Once inside, the facilities are poor, toilets yuk, nowhere near enough seating (we used the stairs up to the Duty Free shop) and people milling round or just sat on the floor.  The snack bar stocked a limited range of rolls, crisps and drinks and was over-priced - but then aren't all airports a rip-off when it comes to food and drink. Contrary to other reports, you can buy bottled water at the snack bars inside the airport but would still advise you to take some to use during the queueing stage. My husband also made use of the mini fan I'd packed in the hand luggage whilst outside.

Glad we weren't more than 30 mins delayed leaving - not sure I could have coped with the 5 hours the previous week. (the flight we arrived on was delayed for 5 hours at East Midlands and, although EMA is quite a decent airport, being stuck there for a total of 7 hours was not much fun....even worse at Zante!)

However, it would not put me off going back as it is just such a lovely island.

This is a really good place to stay in Argassi and offers excellent value for money.  Close enough to the resort centre and amenities (within a 2 - 3 minute stroll) yet distanced enough not to be affected by noise from traffic, bars etc. (would hate to stay on the road going up the hill from the Best Supermarket....!)

The studios are of a good size, very clean and comfortable.  We had 2 adjacent studios on the 2nd floor above the reception area and the views were lovely. The only down side was the shared balcony - three studios sharing 1 run-through balcony - but it didn't bother us in any way and our neighbours were very friendly....it's just something we've never experienced before (and which is why I've rated 9 not 10).All of the staff are very helpful and friendly, no matter what time of day or night.

Plenty of really good restaurants, supermarkets and bars within strolling distance - you'll be spoilt for choice!

Would definitely recommend the Windmill Studios.

We ate here twice and would defintely recommend it. Extensive menu, excellent food, excellent service.  On Tuesday night we were entertained by Greek singers and on Thursday Greek dancers. 

Ate here twice and enjoyed our meals on both occasions.  We sat on the grassed area on the first night next to the fountain (very romantic!) and then on the terrace the 2nd time (less romantic as we had our 16 year old son and his two friends with us on that occasion!). 

Excellent choice of food and the service was very good on both occasions.

 

We were a little disappointed with the food here.  It looked so lovely as we approached it from the main road but never quite met our expectations.  It was a little more expensive than elsewhere and my husband's main course wasn't big enough to feed a child let alone an adult.  No complaints about mine though and certainly had no concerns about whether it had been cooked thoroughly etc.

Some friends of our had eaten there earlier in the evening and had no complaints whatsoever.

However, of the 4 restaurants we ate at for our evening meals this was definitely ranked fourth.

We ate here a couple of times in the afternoon and found it to be of good quality and value for money.

The service was excellent as was the food....and it had several tv screens so we could watch some cricket whilst we ate.

Our son and his two friends (all 16) had breakfast here on the last day and said it was the best they'd had all week - some recommendation!

Bearing in mind that the £ against the euro is low at the moment, we were able to exchange at 1.23 euros/£1 sterling at our studios (Windmill Studios) and 1.22 at the Green Frog supermarket just along the road from the studios.

If you're looking at this July 2008 and not sure whether to take travellers cheques, euros or sterling with you, I would definitely recommend you take a minimal amount of euros and take £sterling and change it once you get there.

Definitely much improved from last year in that there is no waiting for ages outside in the sun...just waiting ages inside but with air con!  It was very well organised though as the tour company reps make sure that you are in the right queue and filter you through the various aspects of check in, passport control etc.

Yes, the snack bar is expensive (and it is only snacks such as baguettes, sausage rolls, crisps etc) but, as I've reported previously, aren't all airport food and drink outlets one big rip off?

Much better toilet facilities in the new departure area BUT still nowhere near enough seats to cater for the vast numbers of flights which leave the airport on Sundays.  We were delayed 1.5hours and did manage to get a seat for a while so better than last year when we sat on the steps leading up to the duty free shop.

Greek air traffic control and Zante airport conspired to delay us both going to and leaving Zante.

On the way out we sat on the plane at East Midlands airport for 2 hours waiting for Greek airspace to clear us to land at their end.  Then, when we got to within sight of Zante, the plane diverted to Kefalonia as the pilot (allegedly) had been told to circle for 1.5hours as there was no space for us at Zante airport.  He hadn't enough fuel (allegedly) and so diverted to Kefalonia where we sat on the plane for another 1.5 hours.  We were all somewhat concerned that we were not taken off the plane whilst it was refuelled. In the event of a fire, we would have stood very little chance of getting off the plane as they only opened the front two doors to allow the airport staff to keep coming on board to liaise with the captain and cabin crew. 

We'd been on the plane for so long (from 6.45a.m. - 2.20p.m. in total) that the toilet system was full so they had to empty that before we could take off for Zante.  During all of this time, they only did the normal meals and drinks service during the actual flight.  No such thing as complimentary drinks, either, which given what we'd gone through would have been a small but nonetheless welcome gesture from First Choice. Talking to other passengers, we all felt the same that the captain and the cabin crew were all rather blase about the delays but the crew on the return journey were so much more professional, friendly and helpful.

Interestingly, when we finally landed at Zante airport, there was only one other plane there so we couldn't fathom why we'd had to wait so long.......

Thank goodness Zante is such a beautiful island that it worth the hassle of getting there and back....when we went last year we were delayed 5 hours going out (technical problems with the plane (allegedly) and about an hour coming back.....First Choice again........perhaps I'd better book with another airline in future.