Mastichari, Achilleas Beach Hotel

We had a good 2 weeks at this hotel complex.

But I wouldn't return, I thought Kos was boring, and some of the beaches were not what I expected.

The complex is lovely, its in the middle of no where. So not a good place to go if you like to party or shop. Animation team are lovely and good with the kids, but their shows in the evening are well rubbish.

Of course the weather is lovely in 40's not a cloud did we see for two weeks. The water park worth a visit as the hotel transfer is free.

There is a few different rooms to choose from 200`s & 300`s was very close to the outside bar and ideal for families with young children as these are very close to the children's outside pool. All rooms were 2 story either with a set of patio doors opening onto a balcony or the ground floor rooms opened up onto a small veranda area in front of your room. 600`s- 900`s was in a quieter location with nice views of the beach and you could see Mastihari village from these rooms and also closer to the restaurant. Rooms less than 100 was set right at the beach and these are just going through a revamp ready for next year. The hotel has its own beach which was lovely. The hotel grounds was lovely with many fruit and olive trees around the complex. The only problem we had was the isolation of the hotel there was one small shop opposite the hotel with limited choice. If you missed a meal there wasn't any where to buy anything from. And also not being a cat lover was a problem as there was a lot of cats wandering around. Considering we went late in the season the entertainment was still good a nice atmosphere and good children's clubs.

We took a last minute, fairly cheap break tot the Achilleas Beach hotel in Kos, and having been burned before were not expecting a great deal, so we were really happy overall with our holiday. The hotel itself isn't the most luxurious, but the friendly staff, cleanliness, amazing location and sun. Oh yes, and serve yourself lager at all the bars, fully made up for any shortfalls. We have stayed at some great places in the past and never returned, but because of the whole package here this is the first place we intend to go back to, possibly in September of this year. Let's hope it's still as good.

The rooms at the Achilleas Beach Hotel in Kos were very basic, with additional costs for air conditioning and a safety deposit box. The hotel is only 5 - 8 kilometres from the airport, so the transfer time in a taxi is only 10 - 15 minutes.

Overall, it was a very relaxing holiday!!

We had no choice but all inclusive at Achilleas Beach Hotel. We ate out most nights, which added more expense to the holiday. Along with paying extra for air conditioning and taxis'.

It would have been very helpful to be advised that no local buses run from the end of August and that you would be isolated unless you were willing to pay out for taxis to go anywhere, prior to booking holiday.

Even though we enjoyed Kos after 5 days we were looking forward to coming home.

Entertainement staff conspicuous by the absence.

Here's the lowdown on the Achilleas Beach Hotel:

- Had to pay for air conditioning and our air conditioning wasn't working and they did not fix it and the t.v.

- Waitresses scrape food into a plastic booket infront of your face while still eating.

- Food very repetiitve and no vegetarian options.

- The hotel didn't look after their animals, swans, fish and cats.

- The waitresses take away your plate even when you aven't finished eating.

- They don't take down notes or complaints at night.

- You cannot use the telephone at night.

- No emergency telephone numbers or the reception number on the phone.

- The reception number to ring was 999.

- Be VERY warey of the Romanian hotel porter knocking on the window of your room at 5 in the morning and bringing you a rose and a poem and proclaiming his dear love to you and asking you to run away with him.

- Hotel manager was nowhere to be seen and talked little English.

Rooms in the Achilleas Beach Hotel, were cleaned every day - Fresh linen and towels seemed to be there when we wanted them.

There is free lager, vodka, wine (red/rose/white), gin, brandy and ouzo from 10am till 11pm. Not the A1 quality but absolutely fine for most normal people.

There is a kids club and evening entertainment which they tried hard to promote. This is an 800 plus apartment site so when we went it was only a quarter full.

It was great. Plenty to do really. 50M pool (that's about 165 feet to us non metric so you pace it out) and a bar right next to it. The beach is nothing to write home about but if you really want to get sand in every crevice then swimming in the sea is only a short walk away.

Food: OK it's in a big room self service, but there is loads of choice and if you take it as part of the holiday and don't go straight it will be really good. Breakfast has lots of cereal, eggs and scrambled and occasionally streaky bacon (cut the fat off OK!). Lunch, look around the salads and Dinner check out the Soup and try and have a bit of everything. There are loads of things to try so have a bit and if you don't like it go for something else!

14 day people - there are really good places to eat in town, a 15 min walk away. Try any fish dish, they are great.

Car Hire - Do not go with the Rep. They charge double what you can get by walking to the town (see 15 min walk above). At least four car hire places there.

If you really want to have a wild time or see the whole island (without hiring a car) then this is not the place for you.

High Season - When this place is full I wouldn't like to think how busy it may be. It may be pants OK!

Late rooms - Bit of a rip off, but there you go - 24 Euros cash till midnight.

Air Con was actually free when we went.

Two free pool tables and Table Tennis. Deposit required.

Polish waitresses

Dutch entertainment

On first appearance the Achilleas Beach Hotel looked quite nice. In reality rooms were poor in design with sub standard air conditioning. Food was very poorly presented with plates of uneaten food slopped out into buckets in the middle if the dining area. Several guests had stomach bugs (food related), There was a strong hint of last night uneaten food being re- hashed as tomorrow's goulash. The pool area was nice queuing up for alcoholic drinks in plastics cups was not. Over all a bad experience and grateful that we only had to endure the Dunkirk spitit for seven days

Achilleas Beach Hotel:

By the sounds of it by the time we got there (July 04) the private beach had been extended as it was quite large, although there was still some seaweed in the sea.

I got bored of drinking only one type of lager, so the all inclusive drinks weren't that great.

The main bugbear was the food. There was no variety, it did look and taste like it had been heated up from the previous day. Everything seemed to have the same aftertaste (I can taste it now urgh!). We ate out four nights, not something you'd expect from an all inclusive deal.

The resort was in the middle of nowhere, although as a previous reviewer mentions Mastahari was a nice resort 30mins walk away.

Had to pay for air con, again not what I'd expect from a 4 star hotel.

There was also a zoo there? I found this very disturbing. Do Reindeer really want to be kept in a sandy enclosure in temps approaching 40 degrees?