Grecotel Kos Imperial

The hotel is very nice, the staff are very helpful. My only critisism is that the hotel is starting to get a bit old and it needs to be renewd

We nervously booked this hotel with the All Incl LUXME package, we normally go B&B or self catering as we enjoy eating out and trying local food but with the variety of A La Cartés and with the intention of trying to relax, we embraced it. I personally feel Greek resorts are rated a star above what they might be in the likes of Spain. Kos Imperial offers a lot; plenty of pools, shingley beach front, and initially a very shiny appearance. Being a little critical, the rooms are a little dated, for a luxury hotel, they didn't seem to offer any quiet spaces (pools) for couples despite there being 4 outdoors. We witnessed other coupled guests on numerous occasions speaking with hotel staff and management complaining about this. Also a 'wine library' is a metaphor, however they do have a great selection, when we asked about this, they provided a wine tasting for us (this was actually very cute), Maria did a great job - very knowledgeable. Asked to use an Iron and was told there was only 1 in the hotel between who knows how many guests, not what you'd expect of a 5 star? LOCATION: The hotel is reasonably well located 45 mins from the airport (more like 1.5 hours on bus transfer), there is very little immediately outside the hotel however bustops right outside which for €2pp get you to Kos town in 15 mins. There's also a car rental company working in the hotel (Kosmos). We hired a car for a day, arguably a little more expensive (€144 mini convertible auto p/d) than some others. However, no hidden extra insurance costs and very convenient. We spent a full day out exploring Kos, down to Kafalos beach for a few hours with other stops enroute, before heading to Zia for sunset and dinner (Oromedion). Zia is approx 35mins from the hotel so felt comfortable offsetting taxi costs in place for the hire car. SPA: We booked a couples treatment at the hotel Spa Elixir, 'Passion Ritual', on offer at €160 p/couple. It was very nice and relaxing however we found it unusual for a hotel to have spa facilities at extra cost of €15pp to use the sauna etc, even after booking a treatment and or going for their best LUXME All.Incl package. FOOD: standard has been pretty impressive, big portions from the A la cartes and plenty available at the buffets (although only had breakfast and lunch, not dinner). Could be more on offer in the A La Cartés, Finisia had 2 set menus (we asked them to pair the wine) I'd give the meal a 7/10 but wouldn't have paid the €90 price attached p/p. Side note, it was nice to be able to get ourselves a crepe or ice-cream by the pool during the day and lovely little chocolate counter in the evenings by the reception area. STAFF: Generally really helpful and polite and many flicked seamlessly between Greek, English, French and German. Overall, the hotel and holiday gave us what we wanted; a week in the sun to relax. Not sure I'd recommend it to couples who would rather an adults only vibe (considering it was family busy even out of season) 7 out of