I come to Greece every year for 2-3 months, and I stay in Paros almost every time at the start and end of my trip, so I stayed at Pelican Paros Room 10 twice this summer.
Pros
1). Location
2). Alexandros the attendant during my second visit
Cons
1). Cleanliness (big con for me, especially during a pandemic)
2). Anna the attendant during my first visit
—————————
Summary of review
If location is most important to you, this is a good place to stay.
If cleanliness and hygiene are most important to you, especially during a pandemic, look elsewhere (unless they have upgraded their process since this review.)
NB
1). The Airbnb photos make the room look larger than it is. I didn’t mind the size at all. It was good for me, but it may be something to consider.
2). If you are sensitive to light, you’ll want to bring an eye mask because the window on the door in Room 10 lets in a LOT of light.
3). I never met John, but I did have multiple interactions with Anna (during my first stay) and Alexandros (during my second stay).
4). I have documentation of everything I describe below and have attempted to attach it to this review. If they don’t post, please feel free to contact me, and I will provide you with the images and video.
—————————
Review of first visit
My flight to Greece was delayed, and I missed my connection to Paros. The delay added ~10 hours to my trip. So once I arrived, I was very much looking forward to having a nice dinner with Greek friends (who were also visiting Paros) and going to sleep.
When I got into bed later that night, I found a bug in the sheets. Traveling as much as I do, I’ve encountered insects on occasion in my accommodations: after all, I was in a Mediterranean climate in the summer, and sometimes you’ll find insects in that scenario. That’s not a big deal. What gave me pause is I couldn’t tell if it was a bed bug or not (please see attached video).
I naturally Googled bed bugs to see if I could identify what I was looking at. It just wasn’t clear to me from the images: I couldn’t eliminate the possibility. And I wasn’t about to start two months in Greece by picking up bed bugs from Pelican Paros, so I decided to inspect the mattress, but it proved too heavy to do alone.
Imagine sitting in your room jetlagged and exhausted your first night in Greece (after a nightmare 10-hr delay) weighing your options in case your bed had bed bugs. Finally, I decided that if one of my properties might have an infestation, I would want to investigate this right away if I were a landlord. So, I called the 24-hr number you are provided should you need something during your stay.
Anna, the British attendant who checked me in, came into inspect what I had found. First, she acted as though we were not looking at an insect but just some kind of dirt. It was very clearly a well-preserved flattened bug with legs and antennae still obvious and apparent.
She also quickly picked it off with her nail (which took several tries because the creature was flattened). It was horrifying. And though I had originally taken the video/pics of the bug to get a closer look at it and identify what it was, I was glad to have the documentation. To tell someone that what you’re looking at is not an insect when it clearly is one was (in retrospect as I write this) ridiculous and not very good customer service.
But I apologetically (since it was late) and nicely (because I wanted her help) reasoned with her and said, “I don’t mind if it’s an insect. But if I were a landlord, I’d want to know if there was any chance of bed bugs or lice or anything contagious like that. So if it’s okay with you, will you help me inspect the mattress? I just don’t want to take a chance like this when I know I’ll be traveling to other accommodations.”
She assured me the mattress was brand new, and I didn’t need to worry about it. She seemed to get annoyed about it, which I could understand since it was the middle of the night. But I had come this far, so I again said, “But wouldn’t it be good just to be sure? What do you think? Would you mind helping me?”
So finally, I persuaded her, and we investigated the mattress. Thankfully, it was fine. We didn’t see another bug. And I was satisfied that the bug was something else because bed bugs don’t appear alone. There’s always more than one. I separated out where the bug had been so I wouldn’t roll onto bug guts and gladly went to sleep.
My first stay was only for a night so I checked out the next morning. Finding one random insect is not a deal breaker for me, so I decided to keep my second reservation at the end of my trip and give the place a second chance.
Review of second visit
The attendant during my second stay was a nice Greek man named Alexandros, who was very helpful. He even helped bring up the luggage to the room. The location of the property is also great for access to everything. The room, unfortunately, was still not clean (please see attached pics): there was a discarded tea bag on the tea tray when I entered the room, the unused towels were stained, and the sheets were not clean.
I give my first stay 0.5 stars, and the second stay 3.5 stars, for an average of 2 stars. It’s too bad because I really wanted to find a regular place to stay in Parikia. The search continues.