Product reviews

Following all of the rave reviews I had read on MN, we booked 2 weeks in Mousses, arriving early May (the first week of the season). On arrival, we were delighted - the gardens are lovely and Mousses is indeed in a very nice setting - lots of beautiful olive, lemon & fig trees surrounding the 10 houses. The pool is lovely (cold in May though!).

However, we soon became a little less enchanted with the place! To begin with, we had no hot water until Tuesday afternoon (we arrived Sunday pm), it was only after I said that we would have to be moved elsewhere if it wasn't sorted out immediately that something was actually done (I had to go to one of the 3 bed villas on one of the days to have a shower - it felt rather like being at a camping site, with me taking my washbag, clean clothes, etc., out across the complex!). The house (we really couldn't go so far as to call it a 'villa') was pretty basic - rustic is the fashionable term I believe! I never attempted anything more than scrambled eggs (for my daughter) in the kitchen, as the facilities were just so basic - 2 electric hobs, microwave & a very basic oven type thing. There was a kettle & toaster too, although the toaster kept tripping the fuse every time we used it.

Given that the appeal of Mousses is its family-friendliness, the house wasn't ideal for young children. The stairs & bannisters in particular were potentially very dangerous. Most of all though, the house lacked any type of comfort, of softness. The sofa was basically a concrete base with a hard cushion on top. And the bed was just horrible. Very hard matress which had no give at all. During our 2 weeks there, neither my husband nor I had a decent night's sleep. My daughter's cot was pretty poor too. Then there was the external noise - numerous dogs barking throughout the night and other noises - cat fights, etc., really did not help.

The creche was lovely, as were all the girls who worked there. I'm a SAHM, so my daughter does not attend nursery or anything in the UK, but she adored going to the creche (we just had her in for 3 half days each week). At the end of our 2 weeks, they gave us a folder with all of the paintings. etc., she had done during her time there, which was a really nice touch. However, they no longer offer evening baby sitting, which was a bit of a disappointment. There was no way we would have left our daughter alone in the house to go to the bar, even with a baby monitor (although I did see more than one family do this). Additionally there are no other real facilities to keep the children entertained. A play area would be a good idea. There isn't a DVD player in the house, so God help anyone if the weather is bad and you have to stay indoors with a bored child as there were no other toys or games for children to play with outside of the creche.

We really liked Lefkas, it is a small & friendly island. Mousses is nice, but please do not go expecting any level of comfort!

Karola, great review very useful - we are off to Mousses this weekend, did you complain about the barking dogs to the rep/holiday company? I tried to email you but am new to Mumsnet and couldn't work out how!? Thanks, Cathy.

Went to Mousses with my then 18 months old. We had a fab holiday and there are lots of positiv things to say about it, however there are also some negatives and I don't think I will be going back. So here the positives

- really nice complex in very well maintained grounds

- still small enough not to feel croweded and 'resort' like but big enough to always find other kids and adults to interact with

- lovely pool right in the middle of the complex

- fab creche set in lovely gardens

- Lefkas town is great with lots of nice restaurants, harbour and no traffic allowed in the centre.

- well stocked mini-mart just 2 min walk away

Negativ

- Mousses is too far away from restaurants and beaches. You need to drive everywhere and cannot walk cause traffic is murder and there are hardly any streetlights

- Food in the restaurant and bar is below standard and expensive

- Houses are not really toddler friendly (stairs and banisters are really dangerous!) and upstairs gets unbearably hot even with air con on

- no playground on the complex

- barking dogs outside the complex drove us potty (specially nights and early morning)

So all in all we had a great time but I think I will try something else this year. Especially if you want to use the creche facilities I would recommend it!

We have viseted 4 times but not 2008 due to financial restraints. Always loved it, the best holidays we have ever had. The houses are lovely and rustic, the food from the restaurant is typical Greek and the owners and staff are just fantastic. Hoping to go 2010 if finances allow. Damb this financial crisis.

We've just come back from Mousses and had the best holiday we've had since our son was born. The layout meant it was very, very sociable and the kids all play together and the adults all get to know each other well which meant it was really good fun. The creche was fabulous, loads of indoor and outdoor space and plenty of toys and activities and really good staff - our 2 yr old really enjoyed his time theere. The swimming pool and children's pool were lovely and the grounds were great and totally toddler friendly (no playground though). The staff at Mousses were all very kind and helpful. Simply Travel were excellent and provided a very good service throughout.

There were however some downsides...

- Lefkas is not a beautiful greek island, local beach (Milos) was scruffy and unappealing and c.40 mins walk. Ended up driving 30-40 mins to find OK beaches - mostly pebbles, tiny bit of sand. Sea was lovely though.

- Constant buidling work all round Lefkas, everything seems either half-built and abandoned or for sale. lots of heavy lorries constantly going along the road next to Mousses

- The food in restaurants was very poor - only had one decent meal in 2 weeks. Mousses pool bar food very mediocre too.

- 'End of Season' we went in mid-Sept and everything was being closed down for the end of the season which was a bit depressing. Weather not great either - 6 days of heavy rain out of 13.

- The accomodation was very basic with TINY kitchen that made self-catering quite hard work (we ended up cooking loads as restaurants so bad!)

- Guard dogs in a warehouse next door barked all night every night and drive everyone to distraction!

In summary, would definitely recommend Mousses as we had a great time. I don't think we'll go back though - if it was re-located onto a lovely Greek island with good beaches, plenty of character and nice food we'd be going there every year!