town and about 2 miles (3 km) from the airport.
Quick facts for families
What the resort is like
Where it sits, the three linked hotels that share the site and how you get around on the slope.
Avaton Suites & Villas is one of three linked Philian hotels sharing a single hillside above Megali Ammos, alongside the Avaton Hotel and the Avaton Garden. They share an address, a phone number and the site’s one restaurant, Black Pepper, and each sold and reviewed separately. The Suites & Villas has its own pool, its own pool bar and its own reception, and a short walk or golf-buggy ride connects it to the restaurant over at the Hotel building. So it isn’t a sealed, self-contained resort; it’s a small boutique hotel that leans on the town a short way below it. It’s registered in Greece under MHTE licence 0933Κ013Α0660900, the number Greek tourism authorities issue to every licensed hotel, and its own original site, skiathosavaton.gr, sits alongside the newer group site philianhotels.com; both are official.
The track up from the road is steep, softened by the views it opens onto. The gardens are green and the outlook runs from the valley down to the sea, the trade for the climb. It’s a small, design-led complex built around six suite and villa categories rather than blocks of standard rooms, so there’s no critical mass of other young families and no on-site children’s entertainment; the hotel’s own listing tags it a luxury and sea-view hotel, not a family one. Tour operators that sell it, such as Olympic Holidays, list it as a 4-star hotel, though the hotel’s own site doesn’t state a star count.
Getting around the slope is where the golf buggy comes in. A complimentary golf buggy, the little electric cart that ferries guests up and down, runs daily from 7am to 1am between the Suites & Villas and the Hotel with its restaurant, and you arrange a ride by asking reception or any member of staff. For a family managing a pram or a tired toddler on the hill, that shuttle is the practical answer, and one review notes children enjoying the rides up and down. For the wider island, its beaches and when to go, see our Skiathos guide.
Every restaurant and bar
The shared restaurant, breakfast, the poolside snacks and how a table booking works.
Black Pepper is the one full-service restaurant on the whole site, shared with the two sister hotels and reached by a short walk or the golf buggy. It serves Mediterranean food from local ingredients in a garden setting, all day for lunch and dinner, currently from midday to 11pm. On bed and breakfast this is where your paid lunches and dinners happen, à la carte, so budget for eating here or heading into town.
Breakfast is a buffet, from 7.30am to 10.30am, and it’s the one meal included with the room. It’s also the easiest meal for a young child, since you can build a toddler’s plate from what’s laid out. Guests rate it highly, with fresh fruit, pastries, cheeses, olives, juices, coffee and yoghurt named again and again as plentiful.
For drinks and something lighter there’s a bar with a view, open from mid-morning to the small hours, and a Snack Bar poolside from 11am to 4pm for cocktails, refreshing drinks and light bites. The hotel’s original site names this same poolside offer “Avaton Bistro”, so treat it as one pool snack and cocktail service that has been rebranded over time rather than a run of separate outlets.
There’s no children’s menu published for Black Pepper, and neither high chairs nor weaning or baby-food options are confirmed anywhere on the hotel’s pages. With a fussy eater, the buffet breakfast is the surer bet than an à la carte dinner.
How the restaurant booking works
Breakfast is a walk-in buffet. The hotel doesn’t publish whether you need to reserve a table for lunch or dinner at Black Pepper, but as the only restaurant for all three hotels on the site, it can get busy in peak season, so it’s worth asking reception to book your evening table rather than turning up and hoping.
The rooms
Every suite and villa with its official size, then the pools and the beach.
There are six categories, from a single-room Junior Suite up to a two-bedroom Villa, and every one comes with its own jacuzzi, hot tub or private pool. The total number of units isn’t published, so this is a small hotel rather than a resort. The table below is the full line-up with the official sizes and how many each sleeps; the guidance after it is which suit a family with a baby or toddler.
| Room | Size | Sleeps | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Suite | 30 m² | 3 | The smallest category. A mountain view and a private balcony with an outdoor jacuzzi. Fine for a couple with a baby in the cot, but tight once a toddler needs floor space. |
| Suite | 35 m² | 3 | A mountain view and an outdoor hot tub. The booking system caps this room at three guests, so don’t count on a fourth bed even though the room description mentions a sofa bed. |
| Superior Suite | 40 m² | 3 | A limited sea view, a private balcony and an outdoor jacuzzi. The hotel’s own marketing calls it “a perfect romantic spot for two or for the whole family”. |
| Executive Suite | 60 m² | 4 | A sea view, with a separate living room alongside the bedroom, so a baby can go down for the night while you sit up next door. Outdoor jacuzzi on the balcony. |
| King Suite | 60 m² | 4 | A sea view and the same living-room layout as the Executive Suite. Its jacuzzi is the only one the hotel describes as heated. |
| Private Villa | Around 150 m² | 7 | A sea view, two bedrooms plus a master with an indoor jacuzzi, a private outdoor pool, a full kitchen, a living room, three bathrooms and a separate WC. The one for two households or three generations together. |
Every category shares the same kit: air conditioning, a sofa bed, a safe, a hairdryer, a kettle, a fridge, a mini-bar (extra charge), an espresso machine, an iron and board, a telephone, a TV and free Wi-Fi, plus a full bathroom with a rainfall shower, bath amenities, slippers and a bathrobe on request. A baby cot is on the list for all six, on request.
For a family, the split is between the smaller rooms and the bigger ones. The Junior Suite, Suite and Superior Suite are single-room layouts sleeping up to three, workable with a couple and one small child in the cot but with nowhere to put a baby down out of the room. The Executive Suite and King Suite, both 60 m² and sleeping four, add a separate living room alongside the bedroom, which is the useful part with a young child: you can settle a baby for the night and still sit up next door. The King Suite is the one category whose jacuzzi the hotel describes as heated, which helps in the cooler shoulder-season weeks of May or October, though it also means warm standing water on the balcony year-round. The Private Villa, around 150 m² and sleeping seven, is the only real multi-generational space, with two bedrooms plus a master, a private pool, a full kitchen and a fireplace, for two households or three generations travelling together.
In every room the jacuzzi or pool is a body of water within your own accommodation, and no fencing, cover or child-safety feature is stated for any of them. Five of the six put an open jacuzzi on the balcony; the Villa has an indoor jacuzzi and a private pool at its door. With a baby or a toddler who climbs, treat each the way you’d treat a room with a balcony pool anywhere, worth knowing before you book rather than a reason to avoid the hotel.
Pools and water features
The Suites & Villas has its own outdoor freshwater pool, open from 9am to 7pm, with free sun loungers, umbrellas and pool towels. There’s a dedicated children’s pool on site too, confirmed on the hotel’s own pages, though no size, depth, heating or hours are published, so it’s worth a quick word with reception on arrival to see what it’s like for your child’s age. Beyond those two, the water play for little ones is really the in-room jacuzzis and, in the Villa, its private pool, covered in the rooms above.
The beach
Megali Ammos is the closest beach to Skiathos Town and a couple of minutes’ walk downhill from the hotel. Its name means “large sand”, and while it’s mostly sandy it has a band of pebbles at the waterline, so pack water shoes for small feet. It held its Blue Flag in 2025, has cafés and beach bars along it and picks up afternoon shade from the surrounding hills. Guests describe it as often quite full of loungers and restaurants, so it can feel busy and built-up rather than a quiet cove. No water sports or lifeguard are listed for this stretch on the hotel’s pages, so don’t plan around either; for a shallower, calmer toddler beach, the bus along the coast reaches Koukounaries.
Babies and toddlers
The honest childcare picture, what the hotel does help with and what to sort in advance.
There’s no crèche, no kids’ club, no children’s entertainment programme and no children’s menu anywhere on the hotel’s pages. That’s a checked absence rather than a gap in the research, and it fits how the hotel positions itself: a luxury and sea-view hotel, not a family one. If a family week for you means a club to hand the children to and an evening off, this is a materially different offer from the island’s purpose-built family resorts, and it’s better to know that up front than to arrive expecting it.
What the hotel does confirm is more modest, and useful. A baby cot is available on request in every category, though no price is published either way, so ask about both the cot and its cost when you book. The children’s pool is on site. A child car seat can be added to the private airport transfer if you request it in advance. A doctor is available on call. The golf-buggy shuttle is a real help on the hill with a pram, a tired toddler or a sleeping baby. The hotel’s own booking system sorts guests into infants aged nought to two, children three to eleven and adults from twelve, which is the only age policy it states.
There’s no babysitting service, so an adults’ evening out isn’t something the hotel can cover, and no baby-food or weaning options are confirmed at the restaurant, so bring what a very young child needs. As in the rooms above, no fencing, cover or child-safety feature is stated for any category’s jacuzzi or the Villa’s pool, all of it water within the accommodation, which matters most with a baby or a climbing toddler.
On site and around the islandThings to do
On site, the hotel keeps things simple: beyond the pools, the only treatment it lists is a massage, for an extra charge, with no spa, gym or fitness classes. Car and bike rental can be arranged through the hotel, also for a charge.
For anything more, reception books island-wide activities rather than running them on site: sightseeing, boat trips and fishing, small beach cruises, jet ski and parasailing, sailing, monastery visits, organised hiking and cycling, tennis, an organised scuba-diving school, birdwatching and full-day trips to the neighbouring islands of Skopelos and Alonissos. These are general Skiathos activities the hotel can help you arrange, none of them aimed at babies or toddlers, and none run as an on-site programme. There’s no entertainment programme, evening children’s activities or coaching academies put on by the hotel itself. Philian also runs a group-wide Members Club, a loyalty scheme earning welcome drinks, room upgrades and late check-out by nights stayed, a nice-to-have rather than anything geared to families.
Beyond the hotelThe area and days out
Skiathos Town is around a kilometre away, or a stated ten-minute drive, and it’s the island’s only real settlement. It has the old and new harbours, Papadiamanti Street for shops and cafés and the free Bourtzi peninsula with its own playground, a pushchair-friendly spot to burn off energy after a beach morning. The single coastal bus route (the KTEL) stops about 300m from the hotel, at stop 5, which means you can reach most of the south-coast beaches without hiring a car.
Down that bus route, Koukounaries (stop 26, roughly 30 minutes) is the island’s best toddler beach: shallow, sandy and pine-shaded, with a Blue Flag, a playground and the Strofylia nature reserve behind it. Achladies and Troulos, also on the route, are strong toddler beaches too, shallow and sheltered. Inland, Evangelistria Monastery is about 15 minutes by car, an active monastery with a folklore museum, a vineyard and a café that you can see round in under an hour with young children. The Skopelos and Alonissos day trips reception can book are full-day boat excursions, better for slightly older children who can manage a longer boat trip.
One practical note for the island: Skiathos has no hospital, only a state Health Centre (on +30 24270 22222) for GP visits and basic triage, and serious emergencies transfer to Volos General on the mainland by helicopter or ferry. Pharmacies cluster around Papadiamanti Street in town. Given the hillside spot a little way from the centre, travel insurance that covers air ambulance and repatriation matters as much here as anywhere on the island.
Loves and gripes
What families come back praising and what frustrates them, how it compares, access, the journey and the weather.
What families love
- The staff, named again and again in reviews, with Eleni, George and Alex singled out for going out of their way.
- The spacious suites, with their private terraces and hot tubs, the hotel’s signature.
- The breakfast, called plentiful and generous, with plenty of fresh choice.
- The valley-to-sea views from the hillside spot.
- The cleanliness and comfort of the rooms, with Booking.com sub-scores of 9.7 for comfort and 9.5 for cleanliness.
Common gripes
- The steep hill up, the single most repeated point, eased by the golf-buggy shuttle but real.
- The pool called underwhelming by one reviewer, a minority view rather than a common one.
- Air-conditioning placement, a minor and occasional complaint.
- The nearby beach feeling busy, full of loungers and restaurants.
- A note in Mumsnet’s round-up that the sibling Avaton Hotel, in the same boutique styling, is probably better suited to teens than toddlers.
The strongest scores come from Booking.com, where it sits around 9.3 to 9.5 out of 10 across a couple of hundred reviews, with staff, comfort and cleanliness rated highest and location a little lower for the hill. It’s also listed on Google, TripAdvisor, Expedia and Hotels.com and sold as a package by Olympic Holidays, Jet2holidays and easyJet holidays, so it’s a mainstream product rather than a boutique website alone.
Against the other Skiathos optionsHow it compares
Set against the island’s family resorts, Avaton Suites & Villas trades structured childcare for private, design-led space, and where you land depends on which of those you want.
Skiathos Princess Resort has the island’s most thorough baby and toddler provision, a crèche from four months, a Mini Club from age four, a lifeguarded children’s pool and a flat beachfront, so it’s the clearer choice if you want structured, hands-off childcare. ELIVI Skiathos is a five-star resort with a kids’ club from four and walking access to top beaches, at a similar luxury price to Avaton but with a club Avaton doesn’t have. Kassandra Bay is a conventional beachfront hotel with a kids’ club, an indoor playground and a children’s pool, for a family who wants a flat, self-contained resort. Skiathos Palace and Mandraki Village, both up at Koukounaries, add more conventional kids’ pools and playgrounds, and Skiathos Palace also has a kids’ club, at the cost of a beach shuttle or being further from town. Avaton’s edge over both is being close to Skiathos Town itself, useful if you want to reach restaurants and shops on foot rather than by car.
The closest matches in feel are the two hillside boutiques. Atrium Hotel shares Avaton’s profile almost exactly, a hillside site with a shuttle-eased steep route and no confirmed kids’ club, though Atrium tilts a little more towards families with its own playroom and children’s pool, while Avaton leans further into couples and luxury-suite styling. Sky Sea Resort & Villas is the other close match, hillside and jacuzzi-in-every-unit like Avaton, but fully self-catered, villa-only and further from a beach, whereas Avaton is closer to its own beach and has a proper restaurant on site. The niche Avaton fills is a design-led suites-and-villas hotel very close to town and its own beach, with a private jacuzzi or pool in every room, but no structured childcare of any kind.
The hill and the buggyAccess and getting around
This deserves its own note, because the hillside shapes who the hotel suits. No lift, step-free route or wheelchair-accessible room is mentioned anywhere on the hotel’s pages, on a site that guests confirm is steep. The free golf-buggy shuttle (7am to 1am) is the hotel’s own answer to the slope, and it’s a real help with a pram or a tired child, but it isn’t a substitute for step-free access. If you’ll rely on a full-size pram, or anyone in the family has a mobility need, contact the hotel directly before you book to check the layout and access for your specific room. Off the site, the island’s single coastal bus route means a family staying here can reach most beaches without a hire car.
The journey and the seasonGetting there and when to go
Skiathos airport is close, about 2 miles (3 km), a short run of well under ten minutes by road. A private transfer is a request-first, extra-charge service rather than something laid on automatically: a driver meets you at baggage claim with a name sign, in a modern minivan, and you arrange it in advance through the hotel, with a child car seat if you ask. A taxi is the simpler alternative for such a short hop. From the hotel, the beach and the bus stop are a couple of minutes on foot, the town and port around a kilometre, walkable or a short taxi or bus ride.
The hotel is open from 1 May to 10 October, and check-in is from 3pm, with check-out by 11am. For the season itself, September reads as the easiest month with little ones, warm with a sea still around 24°C and fewer crowds; July and August are the hottest and busiest; May works but the sea is still cool for long baths in the sea; and early October is still swimmable, though the island winds down fast before the hotel closes on the 10th. British visitors travel to Greece visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180, on a passport under ten years old and valid for at least three months after you leave, and nothing unusual applies to Skiathos.
When to goWeather
Skiathos runs warm and dry through the middle of summer and milder at the shoulders. July and August are reliably hot, into the low thirties by day, with the warmest sea of the year and the busiest, priciest weeks. June and September give you almost the same sea temperature with fewer people, the easiest window with young children. May is pleasant but the sea is still only really for paddling, and October turns noticeably wetter as the season ends. Sunshine follows the same shape, from around 12 hours a day at the July and August peak down to roughly 7.5 hours by October.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | 25° | 13° | 40 mm | 6 | 19° |
| June | 29.5° | 18° | 25 mm | 4 | 23° |
| July | 32.5° | 20.5° | 20 mm | 2 | 26° |
| August | 32.5° | 20.5° | 25 mm | 2 | 27° |
| September | 28° | 17° | 40 mm | 5 | 25° |
| October | 22° | 12.5° | 70 mm | 7 | 22° |
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 is open from 1 May to 10 October, which covers the whole table.
Questions
The things families ask most, the official pages worth a look and when this guide was last updated.
Is it all-inclusive?
No. It’s bed and breakfast only, with the buffet breakfast included and lunch and dinner paid for at the à la carte Black Pepper restaurant. There’s no half-board or all-inclusive plan, so budget for meals out, or book the Villa, which has a full kitchen for self-catering.
Can we get a cot?
Yes, a baby cot is available on request in every category. Ask for one when you book rather than assuming it’s already in the room, and confirm the cost at the same time, as no price is published either way.
Is there a kids’ club or childcare?
No. There’s no crèche, no kids’ club, no children’s entertainment and no babysitting. If you need childcare to get an evening to yourselves, one of the island’s purpose-built family resorts, like Skiathos Princess, would suit better.
How hard is the hill with a pram?
Steep enough that the hotel lays on a free golf buggy up the slope, running from 7am to 1am, so you can ride up rather than push. If a pram is your only way around and you’d rather not depend on a shuttle, weigh that before you book.
Do we need to arrange the airport transfer?
Yes. A private transfer doesn’t come automatically with the room. You book it in advance through the hotel for an extra charge, with a child car seat if you ask for one. A taxi from the airport is the alternative for the short run.
Do we need to book a table at Black Pepper?
No policy is published either way. As the site’s single restaurant it fills up in high summer, so ask reception to hold your evening table when you arrive rather than leaving it to chance.
Which room works best with a baby or toddler?
The Executive Suite, King Suite and Villa are the ones with a separate living space, so you can settle a child for the night away from where you’re sitting up. In every category the jacuzzi or pool is water within the accommodation with no fencing or cover stated, so factor that in with a child who climbs.
See more Avaton Suites & Villas photos
Open the Avaton Suites & Villas photo gallery →Useful links
- Skiathos Avaton Suites & Villas: the hotel’s own site for the suites, villas and what’s included.
- skiathosavaton.gr: the property’s original site, also official, with room-by-room detail.
- GOV.UK Greece travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Skiathos with little ones: our guide to the wider island, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 15 July 2026.
