Kivotos Mykonos

Not a 5-Star Hotel — Extremely Overpriced, Outdated and Nothing Like the Luxury Image

Kivotos Mykonos was one of the most disappointing hotel experiences I have had at this price level.

In my opinion, this property is nowhere near the standard expected from a genuine five-star luxury hotel, and the value for money is extremely poor.

The main problem is not simply that the hotel is expensive. The problem is that the rooms, facilities, cleanliness, service, breakfast, location and overall guest experience do not remotely justify the premium price.

The room I received was small, dark, dated and visibly tired. The furniture, interiors, fittings and general condition felt old rather than luxurious. Much of the property feels like a relic from another era that has not kept up with modern luxury hospitality standards.

The overall impression was closer to an ageing guesthouse or basic motel than to a contemporary five-star resort.

Cleanliness was also a serious issue.

During my stay, I found both the room and parts of the hotel noticeably dirty. At this price level, and especially for a hotel presenting itself as five-star luxury, cleanliness should be absolutely impeccable. Here, it was not.

Another major problem was the extremely poor sound insulation between rooms.

Noise travelled very easily from neighbouring rooms. Conversations, movement and general noise could be heard far too clearly. Privacy was poor, and the level of sound transmission between rooms was completely inconsistent with what I would expect from a luxury property.

The layout of the rooms and parts of the hotel was also very strange.

Several spaces felt cramped, irregularly shaped and awkwardly configured rather than purpose-designed as luxury hotel rooms. Based purely on what I saw, the layout gave me the strong impression that some areas may have been subdivided or modified over time to create additional rooms.

I obviously cannot verify the original architectural plan of the property, but the current configuration certainly did not feel like a hotel originally designed to comfortably accommodate this number of rooms. Some spaces felt squeezed into unusual shapes and dimensions, which may also help explain the limited space and poor acoustic separation.

Whatever the architectural history may be, the result for the guest is what matters: awkward layouts, weak privacy, cramped spaces and an experience far below what these prices suggest.

Breakfast was another major disappointment.

The selection was extremely limited for a hotel claiming to operate at this level. The breakfast room itself was very small, and much of the furniture, equipment and general setup looked old and outdated.

Nothing about the breakfast experience felt remotely comparable to what I would expect from a premium five-star hotel.

The service was disappointing from the very moment we arrived.

When we reached the hotel with our luggage, nobody came to assist us with our bags. We had to carry our luggage inside ourselves.

Even more surprisingly, there was nobody present at reception when we entered.

For a budget property, this might perhaps be understandable. For a hotel charging premium Mykonos rates and presenting itself as a luxury five-star resort, it is completely unacceptable.

A genuine five-star experience starts the moment a guest arrives. At this price point, luggage assistance, an attended reception and professional arrival service should be basic standards.

The location is another important disadvantage that guests should seriously consider before booking.

The hotel is far enough from Mykonos Town that going into the centre for dinner, drinks, shopping or nightlife usually means taking a taxi.

In my experience, the taxi cost was around €40 each way, meaning approximately €80 for a single round trip to town.

If you plan to go into Mykonos Town regularly, these transportation costs add up very quickly.

So the real cost of staying at Kivotos is not only the already high room rate. Guests should also factor in significant daily transportation expenses.

What makes the value proposition even worse is that if you are already prepared to spend this amount of money in Mykonos, increasing your budget only slightly can give you access to genuinely outstanding luxury hotels with significantly better rooms, service, facilities, breakfast, design, cleanliness, location and overall atmosphere.

That makes the pricing of Kivotos particularly difficult to justify.

There is also, in my experience, an enormous gap between the hotel’s marketing and the reality.

When we arrived, we were told that “Versace had stayed at this hotel.”

I have no idea when that was supposed to have happened. The property dates back to the early 1990s, so even if famous guests stayed here at some point in the past, that says absolutely nothing about the standard of the hotel today.

In fact, that story perfectly summarizes my overall impression of Kivotos.

The marketing, promotional photographs, five-star positioning and references to famous guests create an image of an exclusive and sophisticated luxury property.

The actual experience I had was completely different.

I found an ageing, outdated property with tired rooms, limited facilities, weak sound insulation, poor cleanliness, a very basic breakfast experience and service that fell well below what I would expect at this price level.

A hotel should be judged by what it offers its guests today, not by which celebrity may or may not have visited it many years ago.

There was also a clear gap between the promotional photographs and the room I actually received.

The photographs and pricing create the expectation of a stylish, refined and contemporary luxury experience. The reality, in my case, was a small, dark and dated room that did not justify either the price or the five-star positioning.

I formally raised my concerns with the hotel and submitted a written complaint.

At the time of writing this review, management has not responded to my email.

For a property presenting itself as a five-star luxury hotel, ignoring a serious written complaint from a dissatisfied guest is extremely disappointing and only reinforces my concerns about the level of customer care.

To summarize my experience:

The hotel feels seriously outdated.

The room I received was small, dark and far below five-star expectations.

Cleanliness was poor.

Sound insulation between rooms was extremely weak.

Noise travelled heavily between neighbouring rooms.

The room layouts felt cramped, irregular and awkwardly configured.

Parts of the property gave me the impression that spaces may have been subdivided or modified to create additional rooms.

The breakfast selection was extremely limited.

The breakfast room was very small and outdated.

There was no luggage assistance when we arrived.

There was nobody at reception when we entered.

The location is inconvenient if you want to spend time in Mykonos Town.

Taxi costs can be around €40 each way, adding roughly €80 to a single round trip.

The luxury image presented before booking did not match the reality of my stay.

The hotel relies heavily on its image and history, but the current guest experience does not justify the positioning.

The value for money is extremely poor.

Management did not respond to my formal complaint.

If you are considering Kivotos Mykonos because of its five-star classification, premium pricing, luxury photographs or reputation, I strongly recommend looking very carefully at recent guest photographs and comparing it directly with other high-end hotels in Mykonos before booking.

Do not assume that a high room rate, celebrity stories and a five-star label automatically mean a five-star experience.

Based on my stay, Kivotos Mykonos feels less like a contemporary luxury hotel and more like an ageing property from a previous generation of hospitality that is still charging modern luxury-hotel prices.

For only a little more money, there are substantially better luxury options in Mykonos.

I would absolutely not choose Kivotos again.

We had a wonderful stay at Kivotos Mykonos. The hotel is beautiful, with amazing sea views, a relaxing atmosphere, and excellent service. The team was warm, attentive, and professional throughout our stay. A truly special place in Mykonos that we would happily visit again.

★★★★★