Grace Studios

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It was our second time of visiting Symi and this time we booked it with Kosmar... a two centre holiday being a week in Symi and a week in Stegna, Rhodes (I've done a seperate review for the latter).
As usual, the view of the harbour at 8.30pm, as our ferry rounded into it, was breathtaking but once we'd disembarked, there was bedlam as we all poured off looking for our holiday reps on the very narrow harbour edge!
No one seemed to know what was happening and there was confusion as to which rep to follow as the Olympic one was taking some of the Kosmar ones to apartments too and one poor couple ended up tailing after us when they should have been tailing the Olympic rep. The Kosmar rep was very dismissive of them when they checked with her.
Our accommodation was sparse, poorly equipped and lacking a few light bulbs - which took us days to get some and we never got others as there was never anyone in the "parent" Grace Hotel nearby, to ask! The cleaning also left much to be desired, although we did get changes of bedding and towels.
Symi is as beautiful as ever but there was no let up in the constant number of scooters and motorbikes that are driving around all day and night. It is a constant irritation to move out of the way of these, as well as cars and vans every 30 seconds or so! Trying to eat a meal at the harbour side at night meant breathing in carbon monoxide fumes and it was impossible to hold a conversation because of the constant noise.
The food was good in all the harbour restaurants. I had one disappointing meal at Mythos, near the ferry docking area of the port. This is supposed to be an award winning restaurant but my order of swordfish was presented with a dollop of tasteless spinach and a load of chips - which I wasn't expecting from such an apparently highly regarded establishment.
The round the island trip on the Poseidon was the highlight of the holiday and for a full day out, fabulous stops for swimming and a wonderful BBQ and buffet on the beautiful island of Sasklia, it only cost 35 Euros. We also got the taxi boat to Nanou, which we hadn’t, been to before, and had a delightful day on a lovely (but rocky) beach and lunch in the taverna, fenced off all round to keep the goats out!
We decided that we probably won't visit Symi again, even though I adore the island. It's been ruined by the motorbikes and, until the local authority impose some kind of curfew for the benefit of the tourists (who represent the bulk of Symi's income), then many more like us will sadly take our holidays elsewhere.