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It’s all in the location and the details!  Your luxury villa holiday Greece is all about picking the right villa.  A villa in a perfect location and one that’s finished and maintained to the highest standards.

With the 2017 summer season fast approaching we’re busy finalising some maintenance for Villa Gabriella Lefkada – the villa is a real hive of activity at the moment.

The pool has been cleaned and is due for sanding on Monday after which it gets repainted with epoxy pool paint meaning it will sparkle as it reflects the sunlit Greek sky!

All the external woodwork on the pagodas has been sanded and varnished today and they’re gleaming in the beautiful spring light.

The gardens have been weeded (sadly we’ve lost a number of plants to the unusual snowfall and sub-zero temperatures in January) with replanting due later next week and we’ve just bought in three fabulous new hand made Greek pots with climbing jasmine to train over the poolside pagoda.  And the private terrace to the master bedroom is getting a new reed canopy for gentle shade – to be fitted on Monday – the old one was starting to flake.

On Monday we’ve got the heavy machinery coming in to roll and redress the road to the villa to give our guests a smooth ride to their luxury villa holiday Greece.  We look forward to welcoming our first guests on April 25th.  We’ve still got a few weeks left this summer (check our up to date availability on the “availability tab” here) so get in touch and book your perfect luxury villa holiday Greece at Villa Gabriella Lefkada.

Villa Gabriella.  Ionian luxury.  Immerse yourself.

Lefkada villas conjures up images of brilliant sunshine, idyllic blue seas and warm sunshine.  And so it is at Villa Gabriella Lefkada – normally!  After a quiet autumn and Christmas at Villa Gabriella Lefkada the new year has started in a rather unusual way.  We’re currently snowed in!  Somewhat that, here in the Ionian islands, is rather unusual.  After a lighter dusting a few days ago last night produced some 6-7cm of snow and it continues intermittently today.

The whole snow thing is quite widespread in Greece at the moment – Greekreporter.com news article

It’s so unusual here that it was worth a wander around the gardens and terraces to grab a few pictures for posterity.  We hope you enjoy them!  But please don’t think it’s what you’ll get when you visit in the summer.  It’s really not what Lefkada villas are about 🙂

It’s certainly unusual but I hope you agree that it’s a great opportunity to see the beauty of Lefkada and Villa Gabriella in a wholly different light.  Now we’re absolutely sure that this isn’t why our guests visit in the summer, and we’re happy to promise that they’ll be no snow during the summer season, but it does demonstrate the sheer beauty of the location.

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year (a little belated) and we look forward to welcoming you to Villa Gabriella in a warm, sunny summer 2017.

Villa Gabriella Lefkada has been busy installing a garden lighting system that lights both the upper terrace and lower gardens at night using the latest energy efficient LED technology.  It means that you can now enjoy the beauty of the gardens at night as well as during the day during your Greek Villa rental.

Hidden amongst the trees and plants the lights illuminate various features throughout the grounds and gardens as well as lighting the trees in a subtle off white light that brings a real beauty and romance to the stunning gardens and surrounding forest.

One of the many beautiful things about a Greek villa rental on the lovely Ionian islands in the summer are the warm evenings.   Our external lighting really allows you to enjoy our beautiful gardens long after sunset.  Combined with a bright moon over the Ionian the sheer beauty of the setting can’t be overstated and is a real part of the utter relaxation that Villa Gabriella Lefkada offers.

So after a stunning day on the beach or around the pool enjoy your evening on the terrace, dinner with a stunning view and then take a little time to wander the grounds and soak up the beauty of the gardens by night and breathe in the warm summer evening fragranced by the herb garden, the many wild herbs and the cypress forest around.

Villa Gabriella.  Ionian Luxury. Immerse yourself.

When guests choose a luxury Ionian villa for their holiday they want to find that villa in perfect condition.

Although Villa Gabriella is less than two years old we’re busy with our 2015/16 winter maintenance programme.  This will ensure our 2016 summer guests find Villa Gabriella in perfect condition when they arrive.  We have a number of enhancements planned for the villa over the winter, all of which will improve the luxury Ionian villa experience.  But there’s also some basic maintenance to do too.  Getting these basics right is critical to delivering the whole luxury Ionian villa experience.

Over the last few days we’ve been repainting the gates around the villa.  Originally made in Dubai in the winter of 2013/14 by Creative Steel (http://www.wroughtiron.ae) they unfortunately picked up some shipping damage on their way to Greece.  A few chips and nicks meant some early signs of rust needed to be made good.

The recent perfect autumn weather on Lefkada has helped progress.  We’ve managed to get all six gates fully refinished – the pictures show three of them being lovingly repainted.   Hours of sanding back to the bare metal was needed before they were treated to a generous coat of primer. Only then were they re-painted in a beautiful shade of dark green. This colour is a perfect complement to the surrounding forest and the gates now look very splendid indeed.  Finally the Villa Gabriella sail design was repainted in gold. The end result is a truly magnificent welcome to our guests arriving at Villa Gabriella.

This level of care, maintenance and refinishing is just one small detail that contributes to making Villa Gabriella a true luxury Ionian villa.

Villa Gabriella.  Ionian Luxury.  Immerse yourself.

If you’re looking for some cultural entertainment during the coming week then Lefkada is the perfect place to be. August 16th sees the start of the 2015 “Lefkas International Folklore Festival” – the 53rd running of this wonderful event.  The festival began in 1962 and was founded to promote a message of peace & friendship through the medium of traditional folk music and dance.

During the festival folk-dance groups from five continents will perform with no less than 800 dancers, choreographers, musicians and singers involved.  The festival starts with the street parade of peace and friendship at 6:00PM on Sunday evening (16/8) and continues with the opening ceremony at 9:00PM that includes short appearances by all of the dance groups.
Throughout the week at different locations around the island of Lefkada groups will put on their full performances before the fabulous closing ceremony on Sunday 23rd that includes the exchange of gifts and the final “dance of peace” on the main stage by all the groups.

You can find full details of the festival at www.liff.gr

 Villa Gabriella’s central location on Lefkada makes it is perfect location to take in different performances around the island. And after the shows it’s great to retreat back to the villa for a quiet drink taking in the splendour of Villa Gabriella’s unmatched views across the Ionian.

As beautiful as the Ionian islands are there is usually the problem of getting there.  You need to take a ferry and the next one isn’t until tomorrow!

A real advantage of Lefkada is that is accessible directly from the Greek mainland by bridge.  In fact it’s the only Ionian island connected direct to the mainland.

The 50 metre bridge opens for five minutes on the hour, every hour, to allow ships through.  Apart from those five minutes you can drive straight onto Lefkada whenever it suits you and without charge!

There are some great pictures of the bridge, the F/B (Floating Bridge) Santa Maura, at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lefkada-Bridge/1419296871672969?fref=ts along with a little more information.

But this useful floating bridge is perhaps only half the story.  If you come to the Ionian from Athens then one highlight of what is anyway a beautiful drive along the north coast of the Pelepponese is arriving at the stunning Rio-Antirrio suspension bridge.  Opened one week before the 2004 Athens Olympics, the first people to cross were Olympic torchbearers.  There’s more information on this stunning Greek bridge at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio–Antirrio_bridge

Together these two bridges mean that driving to Lefkada is a ferry free experience allowing you flexibility and predictability in planning your journey.  To get the best from Villa Gabriella Lefkada you do need a car.  And with a car you really want the simplest possible drive to the island.  Even if you choose to rent a car on the island, and our ever-helpful villa manager Lilias can certainly help you with this, it’s good to know that your arrival on the island isn’t going to be at the whim of a Greek ferry timetable or short flight delay.

Villa Gabriella. Ionian Luxury.  Immerse yourself.

It’s hard to describe the beauty, the privacy and the absolute tranquility of a holiday at Villa Gabriella.  So we took a few drone flights around the villa to get these stunning shots.  The Phantom drone is a fantastic piece of kit, easy to fly and takes astonishing quality pictures.  If you’re interested in the technology then you’ll find the full information here: https://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vision-plus

We’ve chosen several pictures for this post as they show different aspects of the location and different views.  They also show the Villa at different times of day.  The Greek islands are rarely less than beautiful but the Ionian islands benefit from being much greener, due to winter rain, than the more easterly Greek islands.  We think these photographs really draw out the beauty of this very special location.  We hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed shooting them!

This picture is taken from behind the house above the olive grove that, in turn, is behind the cypress forest.  Villa Gabriella’s privacy and tranquility becomes obvious.  In the background are the islands of Meganisi, Skorpios, Sparti, and Madouri.  And just visible, rising from the haze, is Kalamos and then the Greek mainland.  If you’re interested in more of the history of the Ionian islands before your holiday there’s a good summary on Wikipedia at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionian_Islands

This picture, taken directly overhead, shows the villa itself and the adjacent cottage (never rented separately to the main house).  You can see the generous parking space – easily enough for 10 or more cars.  And it further illustrates the privacy offered by the site screened from all sides by the cypress forest.

The next two pictures illustrate the villa from either side.  In the first picture the view is to the south of the island.  Vliho bay, the first body of water, is visible.   Beyond that the second body of water you can see is the Meganisi channel that seperates Lefkada from Meganisi.

From the south looking north the road to Vafkeri is visible.  Vafkeri is a pretty little mountain village, close to the centre of the island of Lefkada with a couple of tavernas that are worth a visit for lunch or dinner if you fancy the pretty 10-15 minute drive during your holiday.

This perspective also shows the layout of the pool, pagoda, hot tub and terraces.  It’s worth noting that the road to Villa Gabriella extends only to a single olive grove above – further enhancing the privacy and tranquility of the location.

We’ve chosen the final image simply for the beautiful light.  This soft, early morning light, taken an hour or so after sunrise, is a beautiful view of Villa Gabriella Lefkada.  With all the terraces, the hot tub and the pool bathed in the early morning sunshine this is a perfect time for an early morning swim or a leisurely breakfast on the terrace.  Just a couple of great ways to start your day during a holiday at Villa Gabriella Lefkada.