Villa's Gio Shala River

Simple but very comfortable and great value

The staff are so friendly and welcoming. We really enjoyed the food. We’re happy we stayed here rather than Konami as you can walk about and explore the Shala area without having to get a boat to go to other places. Comfortable beds and cosy cabins. Thank you!

Nothing really

In short: this accommodation failed to honor the agreed-upon boat bookings and repeatedly failed to communicate. Furthermore, the accommodation experience was not as expected, clean and functioning, but with a broken bed, a lamp that is a disco light when the air conditioning is on, only one electrical outlet in the bed area, and a constant smell of the drain/sewer. Breakfast was basic, dough with jam and honey, was served without cover, so the wasps ate most of it. We truly fail to understand how they get such a good booking score. We usually give a 10, but this is the first time in over 100 bookings that we've given less than an 8. Perhaps check out other reviews, such as Google or ask a local; they rolled their eyes several times when we asked about Villa’s Gio . The story: 1) Taxi boat from Koman to Villa’s Gio : not picked up. Even though we were already on the ferry port at 8:30, the boat supposed to leave 9:30, but there was no sign of Villa’s Gio. After actively approaching every boat owner and local café, after 9:30 we finally found someone who identified himself as Villa’s Gio. He told us to have a drink on the terrace because the boat doesn't leave until after 10:00 am, and pointed to a parked boat with Villa’s Gio sign on it (fun fact: its a boat out of service). To be sure, we also sent a message on Booking.com, there was no clear answer, so we contacted on WhatsApp to ask if everything was ok. We received a thumbs-up. Later, we saw the person on an unidentified smaller boat loading gas bottles, and a little later, both the person and the boat were gone. Apparently, we should have run after him… at least, according to the owner, who was apparently also there but didn't identify himself nor searched for us. Without any help or communication, we ended up arriving on our own 3 hours later. Unfortunately, the welcome was "We're way too busy with the kitchen, here's the key, the cottage is uphill over there".

2) Taxi boat Villa’s Gio – Fierze : We got confirmation in booking messages 3 times that yes, there is a boat from Shala river to Fierze at 14:30, they even offered it by themselves. When we arrived after the incident, we wanted to make sure that it was the case because the next day we had a reserved mini bus from Fierze to Valbona. Apparently there was never a boat and they have denied that they confirmed it to us. After we confronted them with the text messages, the owner became even more upset, and acting like we are the stupid ones and what do we think who we are and why on earth we want to go to Fierze. They suggested we go back to Koman in the early morning and take a ferry to Fierze. Which would have been OK if we would have prepared like that, but we did not pay for this accommodation to stay there less than 24hrs and we had our mini bus scheduled. So they started to promise that they would find a boat, always saying different timings and different prices. Guess what? The boat was not there at the agreed time, they never booked it, always promised a new timing, but at this point we knew it’s never going to happen… Unfortunately, we had to book a €240 boat at the dock last minute. Even their private boat, which they advertised the day before at €130 in their 'welcome message', was suddenly €180 and later non-existent. 3) Albania is developing rapidly, you just have to accept the flaws, it happens. The love of hospitality and the beautiful nature can make you forget this. That's true in the country in general, but here at Villa’s Gio, nothing could be further from that. The host was completely unable to admit his mistakes and didn't know what to do with the complaints. Meanwhile, the hostess tried to mediate, but when we expressed our disappointment in booking message, she continued to deny what happened.

The property was very beautiful, more modern, looking than the other properties located on the river, and I like the aesthetics a lot more of this property than the others. Majority of the staff were very friendly and accommodating in helping me get from the Komani ferry all the way to their property, and even scheduling me a reservation to park my car for the days I will be at the river. I loved the A-frame style, the bathrooms were very clean, the AC and heat works fantastic, and the bed was comfortable at night time. The location also had beautiful views of the river as it was located on top of the hill and a pretty nice free breakfast in the morning. I also loved how the staff was accommodating and held my suitcases the day I was leaving in a secure location at their property so I could enjoy the river before my ferry took off that afternoon. Very cute stay, and I felt safe as a solo traveler.

When I booked my accommodation, my checkout stated 8- 11 AM. There was a cleaning lady who came knocking on my door and talking in a complete different language however, her facial expressions and hand gestures seemed like she was frustrated that I wasn’t checked out by 10 AM. If the checkout is 10 AM, then that needs to be made clear when people are booking the stay. The Wi-Fi was also slow but i understand the goal is connect to nature. You do have to hike up a good sized hill with all of your suitcases to get to your room as well but that’s uncontrollable. I also wish the food such as the potatoes for dinner and pancakes were warm and not cold. Other than that it was a great stay.

The location is great

The rooms are built up the mountain and for some it may be difficult to claimed up to the rooms

The property itself was lovely, the cabins were flea and comfy, the allocations was absolutely perfect. The staff were so wonderful and helpful, they helped book the bus and also picked us up on a boat, and dropped us back for the bus. We stayed 3 nights and this was not enough, we would of absolutely stayed 5 nights if we did this again. Most beautiful place we’ve been.

Very nice modern rooms considering the location. Good air conditioning, staff were all very friendly and helpful.

A couple small things, lights were flickering and shower did flood but this is to be expected as it’s a remote location. Steep hill to get up to the villa but still great location.

This place is so beautiful and practically untouched. The boat ride just getting there is so relaxing and scenic. The end of the lake on the river the water is so crystal clear and very chilly but refreshing. The cabins seemed to be brand new so everything was new and the service was great even through some issues with power outages, I did see some reviews that they do not have AC and it has been installed now, they installed them the day we came but unfortunately there wasn’t any electricity but the weather was fine so we wouldn’t have needed it, bring a flashlight in case as it is a little hike up to the cabins and if the electricity is out you will want to be able to see around.

Just be aware that coming here you are disconnecting. There will be times without service or wifi or electricity all together. This is not a place to come work remotely unless you can work without the internet or electricity. The road in is long, windy gravel mountain road but it is definitely worth it. I’m so happy I came and enjoyed my stay even without electricity.