Lively Here & Nefeli Villas with private pool and close to everything you need in Zakynthos

We picked this holiday because it seemed to offer a little bit of everything: quiet family time, social time, kids club & beautiful surroundings. It did not disappoint. Simpson Travel were great, really engaging with you before we departed, sending leather luggage labels as well as backpacks got our kids. On arrival they were welcoming at the airport & there to see us off as you depart. Everyone was friendly & professional. The villas were perfect, spotlessly clean with all the equipment you'd need for a young family. They even provided supplies for when we arrived, milk, juice, bread, fruit, water, wine & beer. The kids loved the kids club and couldn't wait to go. The barbecue with the other families mid week was a great touch and our "date night", while the kids attended a pyjama party was a welcome treat. If my family were younger I could see us going year after year. My daughter is 8 and was amongst the oldest 3 children and would probably be a little bored next year but for under 5s this place is hard to beat.

Our second year with Simpson Travel and the whole family is rejuvenated. Such an idyllic location with the chance for everyone to enjoy their holiday. Simpson’s resort staff are always going the extra mile to make valuable holiday time as good as it gets. This was our second year at Periyali Crèche & Children's Club and we were not disappointed. There were a number of factors that improved our stay, the first was that our villa had been “upgraded” with a lovely clean feel, a lovely bathroom, new kitchen and Television for the girls to watch before bed. The villa was practical and comfortable and the garden pool a great asset to have as the afternoon’s became warmer. The wonderful cleaners keep it tidy after you leave in the morning and returning from the pool or beach to a clean, refurbished villa adds to the pleasure and lowers the stress. The service at Periyali has also had an upgrade, we noticed an improvement in the quality of the food offered at the pool bar, which was already pretty good and the ‘BBQ Night’ was superb. Denise the resort manager was friendly and enthusiastic as ever, tending to our every need and making sure everything ran like clockwork. The crèche staff were superb again and the girls were genuinely sad to be leaving them. In addition to the welcoming staff the locals in the area are wonderful and Denise has a plethora of local knowledge that means we hardly needed to expend any effort to have a good time and find the local tavernas. The other guests were a pleasure to be with and seemed to have a great deal of commonality. There is room to socialize as groups or remain separate as a family. The area had superb 4G coverage for staying in touch and the free wifi at the pool bar was an added extra for uploading pictures or catching up with work (don’t get caught). The current situation in Greece did not impact us at all. We took enough cash in the form of Euros as traditionally credit cards are not as widely accepted as cash. The flights with Thomson were again a necessary evil and not at all enjoyable. With the destination purely charter the options are limited. Pressure Simpson Travel to book you additional leg room at the earliest opportunity to try an elevate some of the discomfort. I am informed that they are seeking alternatives for next year. Thanks you to the team in Periyali for giving us a wonderful week and for the people of Zakynthos for their hospitality.

A first visit in May of this year to Periyali has left us undoubtedly considering booking again next year. Having travelled with Simpson previously we were expecting things to be pretty well organised and delivered to a high standard, and overall we weren't disappointed. I have yet to find a similar set-up in Greece other than the alternate Simpson property on Lefkada. Having a small number of villas and a full creche/nursery facility made for a genuinely relaxing week. Large resort style hotels aren't really a favourite for summer getaways for me or my wife and so this was a real find that left us both wanting to head back immediately. The villa overall was perfect, with its own pool and everything you could need to look after an 18 month old as well as yourselves. Refreshed paint and decor meant that the place felt practically new, and having everything on one level certainly worked for us from a logistical point of view. The girls that run the creche are great - all fully trained and incredibly enthusiastic. Simpson's approach to employing expats and locals over the more normal seasonal worker paid dividends here, with the Simpson manager Denise providing real local knowledge for restaurants, beaches and things to do on the island. Pool and bar was so good we spent most of our time in it or around it, and having free time while our daughter was being well looked after certainly helped on the relaxation front. Equally we felt really comfortable leaving her with the creche girls to indulge in a couple of date nights where we went to local tavernas and enjoyed an evening without a buggy in tow. This would have been five star if it weren't for a slightly unfortunate problem with our daughers room, namely a smell that persisted despite the very able cleaners deep cleaning the room twice. It was attributed to water ingress somewhere following a very wet spring on the island, and while the room was never damp and improved over the course of the week it was nevertheless something that we had to think about during what was otherwise a superb break. A final thought on the holiday experience, but nothing to do with Periyali, is that anyone booking should try and avoid the Thomson flights that Simpson block book if at all possible! From Gatwick at least they run at highly inconvenient times (first flights out at 6am), ours were late in and out, the seats are really small - even compared to budget carriers like EasyJet, and the check-in process resembled a gridlocked motorway.