Kalypso Hotel — Hotel in Paros Municipality

Attention! We warn you against working at this place! In our opinion, it does not resemble a job but rather modern illegal slavery. We found a job advertisement on a Greek website; the hotel owner, George, was looking for staff for all positions, from cleaners to waiters and receptionists.

We decided to try working as hotel cleaning staff in beautiful Greece to get to know a different country and work during the holidays in a warm and nice place. During the interview, he assured us that the work was legal, from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM. The first few hours after arrival were pleasant; we were informed to bring our documents the next day to sign a contract, but as it turned out, that was not the case. The second day started with immediate work without anyone informing us, and we weren't even dressed appropriately! None of the existing employees explained what we were supposed to do or showed us the layout of the hotel. We had no idea where anything was.

The employees assigned to show us the work were from Nepal, didn't speak good English, had no work contracts, were in Greece illegally, and worked seven days a week without a day off. Days passed, and the topic of a work contract or our insurance was never mentioned. It seems the owner prefers to change the entire staff every few months to avoid employment taxes. We saw one of the chefs working at the hotel disappear overnight, probably escaping after we started asking about a contract. This work and working seven days a week is illegal! Our job was supposed to be from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM but never was! The owner didn't mention that work ended when we finished cleaning all 20 assigned rooms, which could well be late at night. This isn't normal hotel cleaning; it's exploitation for a pittance considering our work often lasted up to 10 hours each day. After work, we were too exhausted to go anywhere, making the stay in a beautiful country like Greece not worth the extensive exploitation, especially for such little money.

Additionally, Ms. Receptionist Marianna, how can you say that a guest who paid a lot of money for their stay is strange and should be treated differently

Respect or employee satisfaction doesn’t matter in this hotel; constant orders and prohibitions do. Juice is not for employees, you can't drink water now because it's not breakfast time, and if you do, drink tap water. You take too much for breakfast, so the chefs should serve it to give us small portions.

A warning to guests: even if you don’t want your room serviced or if you hang a sign on your door to not enter your room, your privacy will not be respected as the owner and his wife will enter your room with their keys without knocking! They wait for someone to leave the hotel and entry into the room despite the sign or refusal. This is a lack of respect and privacy.

We would also like to emphasize that we had free accommodation and meals. The meals consisted of leftovers that guests didn't eat, and the accommodation – the room we slept in was okay, but the shared bathroom and kitchen were a bad joke. The bathroom was a room with a toilet bowl next to a shower head with peeling paint that hurt our fingers. There wasn't even a single curtain to separate the toilet. The boss never asked us during our stay if we had toilet paper or if we needed anything.

In summary, the boss deceived us during our pre-arrival conversations, claiming there was a contract, insurance, and that it was normal (not hard!) work. We believed him and traveled 2,200 kilometers to reach this country at great expense. We are at a significant loss, but the most important thing is to never let anyone bully you. We have evidence; every day of our work was recorded. If anyone wants more details, please contact us.

Of course, the boss doesn't want to pay us for our work, saying to stop threatening him, which is also untrue. We simply want to be paid for what we did. Now it’s just funny, and the boss along with his wife and the receptionist are just ridiculous people. It’s not worth supporting this, thank you...

Wonderful, peaceful location and honestly, some of the most helpful hotel staff I’ve encountered, but there are a couple of key things missing here. Three of these would be so easy to fix and really elevate the property considerably!

There are no blackout curtains in the rooms. Not only that, the curtains that are in the rooms are completely sheer so not only do the rooms get flooded with light at sunrise (which is quite early in the summer), but they also don’t offer much in the way of privacy. Given this property is otherwise designed for relaxation, not being able to sleep in past sunrise because of the simple lack of proper blackout curtains is awful.

The beds are absolutely horrendous. The mattresses are thin and lumpy - very much like the cots I slept on in cheap mountain refuges when through hiking the alps. The provided bedding is much the same. Just top sheet and quilt - both thin and rough (no duvet) and only two very flat pillows provided for a queen bed.

Some other more minor misses:

Towels. The bathroom towels are extremely thin and not plush. The beach towels, by contrast, are nice quality though.

The showers. These probably vary by room and I understand would not be simple to fix as the other items I mentioned, but those looking to stay here, especially in a single room should know that the showers are about the same size, if not smaller, than what you have on a cruise ship, and unfortunately the fixtures protrude significantly into this small space right about at hip level making it virtually impossible to turn around or bend down and scrub your legs and feet without the spigot continually stabbing you in the side. The plumbing also has issues with temperature regulation. Prepare to get scalded if someone in another room flushes the toilet while you are in the shower.

To sum up the good:

This is a great, peaceful location to be a bit removed from the crowds of downtown Naoussa (it can get extremely busy there), but you’re still a short walk away from there if you feel like battling the crowds. However, you don't need to as there are several wonderful restaurants and bars in the more immediate vicinity, including the wonderful winery, Moraitis, down the road - highly recommend it!

I loved having breakfast at the hotel every morning. The food was nothing super special, but a nice variety, good hours, and I was never left hungry, despite having some dietary restrictions. However they do not have anywhere near enough tables and chairs outside near the water. If you have to eat inside or next to the building, it’s absolutely scorching hot in the summer as you won’t feel the breeze you do sitting near the water. If you get a seat near the water though, it’s relaxing and comfortable and the neighborhood kitties will keep you company and beg for scraps.

Their bar does some pretty tasty cocktails - I think their Jungle Bird was probably the best one on the menu.

Their logistics for getting food and drinks is lacking though. They won’t allow you to order at the bar - it’s table service only - but they don’t have a good way to keep track of people coming and going that actually want to purchase drinks or food, so it’s very difficult to get your first drinks, and typically very difficult to get your tab closed out when you’re done. I spent less money than I would have otherwise because of this setup. It just wasn’t easy to pop in for a quick drink before heading out somewhere or a nightcap before bed like a typical hotel bar.

Overall, I enjoyed my stay, but instead of leaving refreshed and recharged as I should have at a place like that, I left exhausted and sore due to the light blasting in the rooms and uncomfortable bed. I won’t stay there again for just those two reasons. If those are ever fixed though, I’d absolutely give it another shot as the location and...

As a family with 5-year-old daughter we chose this hotel because it was recommended by two Greek travel agencies, one in Switzerland and one in Germany. After our first trip to Greece (3rd island after Naxos and Mykonos) we definitely have to say that we are disappointed with the price/performance ratio. Very small and spartan furnished room for three people. Hard mattresses, small pillows, little space for personal belongings. Instead of city view as on boking was written, we have the view only of the opposite building. With prices around 300 euros per night, there should also be a swimming pool not only access to a rocky entrance to the sea. The best for the end. I always drink hot chocolate for breakfast and usually bring my own chocolate powder from Switzerland and ask for hot milk if not available on the buffet. On the first day I was sent to the bar (next room) to ask for hot milk there. On the second day, the barman said he had to charge for it. When I complained at the front desk today, they ask me to bring the cold milk from the buffet to the bar to heat it up, then it would be free. Where is the logic in that?

When I wrote these lines above (on the third day) we still stayed there, the receptionist came up to me and said that this was not fair and ask me to delete my review. Then the owner also came and stood next to me and explained that the price is justified with the view from the garden to the sea. He asked me to delete the review otherwise I might as well leave the hotel.

Since we were staying only one more night, I deleted the above written lines and postponed the revised review until after our departure.

The hotel will certainly reply that the problem has been solved. Yes, I did not have to pay anything extra to get my hot milk. But as I said, where is the logic? And what is this behavior of the owner? As for the price and his response, I can only say. For 350 euros we had a room on Santorini directly on the Caldera with a fantastic view and with breakfast served on our...