Grecotel Casa Paradiso — Hotel in Municipality of Kos

We have just come back from a weeks stay in this hotel. Like some comments on here, and also from talking to other guests whilst we were there, we were worried about our choice of hotel after reading some bad reviews. ||Honestly, our experience was almost faultless. I will really have to clutch at straws to find some small negatives. ||This was our main negative. When we first got to the hotel we were offered a drink and a sit down in the main reception. There seemed to be a lot of faffing around and no one was sure what was happening. We did the express check in on the app before arriving which seemed pointless. We were then told that the lunch buffet closed at 2.30, and to go and have lunch. My son was desperate to get in the pool so we said we’d prefer to check in, to which we were told again to go and have lunch. Just tell us we can’t check in yet! Anyway, we had lunch and then checked in. On check in we were given lots of information - a map, when to book the a la carte (this was fine, we queued at 9.55am the next day at the restaurant entrance, then booked a table for the following evening. Easy), booking for tennis, entertainment, the WhatsApp group etc. ||Room - we were ‘upgraded’ from a field view to a sea view. We all know this happens when rooms aren’t ready/are over subscribed, but we weren’t complaining. We were in the main block in room 234. The air con was TOO good! We had to turn it right down/off at times. The room was ‘basic’ you could say, but had absolutely everything we needed, in full working order, no issues with the bathroom, good pressure on the shower, complimentary shampoo and body wash, towels changed regularly. If I had to be REALLY fussy, the pipe from the air con unit on the balcony didn’t quite fit in the drain away container and sometimes popped out so we’d have water on the balcony floor. We just popped the pipe back in. Sometimes you also got the bad drain smell from downstairs in the main area. It went away, was faint, barely bothered us especially as we were barely in the room anyway. Everything was clean, no ants issue, not bothered about if the furniture is dated (which it wasn’t really) or if the walls are bare. ||Food - I don’t know if our expectations are just lower than others (!!), and we haven’t been to all inclusive that have multiple restaurant options to choose from, only one or two, but we loved the food! Breakfast - yes, you could say it’s repetitive. But how many breakfast options can you change when they have it all everyday anyway. Meat, eggs (fried, boiled, omelette), tomato’s etc on the bbq outside, big cereal bar (including healthy cereals, sweet cereals, nuts, dried fruit, sunflower and chia seeds), 3 types of Greek yoghurts, pastries, pancakes, fruit, doughnut balls, cakes, tarts, salad (inc cheese, cured meats), fresh smoothies and fruit/cucumber waters, all the condiments you’d ever want, breads. |We had lunch at the beach bar - gyros, burgers, hot dogs, wraps, baguettes, chips. All decent and freshly cooked! |As for the crepes, waffles and ice cream. Yes there were queues but we really never waited for more than 5 minutes, kept an eye on queues and went up when they’d gone down. As someone said in a previous review, nice to have some time in the shade and what’s the rush?! Same goes for the bars for drinks - barely queued, but if we did it was fine. Bar staff really lovely. Great selection, and they’ll make you basically whatever you ask for. Coffee frappe was lovely. My son enjoyed going up and ordering himself the mocktails! |One slight negative - the self serve beer tap was rubbish. Far too frothy. We did flag this especially when it got really bad but it never really got any better. |Dinners in the main restaurant were lovely and we really enjoyed them! We headed down between 7-8 and never had to queue for a table. Different things on the bbq outside everyday - meat, veggie, fish, prawns, a different pie everyday. Two nights were Greek themed options on the bbq- gyros with all the trimmings etc. Inside - different pasta everyday, always spag Bol, pizza (soooo good - one evening we just shared a big plate of pizza with beer!), salad, slow cooked meats in sauce, veg, big salad bar, cured meats and cheese, breads, oils, even sushi being rolled and put out one evening, a couple of evenings fresh pasta salads being made with the produce from the gardens. There was even a set up on a couple of nights where chefs were making up dishes live to use up ingredients that would have gone in the bin (trying to reduce waste). |Lots of sweet options - little pots, cakes, tarts, ice cream, pastries, fruit, angel delight type stuff. Again, different flavours everyday. If you have a bit of everything every night then yes, you could say it gets ‘repetitive’, but we never felt that and barely had the same thing twice (other than the pizza, we had plenty of that everyday because it was so fresh and good!).|A la carte was nice and something a bit different. The location is lovely as the sun is setting, and the food we had was good. The burrata salad was amazing, as was the mushroom tart (and we don’t like mushrooms!) tiny gripe, children’s meal came out with the starter so he finished his meal then sat there whilst we ate ours. The option for it to come out with the adult main too would be nice. Also only a wine menu, would be nice to have a non alcoholic/cocktail drinks menu. Appreciate you could probably just order what is available in the day but would have been good for the kids and to add to the sit down restaurant vibe. Once we finished deserts we sat there waiting for the plates to be cleared which they weren’t, so we eventually got up and left. Obviously you don’t have to pay but you are given an ouzo shot at the start, maybe having that at the end instead would be a good way to close off the meal. |We loved the wine fridges and the wine was nice enough! Got beers from the bar in the evenings rather than the self serve taps. ||Amenities - pools lovely and clean, lifeguards great, slides great. Toilet blocks clean! So handy to collect clean beach towels everyday from 10am and drop back at the end of the day. |We got sun loungers at 9am ish by the pool by the beach, there would still be a few around come 10am. They went quickly by the quiet pool. Beach is lovely. |My son enjoyed the activities that were put on, especially the football, water polo and boccia. We also booked a slot to play tennis - they provided the rackets and balls. Didn’t see much of the evening entertainment by the tennis courts as we mostly stayed by the pool bar (more lighting needed there especially when playing cards!). The entertainment team are so lovely too. The bus (well, a big air conditioned coach!) to Kos town is great, runs on time and you can get it from right outside the hotel. The old town and harbour are really nice. Just look out for the Marmari coach back from the same place it drops you off. We went into Kos on the bus a second time to get to the Pirates of Kos boat cruise, they offer a half day trip too which we did so we didn’t have to get up too early! |Again, really clutching at straws - WiFi dropped out a lot, but wasn’t a big problem. |We thought the hotel shop was reasonably priced although we only really got a few bottles of water, ball and ring for the pool and some souvenirs (and i even managed to buy some nail polish remover for €1.90, really well stocked with everything you need!)|We didn’t use the gym but it looked well equipped with some great views! ||People said it was windy and we did have a really windy first couple of days. It is what it is. It didn’t really affect our days, we just pegged down our towels and it helped keep us cool. Nothing you can do about it. We did get badly bitten, and we could see others did too. But again, what can you do, it is what it is. The hotel doesn’t deserve a negative review because of it! ||Wanted to give our honest and detailed opinion as we had read so many before heading to Kos. ||We loved Kos, loved the hotel and would...

We spent five days here in September and honestly, I cannot even put into words how amazing everything was. As we had read a few pretty poor reviews, we went in really open minded and truthfully, I can sincerely say that the negative reviews are a load of rubbish.||Arrival: |We were met with an incredibly warm welcome, as well as some welcome drinks in reception whilst we checked in. Everything went smoothly and we were allowed to go at our own pace, which was perfect as we'd spent the last several hours either driving or flying! ||Rooms: |I believe I had initially booked a room in the main building, however when we got there, we were directed towards one of the bungalows close to the restaurant. This ended up being more than ideal as it allowed a quick walk to the shop and restaurant and a pleasant stroll over to the pool by the beach. It was just myself, my husband and our (almost) 1 and a half year old daughter on this holiday, but we were given a bungalow with one main room and a spare room leading off of it. This was perfect for us as it allowed us to put our toddler to sleep without feeling pressured to stay quiet in our room. The bathroom was modern and so beyond clean. We were also greeted with a bottle of prosecco, red wine in our room and petals all over the bed (it was our honeymoon). I cannot thank you enough for making this feel so special. We don't get the chance to travel often due to work and home commitments, so this made everything even better. ||We did have a few ants, but nothing to complain about. Its the price you pay when you stay on ground floor level, especially when you're surrounded by such beautiful gardens, which you can really see how much effort has gone into these, and how much development is already being undertaken. ||Food:|Most importantly, the food was lovely. You had a good mix of cultures and cuisines each day and everything was fresh and tasty. The salad bar had the typical veg, continental meats, potato salads etc. There was pasta and pizza each night- the spicy penne was a personal fav. Then you had the more traditional Greek section where there was an abundance of Aubergine, potato and meat options. The dessert bar was brilliant, lots of cheesecake style puddings, fresh fruit and cakes. In the evening, the outside barbecue had plenty of selection, we particularly enjoyed the kebabs, burgers and grilled fish. Also a special shoutout to the garlic mushroom risotto, it was a 10/10.||I am unsure why there have been so many negative reviews about the breakfast options? There was a full English selection outside, as well as your fresh fruits, meats, cereal and pastries inside- all of which were fab. Lunch, we cannot comment on as much as we spent many lunches by the pool nearest to the beach, however all of the street food style bites we had here were to die for. The gyros and hot dogs were out of this world level good. The lunches that we did have in the main restaurant were tasty and always different to the evening meals. ||Drinks: |All drinks were brilliant and they didn't scrimp at all on the alcohol! Cocktails were brilliant, there was a list by each bar and I'm pretty sure we ended up having at least one of everything. At lunch and dinner times, you could grab however many bottles of wine out of the fridge, which was brilliant for me as an avid wine person. Self serve lager was nice enough, but not my favourite- but it isn't in the UK either, but I would happily have drunk this every night if there were no other options. It was a lot lighter than many I've had previously. Fizzy soft drinks were not available at breakfast, however refillable juices were so fresh and thirst quenching, we didn't mind one bit. ||Yes, there were occasions when there were queues- but tell me where wouldn't have a queue when you're in an all inclusive resort? Even better, tell me where there are no queues generally? I don't think I've ever been to a bar/hotel/restaurant and been the only person at a bar? I fail to understand why so many people are complaining about this? why are you in such a rush that standing in the shade, in a lovely hotel, waiting for a lovely drink, is such an issue? get a grip. A holiday is what you make of it. If you go in narrow minded and ready to find fault, you're going to have a bad time regardless of where you go. ||Service: |Every single staff member we encountered were incredible. The guys at the bar were great and very efficient. The lifeguards were chatty and interacted brilliantly with our little girl. There were activities by the pool each day, which our daughter loved and I'm surprised, but we actually joined in on (we're quite introverted people). It was great fun and no pressure was put on us to take part. The cleaners were all friendly and left the rooms spotless- they even folded our own towels that we had left out one day, as well as folding our daughters blanket into her cot, which we thought was lovely. I want to say a special thank you to Konstandinos (apologies if I've spelt it wrong). You were incredible with our daughter, Lucy. You truly went above and beyond in our eyes, and I cannot thank you enough for making our experience so perfect. ||Overall: |We do not have the luxury of traveling as often as we'd like, but I would definitely love to come back to this hotel. I genuinely cannot fault anything at all. I would just like to say a huge thank you for everything you did to make our experience special. ||To all of you considering this location, do it! We were worried as a few reviews were really negative, but it truly is what you make of it, and for us, it...

We stayed here as a family during the peak month of Aug. We booked through Easyjet last year and had some trepidation as most of the photos seemed AI generated, and a general lack of information was available. I can report that we were pleasantly surprised and had an excellent time with helpful and accommodating staff on site.||||We were housed in the main hotel on the ground floor near to the restaurant and top pool. The room was fairly soacious consisting of two bedrooms and a bathroom. There was a free to use safe, fridge with bottled water, hairdryer, and toilletries provided. Our room wasn't a refurbished room as you will see in some photos, including the facebook group, but it was generally in good order. The only detractors were an ant problem which seemed to plauge the ground floor rooms of the hotel and a shower that seemed to drench the bathroom floor, luckily there is a drain in the floor to remove any excess water. The cleaners were prompt and efficient in the morning at 9 am sharp, so if you like a lie in make sure you leave your "do not disturb" card out. The only other thing to note was our hotel room was left open after the cleaners had visited on three occasions, this was possibly an iffy door lock but the patio door was also left open on one occasion. This could have been a security issue, but fortunately, anything of value was in the safe. Overall we were very happy with the room.||||The all-inclusive meals are provided at the main restaurant consisting of a small indoor seating area and a larger outdoor area. Most of the food is located indoors, including a fresh pizza section with a BBQ section outdoors. Food is varied and good quality with some of the salad items grown fresh in the grounds of the hotel. There is also an a la carte restaurant located down by the lower pool. You book your table the morning before and ques quickly, so make sure your prompt. Again the food was excellant at this restaurant with a number of choices on the menu to suit all pallates. Overall, there are no complaints from us on the food front.||||Drinks, however, are more of a mixed bag. A decent selection of local wines are available by the bottle / half bottle when the restaurant is open and by far my personal favourite. Beer is located from a self-service tap in the restaurant and bars located near both pools. The taps were inconsistsnt to say the least, sometimes they were perfect but more often they were either flat, over foamy or trickled out creting a fustrating experience, when it did work the Zorbas bear was quite good by all inclusive standards. Spirits were branded from what i could tell with sizeable portions, but cocktails were disappointing. There was an extensive menu with some glaring omissions such as 'sex on  the beach'. However, the accommodating bar staff were more than happy to make on request. The problem is that all the cocktails seemed to miss the mark with the fruit juices seemingly watery, resulting in lacklustre cocktails lacking flavour. ||||Facilities were excellant with a quitier top pool and kids pool adjacent. There is also a more livelier bottom pool with two flumes located next to the bar, street food, and ice cream offerings. The bottom pool is where the aqua arobics and water polo are hosted along with kids' football on the grass adjacent. There is also a small outdoor gym where pilates are hosted, and outdoor towels can be exchanged on a daily basis. The breach is just scross the road from the lower pool, where the hotel has a selection of free sun beds. There is also a shop onsite but is somewhat expensive compared with outside offerings. Overall, sunbeds seemed plentiful with some very comfy wooden ones located at the top pool. Our kids didn't utilise the kids' clubs or activities provided, but the staff seemed friendly and attentive. Evening entertainment is provided outside at the front of the hotel with a small bar. This kept the main bar areas quiet and relaxing. Entertainment differs each we did catch an African gymnastic and dance routine which was enjoyaable with good production values and not kitsch in any way. There is also a large indoor seating area in the reception lobby with a couple of pool tables and an outdoor verandah area. Perfect for playing cards and games, as we found out in the evening.||||Overall we had a very enjoyable hotel for a week in the sun. Even in peak season, the hotel doesn't seem overly busy, creating a nice relaxed atmosphere. A word of warning the hotel is located slightly out of the way. The bus to Kos town is punctual, regular and cheap with the bus stop located by the beach. However, the nearest town of Marmari is a 25 min walk each way along the level beach road. Here are a number of shops, pharmacies, quad rentals, and where the free bus to the Lido water parks drops off and picks up from. We had a great time and considered it good value. Whilst not 5 stars due to the issues listed above, a 4-star review doesn't do it justice, and 4.5 stars would be an accurate...