We greatly enjoyed our stay in Stella’s house, plesantly traditional and unpretentious, while fully equipped with all amenities and extremely comfortable. Greek hospitality is deservedly famous; nevertheless, it is rare to find a rental accomodation that feels like a true home away from home. Every little detail in the house is thoughtfully arranged to make the stay as easy and as pleasant as possible for guests; and all the furnishings and equipment are solid good quality rather than just nice-looking at first glance, which has become a rarity. The traditional layout of the house, with 2 bathrooms, an inner courtyard and a small back yard, allows for space and privacy and is perfect for hot summer days. The communication with our gracious and generous host was easy: pontual and resposive, always there to help and to answer questions, but never intrusive or overwhelming.
The house is situated in the very center of the village of Gennadi, close to a convenient public parking and 2 minutes on foot from all that the village has to offer. Which is not much - it’s a small village - but is perfectly adequate for basic daily needs: a well furnished supermarket, a fruits-and-veggies store, an excellent bakery, and 5 or 6 restaurants. (Zorba’s stood out as our favorite for its subtlety, but they are all good and reasonably priced, so it’s a matter of personal taste.)
The main attraction of the village is the beach, which is situated about 10 minutes on foot from Stella’s house, or two minutes by car if you don’t want to walk in the heat. (You can park in the shade of the pine trees that border the beach.) The Gennadi beach is not famous in Rhodes, probably because most Northern Europeans prefer sandy beaches. This, however, is a beach of small multicolored pebbles and the water gets deep pretty quickly. For people who actually like to swim in the sea, like myself, it is absolutely perfect. Another great thing is that the beach is so big that it never gets overcrowded. There are two restaurants on the beach which rent out umbrellas for a reasonable price and where you can also get a nice meal (especially at Antoni’s). However, if you prefer more solitude, you can simply drive or walk a bit further to find your own spot. The only thing to keep in mind is that Rhodes is very windy everywhere. In Gennadi there are rarely bigger waves (the wind blows mostly from the land and thus calms the sea), but the sea is rarely completely still.
We chose Gennadi as our base for 3 weeks in July to both enjoy the sea and the swimming away from big crowds, and as a strategic spot to explore the island. We were very happy with our choice and especially very happy with choosing Stella’s house. Thank you, Stella and Yannis, for your wonderful hospitality!