Aeolos Beach Hotel

I stayed at the Aeolis hotel in Kos at the beginning of August Location - it's a good hours journey away from the airport, I would recommend getting a taxi. The hotel itself is set in well maintained grounds and kept in good condition. If you like to spend time at the beach I would recommend buying a pair of beach shoes. Accommodation- I stayed in a supreme bungalow, it was ok but nothing supreme about it. The maid kept it clean and changed bedding regularly. Food/drink- absolutely awful!!! This was definitely not up to the four star standard they advertised. I asked for glass of coke and it just tasted like a bad sparkling water, there was no option where you could help yourself to any sort of drink apart from the horrible tasting fruit juices in the restaurant. I asked for a beer at poolside bar which tasted chemically. We ended up buying all our drinks from shop onsite or when we went Kos town. The food was tasteless, poorly presented and also not a lot of options? We ended up going into Kos town a few times to get a decent meal. The restaurant was also blasting heavy metal/rock music a few times?? I ate at the poolside bar once, I got a burger, couldn't tell you if it was beef or chicken?? Some of the staff working here don't seem very happy? From what I witnessed it looks like they're short-staffed there as sometimes there was ques at the bar with at least 15 people waiting to be served! The whole bad food/drink experience ruined my holiday that i had worked hard to save for. We did complain to our jet 2 rep but nothing came of it. I would be interested to speak to the person/company that gave this hotel it's 4 star rating?

Unfortunately, this hotel did not live up to our expectations, and in our opinion, its 4.5-star rating does not correspond at all to the standard we experienced during our stay. It is a shame because many of the employees are very kind, friendly and clearly doing their best. However, the main problems seem to be at management level, and the regular staff simply cannot solve issues that are beyond their control.

The biggest disappointment for us was the beach. It could potentially be one of the most beautiful beaches on Kos and an enormous asset to the hotel. The hotel has direct access to the beach, with no public road between the resort and the sea, which is a fantastic advantage. This makes it even harder to understand why the management does so little to maintain it.

The beach is full of large stones, plant debris, pieces of wood and other things washed ashore by the sea. Some areas are quite uncomfortable and even difficult to enter the water. In our opinion, this could be solved very easily. At the beginning of the season, the beach should simply be properly cleaned and levelled – large stones and debris should be removed, the sand should be raked, and several comfortable access points to the sea should be created. Afterwards, basic maintenance a couple of times a week would be enough.

We know this is possible because we visited resorts both to the left and to the right of the hotel, and their beaches were beautifully maintained, smooth, sandy and had pleasant, gradual access to the sea. So the problem is clearly not the natural conditions. It is a matter of care and maintenance. That is why it is so difficult to understand why this hotel is wasting such a huge advantage.

People travel to Greece primarily for the sea and the beach, and the hotel is failing to make use of what could be its greatest asset.

The food was another major disappointment. The selection was extremely repetitive throughout our stay. When it came to cheese, there were basically always only two types – something resembling Greek cheese and Edam. The same was true of the cold cuts: there were always two types of salami, but no proper ham.

Fish was practically always cod, simply prepared in different ways. During our entire stay, we did not see a proper variety of fish, such as salmon or other types of fresh fish. We also expected much more Greek cuisine. For example, there was not even gyros once during our stay. For a hotel in Greece, we expected to experience much more of the local cuisine.

The food often seemed prefabricated, frozen, reheated and mass-produced rather than freshly prepared. Meat was repeatedly overcooked, dry and tough. Several times, food was actually burnt. The omelettes were very dry, and the pancakes and potatoes were also often overcooked and dried out.

Overall, we missed freshness, variety and, most importantly, the feeling that we were actually eating Greek food.

There were, of course, some excellent dishes. We particularly enjoyed the baked vegetables, vine leaves stuffed with rice, roasted aubergines and roasted peppers. These dishes were genuinely delicious and were among the few things that actually reminded us of Greek cuisine. It is a shame that there were not more dishes of this kind.

Fresh fruit and vegetables were available, but even here the selection was very repetitive – oranges, watermelon, apples, cucumbers, the same green salad and the same tomatoes. So the problem was not the complete absence of fresh food, but rather the lack of variety.

The coffee was another major disappointment. We expected that at least one of the hotel bars would have a proper espresso machine and that guests could order a real espresso. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Coffee was available only from machines, essentially instant-style coffee. For a hotel presenting itself as a 4- to 4.5-star property, we consider this a significant shortcoming.

Coffee is an important part of everyday life for many people, especially on holiday, and at this level of hotel we would definitely expect the option of having a proper espresso.

The drinks at the bars also seemed to be the cheapest possible options – the cheapest wine, the cheapest ice cream and, again, only instant coffee. We were not expecting luxury, but at a hotel of this category we expected a considerably higher standard.

The all-inclusive concept was also unnecessarily complicated. The restaurants and bars operated on schedules that seemed to alternate throughout the day. One moment the beach restaurant was open, then it closed; meanwhile, another place was closed; then the beach bar opened, only to close again later, while the pool bar or another restaurant was available instead.

As a result, we constantly had to walk from one place to another simply to find somewhere to get food or a drink. For us, this was more like “all-inclusive with complications” than a comfortable all-inclusive experience. At a hotel of this category, guests should not have to constantly check which restaurant or bar happens to be open at that particular moment.

We also had a very unpleasant experience at the beach restaurant. During one shift, the transparent plastic screens were repeatedly left rolled down, meaning that during breakfast, lunch and dinner we could not properly see the sea. Instead, we had to look through plastic screens while sitting right next to the beach.

This is particularly absurd for a restaurant whose main advantage should be its beautiful seaside location. Even more disturbing was the fact that after we gave the staff €5, the screens were suddenly rolled up. We consider this completely inappropriate and certainly not the level of service we would expect from a hotel of this category.

The overall comfort was also disappointing. The beach loungers had no mattresses and were extremely uncomfortable. They looked like equipment from an old two-star hotel rather than a 4.5-star resort. Some of them were also visibly worn and sagging.

The chairs around the pool were similarly uncomfortable. The seating in the bars consisted, for example, of rattan chairs without cushions, making it difficult to relax comfortably.

The hotel grounds themselves are actually quite nicely designed, with pleasant areas, individual little seating structures and trees, including trees around the beach. This is definitely something we can praise. The hotel has a good basic concept and plenty of potential. That is precisely why it is so frustrating to see how poorly that potential is being used.

Another unpleasant detail was the luggage scale in the hotel departure hall. The scale was not working properly and was nevertheless charged at €1 per use. If you want to check the weight of your suitcase before your flight, you need to have a €1 coin. At the end of a holiday, when guests are already dealing with luggage and departure arrangements, we found this unnecessarily inconvenient and not appropriate for a hotel of this category.

Overall, we were very disappointed with this hotel.

This is not because there are no positive aspects. Many members of staff are kind and helpful and clearly doing their best. The grounds are attractively designed, and some of the food was genuinely excellent. However, the most important problems are things that ordinary employees cannot solve. They concern management, maintenance, service quality and the overall concept of the hotel.

The neglected beach is by far the biggest issue for us. The hotel has something that could be its greatest advantage, yet it leaves it largely without proper maintenance. When you see that neighbouring resorts are able to maintain their beaches beautifully and provide clean, smooth sand with comfortable access to the sea, it is difficult to understand why this hotel cannot do the same.

Combined with the repetitive and insufficiently Greek food, instant coffee, cheap-quality drinks, uncomfortable furniture, complicated all-inclusive system and some very unpleasant service experiences, the overall impression is simply not what we expected.

In our opinion, this hotel does not deserve the category it claims. For a 4.5-star hotel, we expected a significantly higher standard of service, comfort, food quality and maintenance.

The potential is definitely there – and that is exactly why the final result is such a disappointment.

We had a fantastic time at the Aeolus Beach. We all had a beachfront bungalow that was kept spotless (as were all the grounds). The bedroom was tastefully decorated. There are 3 locations to eat, the main restaurant, the beachside restaurant and the poolside snack bar, all were very good. Highly recommended!