Grecotel Casa Paradiso

We went as a family of 4, boys aged 12 and 11. Last year we were in a larger hotel in Turkey and in the years before did Crete all inclusive hotels. This hotel we specifically chose as smaller and more chilled out.

Location

The hotel does sit by itself right on the beach. There is a road between the hotel pool and the beach) that is referred to at the beach road. It has almost zero traffic as he hotel is the last point on the road. You can walk along the beach road (pavement all the way) to Marmari where there is a selection of restaurants, supermarkets and car rental places. There are a few neighbouring hotels.

Tips - There is one big supermarket that is the further away. It's significantly cheaper than the smaller tourist shops (which are all cheaper than the hotel shop).

Haribo in the hotel shop is €4.50 and in the supermarket €1.50 as an example.

Marmari is a 20 minute walk. Road is all lit at night too.

If you want to hire a car, go to one of these rental places and not the hotel. We hired a Kia Picanto for €35 for the day and a beach buggy for €90 for a day. You then pay for the fuel.

Rooms

We had a family room in the main hotel. Boys were in bunks in a room separated by sliding doors. Air con was absolutely brilliant and stays on even when you take the card out with the key for the day. Fridge, safe and big TV in main room. Room was always clean.

Food

For an all inclusive hotel I thought it was fantastic. Amazing options which were varied everyday in the main restaurant. Lunch in main restaurant always great and we had different dinners every night. I can be quite basic in my choices and don't eat fish and didn't ever struggle. Kids enjoyed all the usual pizza, pasta etc.

The only other place to eat is at the pool bar / street food between 12 and 3. I'll be honest and say that was usually pretty disappointing but maybe due to personal taste. Most days there were gyros, hot dogs, chips, burgers, salad boxes and pizza.

Ice cream and crepes and waffles every day at the pool bar too. This was great and kids loved it. Banana and chocolate ice cream is unreal!

This space becomes the a la carte at night and the food and service for that was fantastic. You book in by going to the main restaurant at 10.30. We got booked in for that night with no issues.

Bars

There are only two bars in this hotel. The main bar next to the main restaurant in the main building and then the pool bar which is only opens roughly 1030 till 6. At both bars soft drinks are self serve as is basic coffees. At the bar you can order lattes with syrup or iced coffees. The staff work so hard. The cocktails are great. I drink Gin and always offered local, Gordons or Bombay.

The only place after 6 to get a drink is the main bar. The disappointment in this is there is very little atmosphere. There is no table service, you have to queue and never more than two staff working. There is sometimes light music. There is no TV in the bar which was a bit disappointing with the world cup being on.

They put food out at 12 which is soup and a platter of sandwiches.

A nice touch when you arrive on a late flight is that they put sandwiches in your room.

Grounds

The hotel grounds are beautiful. Fresh fruit and veg growing everywhere and it's immaculate.

There is a sports court but it is in a dire state. If you look for lots of activities like darts, football, volleyball etc then this is not the place. It is a very chilled out vibe. I went to the football at 1730 on night with my 11 year old and there were 5 of us. Other night it was cancelled with no numbers. Only thing that seems to happen is water polo and aqua gym /disco but the animation team are almost non existent at the hotel (which suited us so not a criticism).

Thursday is the day off for everyone. So no activities of shows. There is a show each night in the amphitheatre and they have a pop up bar at that but we never went.

Day Trips / Kos

Kos Town is beautiful and worth a visit for a stroll round the shops and some lunch or dinner.

Zia mountain is incredible. Sunset is 2030 in July and it gets busy at that point. Some beautiful shops and restaurants.

Therma Beach - Google it. Amazing experience. We drove there. 10 min walk from the car park.

Lido Waterpark - Good to spend a few hours here. Went on a Friday and it was empty. €22 and adult and €16 a child. Lazy river, wave pool and about 8 slides. Good fun. Please take swim shoes if you are going at the ground is roasting and will burn the kids feet.

Kos is really easy to drive around. It's a beautiful place. One main road through it and max 50 mph.

Pools / Sunbeds

There sadly is the usual towel on the bed early and beds don't have people appear till after 10. But it's not overwhelming and if you are at a pool before 10 you will get beds. After 10 you will get some but maybe struggle to be under an umbrella or you might have to take one at the beach.

The beach is sand but pebble as you enter the water. Loads of sunbeds. No watersports but there is windsurfing further down the beach.

Lifeguards on duty all the times and very engaging. Pool can be very slippy around the sides and we did notice a few people fall.

Other points

There are a couple of pool tables at the reception area. There is no amusement area for kids. This is a such a wasted space. Beautiful big reception area with lovely seating area but would benefit from there being a bar or drink service.

You get towels for pool in your room. You can change them at reception as many times as you want and at any time of the day.

There is an outdoor and indoor (air con) gym.

We both got loads of what we think was mosquito bites.

Hotel is about 20 mins from airport so short transfer.

There are a few beautiful cats that stroll around the property.

The people in Kos are lovely. In the shops and cars they are not pushy at all so the atmosphere is always nice.

Airport is immaculate and very efficient. Lots of known eating places like Dominos and Starbucks for the way home.

You have to pay the tourist tax at reception as soon as you arrive.

All staff were great. Very polite, always smiling and nothing was ever a problem.

WiFi is great throughout the hotel. You won't get it at the beach.

The hotel is very quiet throughout the day and evening. Just very relaxed. It's not fancy, just nice, clean and chilled.

There is no hotel spa if you like that. There is a woman that does massage down near the beach but I don't think I ever saw more than one person a day have one and it was never promoted.

**

We had a great holiday. So relaxed, with the highlight being lovely food each day. Would recommend the hotel and Kos to anyone looking to unwind in a quieter and smaller space compared to the usual big all inclusive hotels.

Any questions please ask and I hope this detail helps anyone thinking about booking the hotel.

Good points Clean well equipped rooms. Clean dining and pool areas Poor points Food average but the same every day. Only one bar open in the evening to cater for all the guests…… impossible to get a drink. Slide pool area becomes very untidy and slippery. Beach ok but extremely windy and sea very choppy. Hotel is far from anywhere so you become hotel isolated. The staff are friendly and helpful but the whole place lacks character and any personal touch, you are never asked how your day was or what your plans are etc, you are dumped in the hotel and left. We also needed the hospital while we were there, what an experience that was, couldn’t get a taxi in the evening at all. No first aid facilities at the hotel !!!! Toilet facilities are few and far between. This is a once only visit for me and my family.

Amazing hotel, super nice staff and great food, loved the waterslides and the amazing pool and the fact that the hotel was right next to the beach! However, if you’re in a main building room, you have to walk quite far to the waterslides and one thing that I would advise anyone who comes to this gore is : most of the time there’s no hot water when you have a shower but everything else was great