The Island Concept — Hotel in Municipality of Agios Nikolaos

In concept, this hotel is gorgeous. It’s very instagrammable. However, when you look beyond the surface, it’s just ok. Details are certainly lacking for a 5 star resort. We came directly from another resort in Crete not too far away in plaka so we have a direct comparison. It was night and day in terms of difference in polish and service.

Though island concept is “new” it’s already starting to show wear. The all white furniture is creaky and stained. There’s patchwork done in paint colour that doesn’t match and become invisible. The resort is tiny with only a handful of rooms, but our server serving us every morning and for lunch could not even remember our room name, and asked twice in one sitting even. Kind of shocking given the purpose for an intimate resort is to provide personable service. He stopped by the table probably 10 times to try and remove plates, but it was more stressful and disruptive rather than pleasant/ helpful. Perhaps he was bored as we were often the only table. Minor things, like coming to help us remove meat from a fish that was already deboned and constantly saying “ooh look at that tasty flesh” over and over was also too theatrical, disrupting our meal as our fish was only half eaten when he came over without asking if we even needed help. It was also strange that when we ordered the smallest fish of the day, the waiter emphasized to us it was only one portion, so we ordered another main. He came back immediately to tell us the smallest fish was now 2x the size but didn’t suggest now we had too much food causing us to order too much. Again, leading to a poor experience. I also asked for no feta from the platter when he asked what I wanted, but he put it on my plate anyway, which was wasteful as I didn’t eat it. During breakfast, he was kind and offered another coffee freddo that I happily accepted. But the staff bringing it made a comment like “wow another one?!” Like I was having too much?

Also it is the only resort that hasn’t provided water in the 4 resorts we’ve stayed in so far. When we asked for a small bottle (they had one in the room when we arrived and we didn’t notice they replaced it the next day during housecleaning, they made a big deal about it and constantly admonished us saying it costs money normally. The bottle costs them 10c for the small one but two staff members made comments about it being a fee normally. We still tipped 10 euro for house keeping and we can easily afford water (and not sustainability issue - see below) but it was so nitpicking that they would make a big deal about it (we weren’t even sure if the single coffee machine water was replaced, nor was housekeeping, but they still had to point it out). They also charge for bringing any food drink to room 15euro which is a minute from the kitchen which contributes to the whole atmosphere of charging for everything. We ordered room service the first night, but the food was not very good for dinner. The next day, we noticed most people went out. Lunch is very good though! The bar server was also very nice when I ordered a smoothie. They use prepackaged syrups for their drinks instead of anything real.

I would say it’s a great hotel, just have expectations in check. It’s beautiful, but it’s prettier in photos than in person. We even had someone fly a drone over our balcony and photograph into our room, which I would think is a huge privacy issue that staff should not allow.

They say they are sustainable, but the amenities like toothbrush is plastic. The only thing different from other resorts is they don’t change the towels. We don’t care for changing, but it’s a little disingenuous when it’s claiming sustainability but actions don’t match behavior above what others are doing. Paper straws were a good touch though.

Gym was strangely outdoors and good luck to the rooms next to it as I saw people slamming medicine balls not 5 feet from someone’s patio).

Again, beautiful resort. Just not very polished (first time running a first class resort?) nor practical. More...

Stayed at the Island Concept hotel for 5 nights, in a Front Sea View Grand Suite with private heated pool (Paros). Paid 1,054 euros per night.||The suite is large and spacious, the bed comfortable, with tv and good WIFI. The terrace outside the room is big enough for two loungers and a small round table with two chairs. The pool is well sized for a dip.||Whilst accepting that requests are not guaranteed, we asked for "Quiet, private area for sunbathing and using the private pool". Our suite was located beside the hotel's pool, so when there were a few guests it was not as quiet as we had requested (but not noisy). The privacy was destroyed by a walkway immediately in front of the terrace and pool to one of the hotel's viewpoints of the adjoining bay. The biggest problem was that the terrace and pool only got direct sunlight in the morning; by 12:30 the area was in shade! When I mentioned this upon our arrival (at 15:30) to the reception man who took us to our suite, his response was that all rooms had similar problems. Considering that we had mentioned sunbathing and using private pool in our email requesting a room, the hotel staff should have informed us of this issue before confirmation of reservation.||Considering the amount being paid, the breakfast was not as good or plentiful as is provided in other hotels. The quality is good, but the portions are miserly. Coffee and tea are provided. Fresh orange juice is provided, with about 2cm of liquid at the bottom of the glass. Asked for a larger amount during the second morning and was given about 3cm at the bottom of the glass. So had to ask for more. The bread basket consists of 4 slices of bread, 1 small pain au chocolat, 1 small croissant, 2 slices of cake and 2 small biscuits. This for 2 people. You are then offered cold meats and cheese, and given 2 or 3 pieces of what you want. Egg plates are also available. However, other cooked dishes (pancakes, eggs benedict) were extra and had to be paid for.||The dinner menu in the hotel is a reduced version of what the hotel's website indicates. Some plates have been removed from the main menu and the set menus are not offered. The quality of the food was good. The service was good. But you can get a wider menu option and similar quality of food in the tavernas in Agios Nikolaos (a 10 euro taxi ride away).||When asked at check-out how our stay had been, I highlighted the issue about the lack of sun for half the day. I was told that they would like to make our experience better with a different room if we returned; why the man who showed us to our room on the first day did nothing when I mentioned this indicates poor service. In 2022 we stayed in a suite with its own private pool in the Royal Blue, where the terrace and pool had sun all day; this September 2023 the cost of this suite was 670 euros (but we chose the Island Concept to visit a different part of Crete). We have also stayed in suites with private pools in Santorini (Ambassador), Mykonos (Alissachni) and Corfu (Kontakali).||On 3 previous occasions when we have left hotels in Crete, they have given us a small token gift (2 bottles of olive oil, packet of typical biscuits). ||Its a pity, but not...

we are more than thrilled with the location, the service and the concept of the hotel. Everything here is very well organized down to the smallest detail, it is a boutique hotel with about 15 rooms, but each of them has a sea view, our room even has a large terrace about 10 m long with two loungers, there are also rooms with a whirlpool and the rooms are named after the islands of the Cyclades store. in general the whole hotel is very well organized and the food is also very good. the whole team of the hotel is always very committed to create an extraordinary experience for the guest. We would especially like to thank Maria from the reception, she made this stay a little paradise. The hotel also has a private beach which is very nice, you can go into the sea for more than 100 m and you are still standing with your feet on the bottom of the fine sand. The hotel's pool is also very nice. All in all, we can only warmly recommend the hotel and would like to thank Maria and the whole team—. german: wir sind mehr als begeistert mit der Lage den Service und mit dem Konzept des Hotels. Alles hier ist bis ins kleinste Detail sehr gut organisiert, es ist ein Boutique Hotel mit ungefähr 15 Zimmern allerdings hat jedes davon Meerblick, unser Zimmer hat sogar eine große Terrasse ungefähr 10 m lang mit zwei Liegen es gibt auch Zimmer mit Whirlpool und die Zimmer sind nach den Inseln der Kykladen Laden benannt. generell ist das ganze Hotel auch sehr gut organisiert und das Essen ist auch sehr gut. das ganze Team des Hotels ist immer sehr engagiert um dem gast ein außergewöhnliches Erlebnis zu kreieren. besonders möchten wir uns bei Maria von der Rezeption bedanken sie hat uns diesen Aufenthalt zu einem kleinen Paradies gemacht. Das Hotel hat auch einen Privat Strand der sehr schön ist man kann ins Meer hinein gehen bestimmt über 100 m und man steht immer noch mit den Füßen auf dem Boden des feinen Sandes.der Pool des Hotels ist auch sehr schön. Alles in allem können wir das Hotel nur wärmstens empfehlen und möchten uns bei Maria und dem ganzen...