Recommended Hotels

The following recommendations for all budgets cover Kos Town, Kos island, plus all the excursion-island destinations.

Most resort hotels have different room types including suites and superior doubles, so be specific about the type of accommodation that you are booking. Air conditioning and LCD TVs are ubiquitous, free Wi-Fi nearly so (exceptions indicated).

Unless stated otherwise, establishments operate Easter/May–October. Quoted rates include taxes and service though sometimes not breakfast (€7–13 per person). Minimum stays may apply in high season.

Almost all hotels take credit cards (we indicate ‘cash only’ when they don’t). The following price categories are for a double room or suite per night in high season. Low season rates can be half these.

€€€€€ over 250 euros

€€€€ 150–250 euros

€€€ 100–150 euros

€€ 60–100 euros

€ below 60 euros

Kos Town

Afendoulis € Evrypýlou 1, tel: 22420 25321, www.afendoulishotel.com. Family-run travellers’ hotel: cheerful brown-tiled rooms, mostly balconied, with fridges and refurbished bathrooms. The proprietors are most helpful – they can arrange port transfers – and the breakfasts (extra), served out front, are worth ordering. Popular, so booking advisable. Open late Mar–early Nov.

Kos Aktis Art €€€€ Vasiléos Georgíou 7, tel: 22420 47200, www.kosaktis.gr. This listed Bauhaus hotel got a designer makeover in 2005, and now always requires booking. Standard doubles and suites, in dark brown, grey, yellow and beige strokes, have unimpeded sea views and ample balconies. Bathrooms are large, lit naturally by raising roller-blinds, and sport butler sinks plus shower-tubs. Common areas comprise a sun-lit gym, patch of beach with decking, and popular waterside restaurant/bar H2O, also the venue for superior breakfasts including traditional sfoungáto omelette and bresaola. For Med fusion fare lunch or dinner, budget €35 à la carte plus drinks, though set menus €14–20 are offered. Open all year.

Kos Hotel Junior Suites €€€ Harmýlou 2, corner Vasiléos Georgíou, tel: 22420 47100, www.koshotel.gr. Kos Aktis Art’s sister property has an all-apartment (two-room) format good for families, fitting four, with well-equipped kitchens. Sea-facing rooms are traffic-noisy from 7am onwards; not so inward-facing units. Common facilities include a big pool, competitively priced spa and huge, natural-light gym. Wi-Fi charged extra. Open all year.

Sonia €€ Irodótou 9, entrance on Omírou, tel: 22420 28798, www.hotelsonia.gr. Former pension completely renovated to boutique-hotel standard: parquet, veneer or wood-effect flooring, fridges, designer bathrooms with shower cabins. Room sizes (including family quads), and balcony views, vary considerably; only 13 units, so booking suggested. Breakfast served in the lawn-garden; laundry service. Sonia’s son Afendoulis speaks English. Open early Mar–20 Nov.

Around the Island

Aqua Blu €€€€€ Near lighthouse, Lámbi, tel: 22420 22440, www.aquabluhotel.gr. The stunning, only local member of the Small Luxury Hotels chain. Dark-colour accents offset the usual lighter earth tones of Greek boutique hotels. All units have coffee-making kit and quality Apivita toiletries. The ‘loft’ suite with brown-and-green palette, parquet flooring and combo rain shower-whirlpool tub, enjoys views to Turkey and Psérimos. The irregularly shaped main pool laps decking and day-beds, or there’s a patch of beach with sunbeds. Spa treatments (Cinq Mondes products) are keenly priced, with couple’s treatment rooms; naturally lit gym. The in-house restaurant does scallops with marsh samphire, veal cheeks under garbanzo purée and creative desserts.

Astir Odysseus €€€€ Coast road 3km east of central plaza, Tingáki, tel: 22420 49900, www.astirodysseuskos.gr. Family-friendly spa resort; try for units near the beach as otherwise it’s a long way down to the narrow strip of sand. Some rooms and suites share semi-private pools; most look onto lawn. Junior suites (38 sq metres) represent decent value and go fast. The spa is cheerful. Half-board as default basis.

Diamond Deluxe €€€ rooms, €€€€€ suites; Néa Alikarnasós coast road, Lámbi; tel: 22420 48835, www.diamondhotel.gr. Stylish, adults-only ‘wellness and business’ hotel, whose focal features include two pools (one for laps, the other curvy), water features, and bar. Many units, in several grades, open directly onto the bigger pool, though some suites have private ones. White-plastered, stone-clad mid-range rooms have veneer flooring and marble-surfaced bathrooms. Basement spa, gym and small but deep indoor pool.

Esperia €€ main access road, Marmári, tel: 22420 42010, www.hotelesperiakos.gr. One of the few non-all-inclusive Marmári hotels, recently refurbished. Low-rise bungalows ring a large, wind-protected pool, with family quads in the rear wing. Medium-sized upstairs doubles have bathrooms with butler sinks, fridges, double beds, beige walls, bright furnishings, plus large balconies overlooking gardens and pool.

Fenareti € Mastihári, tel: 22420 59002, or 6948 882644; http://fenareti.kosweb.com. 1980s-style hillside hotel in the most relaxed coastal settlement, overlooking mid-beach; mosaic-floored studio-units in a peaceful garden environment, with kitchen corners and mosquito nets.

Grecotel Kos Imperial Thalasso €€€€ Psalídi, tel: 22420 58000, www.kosimperial.com. Well-designed luxury spread where electric carts deliver you and luggage through lush vegetation to remoter bungalows (standard rooms in the main wing). All units are pleasantly old-fashioned. One of three adult pools (salt-water) has a ‘lazy river’ and ‘tropical waterfall’. The Grecotel beach is poor; you’ll happily spend more time by a pool, surrounded by non-slip travertine paving – except during nightly pool-bar entertainment (think Beatles tribute groups). The food is good and varied, wait-staff well-trained. The Elixir Spa indeed has thalasso-baths and jets, but also a naturally lit fresh-water pool plus numerous ayurvedic treatments and massages.

Irina Beach €€ studios, €€€ suites, 2km (1.2 miles) east of shore junction, Tingáki, tel: 22420 69850, www.irinabeachhotel.com. Various well-kept units, from studios to family apartments. Upstairs double suites have a sofa to sleep a third, closet space for three, beam ceilings, sea-views over lawns, bathrooms with rain shower and butler sink. The large, garden-set pool is ideal when the hotel beach is unusable; a better one (no facilities) lies 200m/yards east.

Michelangelo Resort & Spa €€€€ Ágios Fokás, tel: 22420 45810, www.michelangelo.gr. Common areas have ‘wow’ factor, though grounds (with token landscaping) are stark. The signature spa has all usual treatments and goodies but feels dark. Several categories of rooms in tiered hillside wings are airy, most with at least partial views across to Turkey’s Knidos Peninsula. Two full-service restaurants provide enough variety over a long stay; half-board is a popular option. An infinity pool with swim-up bar is not clichéd in its setting, and long enough to do serious swimming; there’s a patch of sand-and-shingle beach below.

Olympia Mare €€ 1km (0.6 miles) southwest of town, beach side of road, Kardámena, tel: 22420 91711, www.olympiamare.com. There are posher, all-inclusive establishments nearby, but none with Olympia Mare’s position: twenty steps across the lawn to the sea. 1980s-built apartments – the bathrooms show it, though living areas are updated. Sleep a family of four; most have water-view verandas.

Palazzo del Mare €€€€€ Marmári, tel: 22420 42320, www.palazzodelmare.gr. Impressive luxury resort, whose main pool extends 400m/yards towards the beach. Some units amongst eight accommodation types access semi-private, ultra-long pools. Plus points for courtesy afternoon day-rooms, prior to evening departures; minus ones for no in-room Wi-Fi, and no natural light in the gym/spa, the latter accessibly priced. The hotel is hard to find – leave the main highway at Limnára turning, then keep left at every junction.

Nísyros

Porfyris €€ Mandráki centre, tel: 22420 31376, www.porfyrishotel.gr. The most comfortable conventional hotel here, whose rooms got two makeovers since 2009, though breakfast still needs a rethink. Balconies overlook either Kámbos and the sea, hillside or the large ozone-purified pool.

Romantzo € Mandráki port, tel: 22420 31340, www.nisyros-romantzo.gr. The best budget choice on Nísyros, updated basalt-clad rooms and studios, not all with bay views – though there’s a huge communal terrace on the top floor. Breakfast is surprisingly good. Minimal road noise; ample parking.

Ta Liotridia €€€ shore lane near the windmill, Mandráki, tel: 22420 31580, www.nisyros-taliotridia.com. Two suites in a restored olive mill – one of the few such projects here – for up to four people; worth the price for the terraces and volcanic-stone-and-wood decor. Lively bar downstairs.

Kálymnos

Acroyiali € Myrtiés, below lower road, tel: 22430 47521, www.acroyali.gr. Exceptionally tasteful, quiet sea-view apartments, with colour splashes against marble flooring, each sleeping four; you’re five steps from the best bit of Myrtiés beach. Advance booking mandatory.

Masouri Blu €€€ bottom of steps down from main plaza, Masoúri, tel 22430 47451, www.masouriblu.gr. ‘Step into the Blue’ is the motto of this friendly, new boutique hotel. Pastel-hued room furnishings and tiling in bathrooms, some with rain showers. Sea-side units have knockout views; some family rooms (kids nominal extra charge). Breakfast by the water; sunbeds on the best patch of local beach. Masouri Blu is popular with wedding parties, given its ample common areas. Open into Nov provided there are advanced bookings.

Villa Melina €€ Evangelístria district, Póthia, tel: 22430 22682, www.villa-melina.com. Póthia’s top choice: either rooms in a late 19th-century sponge magnate’s mansion, or modern studios and family apartments around the fresh-water pool and gardens. The Gardener’s Studio Cottage at the back is charming. Good buffet breakfasts served on the patio; a warm welcome from owners Andonis and Themelina. Open all year.

Télendos

Porto Potha € north edge of settlement, tel: 22430 47321, www.telendoshotel.gr. This modern hotel offers 1980s-vintage standard doubles, large studios in a separate wing, and two new suites fitting four. There’s a large pool, good patch of tamarisk-shaded beach and friendly managing family.

Psérimos

Psérimos Village €€€€ Avlákia tel: 22430 59905, www.hhotels.eu/pserimos-village. Newly opened no-expense-spared cottage hotel: pure-stone walls, quality wood ceilings and floor-tiles, two a/c apparati per unit. There are 18 cottages, ranging from single-space studios to open-plan galleried with loft double bed, sofa-beds downstairs, or double bedroom on a lower-ground floor, plus twins upstairs. Some houses take six, in two bedrooms plus on sofa-beds. All units have a bathroom, with shower alcoves. Family/group houses present full kitchens with proper stoves and huge fridges for serious cooking. All have shaded front patios, the best sea views from two upstairs studios. Pool planned for 2016, but the beach is only a few steps away; free brollies and sunbeds provided. Open all year.

Léros

Archontiko Angelou €€€ signposted well inland, Álinda, tel: 22470 22749, www.hotel-angelou-leros.com. Atmospheric converted 1895 mansion amidst orchards, akin to a French country hotel. Two of eight units (two are suites) have balconies; Victorian taps, beamed or decorated ceilings, old-tile (ground floor) or plank (upstairs) floors, antique furnishings throughout. A TV-free zone, and retro fans swish overhead, but downstairs rooms have mini-fridges. The upstairs lounge sports murals, while the garden-bar positions tables amongst shrubbery. Breakfast charged separately, gluten-free available. Open 1 Apr–15 Nov.

Crithoni’s Paradise €€ rooms, €€€€ suites Krithóni, inland, tel: 22470 25120. Léros’s only mega-resort, a low-rise hillside complex of four wings with a smallish pool, disabled access and large, well-appointed rooms – though subject (like everywhere locally) to mosquito invasion. Decent buffet breakfast; affordable poolside drinks. Open all year.

Nefeli studios €€, apartments €€€ Krithóni, tel: 22470 24611, www.nefelihotels-leros.com. Amidst bougainvillea, lantana, rosemary, fig trees and patches of lawn stand these bungalow studios, apartments and suites, many with bay view. All units feature stone flooring and window surrounds, brightly painted wood trim and light-blue, white or turquoise soft furnishings (including good bedding). A quality breakfast features cake-of-the-day; the in-house bar has snacks besides drinks and good music. There’s no pool, but beyond the big car-park is Krithóni cove itself, fine for a quick swim. Staff are helpful to a fault. Open all year; winter suite rental by the month.

Tony’s Beach €€ Vromólithos beach, tel: 22470 24742, www.tonysbeach.com. Spacious two-room units designed for four, with big terraces looking to a small pool or the sea. Designer bathrooms have butler sinks, but kitchen corners are rudimentary – two hobs and a small fridge for keeping fruit and drinks, so breakfast included. Disabled access and ample parking; free beach sunbeds.

Pátmos

Asteri €€ Netiá district, Skála, tel: 22470 32465, www.asteripatmos.gr. Secluded hilltop hotel with lovely gardens out front, sea-views west towards Ikaría, easy parking, a cozy lounge, and breakfasts featuring own-grown produce. Pay a bit extra for superior doubles offering more modern bathrooms and bigger balconies.

Blue Bay €€ last building in town going east, Konsoláto district, Skála, tel: 22470 31165, www.bluebaypatmos.gr. Blue Bay hasn’t the midnight ferry and 4am fishing-boat noise that blights most Konsoláto hotels. Rooms, with blue furnishings and wood trim, also have fridges and balconies (most with bay-and-islet view), if basic bathrooms. Decent breakfasts and an appealing bar. Open Easter to early Nov.

Porto Scoutari rooms €€, suites €€€ 1km (0.6 miles) north of Skála, Melóï hillside, tel: 22470 33124 www.portoscoutari.com. Comfortable, three-wing hotel overlooking islets and the sunrise. Self-described as ‘Romantic Hotel and Suites’, thus geared to wedding parties or honeymooners – the pool is even heart-shaped. Constantly amidst rolling renovations; the best-value units are deluxe sea-view doubles in the middle wing. Excellent breakfasts; small spa/gym.

Studios Mathios € Sápsila Cove, tel: 22470 32583, www.mathiosapartments.gr. With a vehicle, these bucolically set superior studios and apartment make an idyllic base, with their creative furnishing, extensive gardens and welcoming hosts Theologos and Giakoumina. The two adjacent coves, however, are not among Pátmos’ best.