Aloha Everyone,
Online hotel reservation are essentially owned by two companies. Travelers utilize them to find suitable lodgings. Based upon one of these search engines, there are 649 hotels on Paros but the numbers exclude small Mom and Pop establishments who rely on onsite signages and word of mouth advertising or YouTube posts.
Size of a room, en-suite bathroom, views, AC, WiFi, elevator may have to be verified upon arrival.
When J.J. and I mentioned to a restaurant owner that we will be staying in Greece until the beginning of December, she eagerly offered her room to let above the restaurant promoting it as “direct ocean view, spacious, clean, free WiFi and cheap.”
Many restaurants have rooms upstairs like Oasis Hotel where we stayed. Then there are pubs, bistros, take out only places. With island population greatly dependent on seasonal tourism, restaurant workers start moving back to the cities in search of employment by the end of September.
One interesting custom in Greece is that restaurants are supposed to give you an official printed receipt which is to remain on your table until the bill has been settled. For smaller amounts, J.J. has been paying in cash. In this neighborhood, two days in a row, the restaurant gave us a handwritten bill rather than the official printed one. We obviously look like foreign tourists and these restaurants are evading their tax obligations including 13% VAT.
Aloha -- Cathi
