Just returned from a hugely enjoyable eight nights at Kantouni Beach Boutique Hotel. Our only regret is to not to have stayed longer.||Location. The clue is of course in the name. The hotel is right next to the beach. It could not physically get any closer. Faces directly West with an unhindered view looking out over the Aegean. Sunsets are, given the location, spectacular. Though worth adding sunrise is pretty good too as the sun rises over the mountain ridge behind the hotel. On a more practical level being on Kalymnos will for most staying at the hotel involve flying into Kos and getting the ferry over. All part of the fun - and proved, for us at least, to be very straightforward. We landed at Kos airport just before noon and had reached the hotel by 14:30. The hotel also has the Monastery of the Holy Cross sitting high above it on the adjacent hill side which affords spectacular views as reward for the twisting and quite steep path up to reach it.||Staff. Wonderful location does not always mean a wonderful guest experience, and there are some hotels which rather rest of their location's laurels. Kantouni Beach Boutique Hotel is not I am pleased to say one of those hotels. Its guest experience is right up there with its excellent location. The staff at the hotel are without exception brilliant, and represent the best of the hospitality industry. I won't name check any of them because that would not be fair. Each and every one - be they front of house or the less visible housekeeping. cleaning, maintenance, kitchen - are excellent and play their role in delivering a fabulous guest experience. We were lucky enough during our stay to pop up to our room to grab something whilst housekeeping were there and as such thank those two particular ladies personally for keeping our room so immaculate. I'd suggest, though the location definitely helps, its the staff at KBBH that truly makes it what it is.||Arrival. We arrived by taxi from the port. The hotel is in many respects "back to front". We were dropped off at the "front" of the hotel and made our way round to the "back", the real sea facing front of the hotel. As soon as we got there we were immediately greeted by staff, our cases taken, and we were led to reception. Very quick booking in process and we were taken up to our room - where our luggage had already arrived.||Room. We had a junior suite - pretty much all the rooms, maybe with a handful of exceptions on the lower level, have a direct sea view. Ours was on the first (top) floor, though worth perhaps noting the hotel does not have any lifts. I have to admit I was initially a little underwhelmed, but I think this is more down to a very early start, plus the design of the hotel is to maximise pretty much every room having that direct sea view. Sinks and shower are part of the room, albeit with screens, rather than being separate, which took a moment to get used to. Huge bed, and more importantly a hugely comfortable bed, and excellent pillows. I think I had a far greater appreciation for the room after a good night's sleep. Access to balcony with a table and two chairs; whilst within the actually rather large room, decent amount of hanging space; draws and shelving, and a really quite large, and again very comfortable, sofa. Plus all the usual amenities one would expect from this level of hotel. Aircon very efficient, and not noisy. Excellent range of lighting, reading lights over the sofa, bedside lights, plenty of spotlights. Shower had a waterfall and hand held attachment. Plenty of hot water, no water pressure issues, shower gel and conditioner. A genuinely excellent shower. Nice big fluffy towels as well. So in truth a really good, spacious and well-designed room.||Amenities - sunbeds and pool. The hotel has more than enough sunbeds for its guests, and there is none of that unedifying rush to grab a sunbed. Large pool towels are provided; parasols as standard; bottled water as standard, fresh fruit brought round each day. The sunbeds themselves were incredibly comfortable with very thick mattress bases. Not a huge pool but more than big enough. Four pairs of sunbeds on, for want of a better word, pontoons over the pool, though these due to location had no parasols, but were like the others super comfortable. The whole pool and sunbed area was spotlessly clean, and the staff made huge efforts (given next to a sandy beach) to keep it that way. The flooring was seemingly coated with something that prevented the scorching sun making it really hot and uncomfortable to walk on - again a nice touch. There was also a more shaded day bed (very comfortable) and seating.||Amenities - beach. Obviously not part of the hotel, Accessed via four steps directly from the hotel with a handrail and water tap to rinse sand off when returning to the hotel. Sea, not unexpectedly for the time of year, warm and possibly warmer than the pool (which was itself not cold). Fairly narrow but (dark) sandy beach. Great for both a dip in the sea and the easiest and quickest way to access the seafront restaurants dotted along the bay. Though a number had closed or had more limited opening times when we where there heading into mid September.||Hotel Bar / Restaurant. Is immediately adjacent to the pool area. Effectively a mezzanine structure allowing a third of the upper level to be a seating area (though not many guests used that level) and then the remainder allowing the front section of the roof to be full retracted, and rear section opened on slats. Glass frontage onto to sea, which given it could get a bit breezy, made a lot of sense. Maybe not the perfect aesthetic but a very practical design. ||Food - Breakfast - really good buffet. Scrambled eggs a triumph (n my view at least). Hot food, pastries, croissants, cereals, meats, fruit, Pretty much everything.||Food - bar snacks - good range of bar snacks - salads very good, as were the gyros (hope I have spelled that right). Churros and a lovely chocolate dip were an indulgence. Bar food / snacks could be brought to your sunbed, or as we tended to do, taken in the seating area with some tables fully shaded and some more full sun.||Food - evening. I think the hotel is B&B as standard. We dined out 5 of our 8 nights. However three nights we ate at the hotel - table right on the sea front. Decent a la carte menu with a good range of starters and mains. Shout out for the quite stunning octopus starter and the mushroom risotto main. Portions tended more to the generous side. Desserts possibly best shared. Decent local wine list and reasonably priced. Looking at 80-100 euros for two based on three courses with wine. The only slightly negative comment on the food front was the main served for "Greek" night, a kleftiko which was surprisingly bland given what came before and after it. And equally when compared with everything we had from the a la carte (and snack) menus. More an observation than a critique - overall the food was very good.||What else? Reception arranged restaurant booking and taxis. Very friendly, suggestions for things to do / see. We spent most of our time at the hotel / in Panormos. Took a trip over to Telendos one day, and into Porthia on another - both recommended.||What else? Hotel clientele mainly a slightly older demographic (50+). Kalymnos is not a party destination, but for the warmth of its welcome, rugged landscape, and relaxed and chilled atmosphere is hard to beat. The hotel perfectly aligns with the relaxed bit (nothing rugged about it). Obviously great for climbers too, though I don't think many / any were staying at KBBH. Our only regret that we did not book to stay slightly longer.||What else? The cocktails - how could I forget them? Good selection. Great to sip and watch the sun go down. Plus the virgin mohito was a lovely lunch / early afternoon thirst quencher.||What else? Cleanliness -immaculate throughout the hotel.||In summary - as Tina Turner once sang -...
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