Where I Stayed in Kastraki: Pyrgos Adrachti

We arrived late at night in Pyrgos Adrachti and the guy at the reception (which is probably the owner of the hotel and I wasn’t even able to ask for his name – shame on me) was waiting for us. As soon as we walked in, he showed us a map and explained to us where we are and how to go around. He gave us the opening timings of each of the monasteries in Meteora and how far it will be to reach by car. He even gave us an advise where to eat that night. All of these were explained to us in English for my benefit which I found to be very nice of him. He even helped me with my bag to the room.

The rooms are huge and wasn’t as I expected it to be – it was better. Yes, it looks very traditional but not to the point that they have stripped it off with your basic needs. In fact, I think for the type of their hotel, I can probably even describe it as luxurious. There were two beds in the room, one was a king size bed and another a single bed but even then you still have a lot of space to move around and it doesn’t feel cramped at all. We’ve got our own veranda which gives you a fantastic view of the rock formations during the day. The bathroom was big as well and very clean. The water for shower was very refreshing after a full day of traveling for me. Wifi is available and accessible as well in the rooms for free. They’ve got very comfortable beds and pillow which supports your neck – good for side sleepers like I am. That’s probably the reason why I had a very good sleep that night. We didn’t use the air conditioning and instead just opened our windows to let in the natural breeze, a good change for me who is so used to Dubai’s obsession of air conditionings which actually is a necessity given the weather that we have there.

I woke up at 6 in the morning the next day as I still had my body clock for work which makes me automatically wake up at 7am (Dubai time) no matter what time I slept the night before. Somehow, my body has not adjusted yet that I’m on a holiday. :p I can hear the sound of the church bells from the room and of a rooster doing its morning crow. The ambiance is very village-y and it does add up to the relaxing and peaceful atmosphere of the hotel. Pyrgos Adrachti is located in Kastraki, one of the two towns closest to Meteora (the other one is Kalambaka). The good thing about Kastraki is it’s closer to the rock formations with a local character giving it a very unique and picturesque atmosphere. I went outside the balcony to admire the views, the houses were built of stone with red clay roofs. I later learned that the houses cannot exceed a certain height to follow the regulations of the National Archaeological Committee to preserve the village’s characteristics and out of respect for the surrounding landscapes. (Source: Wikitravel)

The breakfast was awesome! They’ve got a generous option of typical Greek breakfast food including of course my favorite – spanakopita. They had spanish omelet as well as fruits, jams, bread, cereals -they’ve got it all. I was really very surprised as I did not expect such a hotel to serve a hefty breakfast. I’ve stayed in much more expensive hotels which had extremely poor breakfast spread so the sight of a full serving table of Pyrgos Adrachti made me all giddy.

Now the most important thing about the breakfast in Pyrgos Adrachti was the amazing view from where they serve it. The word to correctly describe the beauty of it has not been invented yet so I’ll just show you the photo of what I had in front of me during that time:

The rock formations of Meteora.

Pyrgos Adrachti Hotel definitely gives you more than what you have paid. The hospitality of the people, the amenities, the ambiance and the proximity to Meteora – I’m surprised they are not charging more. I hope it stays the same though.

Having said all that, I guess my point is – stay in Pyrgos Adrachti if you find yourself in the area.

Hotel Pyrgos Adrachti
Kastraki Kalambaka Meteora
Greece
0030 24320 22275

http://www.hotel-adrachti.com/