Hidden. Tastefully decorated. An abundance of flowers and plants with a vibrant soul, a garden like you never experienced before. The evergreen mountain closes the scenery in the background. The sea opens up the views to the South. The refreshing swimming pool is all yours. The entire ground floor is all yours. So are the outdoor bbq and the gym. Live The Life. In this 100% traditional mountain village on a Greek Island, where nature is all but shy. Live in style, in our boutique stone villa, known as “Arapaki Secret Garden”. Open for bookings all year round. The question is: Will you ever want to leave?
Accommodation
Arapaki Secret Garden is a three floor villa, recently renovated with a boutique approach in all senses. It is designed in such a way that the ground floor is 100% independent from the other floors.
When you book our place, the 85 sqm interiors + around 600 sqm exteriors are for the guests only. The swimming pool, the parking, the bbq & outdoor kitchen, the elevated outdoor gym/exercise area. They are all included and for your exclusive use during your stay.
Up to 5 guests can stay here and feel comfortable all year round. One bedroom with a double bed sleeps 2 guests (size of bed: 2.05x1.5m; size of room: 11.1 sqm).
The second bedroom comes with a double bed (size of bed: 2.05x1.5m) + a single bed (size of bed: 2.05x1m) and sleeps 3 guests (size of room: 19.4 sqm).
A foldable baby cot & high chair are available free of charge, please ask if you need them.
The living-dining-kitchen-office is an all inclusive space for all indoor needs. There is one bathroom with a bathtub indoors, and a second bathroom with a large shower outdoors, to use for quick showers by the pool, or as a second bathroom.
Heating and cooling | All year round comfort
The double bedroom has an A/C unit. The triple bedroom will have an A/C unit for summer 2025. Until next summer, due to the nice climate up here in the mountains, there is not much need for cooling.
There is no air conditioning in the living area. Due to the stone built nature of the walls and the large covered terrace adjoining the lounge area, the main living space is surprisingly cool during very hot weather.
The central heating with radiators in all rooms makes this place nice and warm during colder days of winter. It is very rare to find accommodation in Lefkada with central heating, so we are proud to offer cosy winter stays to our guests.
The water is solar heated. If this is not hot enough for your requirements, please ask the hosts to provide hot water via the oil burner (30 minutes notice required).
Swimming pool
The swimming pool is large and it comes with beautiful sea views of Vasiliki Bay. The swimming pool is seasonal, open from April 1st to October 31st. Nature everywhere you look. Peace and quiet. Disturbed only by crickets and cicadas during the summer. Sun loungers, straw umbrella, sea view & drinks. Perfect.
Outdoor kitchen and BBQ
The stone barbecue (charcoal/wood) is part of the outdoor kitchen with 2 X gas burners, spices and cooking tools. Sometimes fish and meat can be delivered to your home. All that is left for you is to grab a drink and get your cooking groove on.
Outdoor gym/exercise area
The outdoor gym has a boxing bag, a further punching-and-kicking target machine, exercise bench, free weights and various stretching and hanging bars. Gosia, the owner loves her boxing and is well trained in exercise, fitness, stretching and anything that relaxes or empowers the body & mind.
Terrace
This is probably one of the nicest terraces to hang out in Lefkada. It has a solid roof, so very nice to sit including on rainy days. The view to the gardens, pool, and sea is just magical.
Amenities
Free private parking. Free WiFi. Desk and office chair for remote working in Greece. Equipped kitchen. Washing machine. Iron and board. Towels, pool towels, linens, toiletries.
In the kitchen: microwave, toaster, kettle, coffee machine (teas/coffee provided), air fryer, tall refrigerator and freezer.
Cleaning
Included with your stay, cleaning is usually done every 3-4 days, together with the changing of linens and towels, or at request for an extra fee.
Extra things to make your stay extra nice
The owners travelled a lot. They have been pampered with all sorts of nice-to-haves during their stays all over the world. Antony and Gosia are excited to be hosts themselves and offer an experience-stay to their guests.
Breakfast
One of the things they are happy to offer is a poolside breakfast each morning. This is served at a time of your choice from 7.30am – 10.30am. You will be asked to confirm if you would like a ‘first morning’ breakfast after confirmation of your booking. You can decide on other mornings as you go.
Goodies on the house
On the house, some goodies from around: water from the village spring, olive oil from our village oil press, salt, pepper & vinegar, tea and coffee.
Goodies for the beach: Picnic hamper
Lefkada has so many unique beaches, you won’t know where to go first. You can go and sit on commercial beaches, on their sunbeds and umbrellas. Or… much nicer, take the Picnic hamper, beach chairs, umbrella, beach blanket and even a bat and ball paddle set and have a completely different experience. It comes with a small fee, but you get a day you will remember forever.
More goodies: Drinks
The fully stocked collection of wines and alcoholic beverages in the living room is for our guests. Reasonably priced. Just in case you want a drink and you don’t feel like going to the supermarket. A nice feature you won’t usually find in Lefkada’s accommodation playground.
Pet-friendly
Yes, pet-friendly. Owners with pets are welcome as long as they behave nicely. Pets should be nicely behaved too. Also, pets should be accustomed with the existence of furniture and plants as decor objects, not edibles. Please don’t let the pets alone inside the house for long hours, unless you know they are patiently waiting for you to come back.
Location
The villa is not on the beach. Therefore, no crowds.
It is situated at 400 meters above the sea. Thus, the insanely amazing views.
The place is South oriented. And so, winters here are pleasant. Summers are also nice and breezy, due to the winds that make Vasiliki the highlighted spot for windsurfing.
Arapaki Secret Garden is located at the end and highest point of the very traditional Greek village called Vournikas, in the South of Lefkada Island. The village is, as the entire island is… green all year round. It overlooks the layers of mountains and valleys. It is the silent kingdom ruling over Vasiliki Beach and all the sea up to Kefalonia.
The road leading to the villa is used only by 2-3 locals from time to time. There are no other houses after Arapaki Secret Garden. Just 2 farms where sometimes, you can see the sheep and goat and even their babies, depending on the season.
The mountain that guards the village is called Arapaki. Now you understand the connection.
There are two springs within the village. Four churches. The olive oil press. One mini-market with very-basic-shopping. One taverna open. Both open all year round. And Olga, with her famous jams, liqueurs and crochets. A village lived in by only 120 inhabitants.
Privacy
The British-Polish couple that re-designed this lovely place lives in the upper part of the building. They are private, quiet and nice people. The guests will not feel their presence at all. They own two beautiful quiet dogs, that know the limits of their territory.
The house next door and below Arapaki Secret Garden is lived in all year long by some other foreign people who dreamed about living in Greece. There is a common understanding of the need of privacy and harmony for everyone.
We all love our beautiful end of the village and respect each other’s privacy.
Dining out
Many options. The taverna in Vournikas is called simply Yannis and Katerina and is open all year round, usually in the evenings. They can deliver at home. The next village, Sivros, has more bars and tavernas open all year round. During the season, the options closest to home would be in Fterno, Vasiliki, Sivota, Mikros Gialos, Marantochori, Ammoussa, Nidri.
Beaches
You will be in the South side of Lefkada. The beaches around are from 10 to 30 minutes drive away: Mikros Gialos, Desimi, Afteli, Ammoussa, the two little beaches left and right of Ammoussa, Agiofili, Vasiliki Beach - known for watersports.
On the West Coast of Lefkada, with car trips from 40 - 50 minutes, the most famous beaches worth visiting are: Porto Katsiki, Egremni, Gialos, Megali Petra, Kavalikefta, Avali, Milos, Agios Nikitas, Pefkoulia, Kathisma.
Activities
From June until late September, everything is open in Lefkada. All the activities for tourists are available. The usual summer activities in Lefkada include sailing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, paragliding, horse riding, paddle boarding, kayaks, biking, small boat trips, big boat trips, yoga, massage, trips to Meganisi.
During the rest of the year, the island becomes almost silent, all activities are regrouping for the next season. Few have experienced a Greek Island, as the locals know it.
For someone living the big city life, being here in Lefkada in late autumn, winter or spring brings such an abrupt change of scenery, that it can be the big break and source of inspiration for new chapters in life. The silence and lack of action during winter can be a breath of fresh air for some of us coming from agitated lifestyles.
