Achilleas Beach Hotel

I feel that the hotel was excellent, I found it very clean and the staff were very friendly.
I have been on so many holidays in the past and I would rate this accommodation as being towards the top of my list of places to stay.
We were quite lucky as we did not have to pay for air-conditioning but I know some of the older rooms you do have to pay for the privilege.
The pool was fantastic once again very clean and plenty of sun beds but watch out as the English are now just as bad as the Germans and put their towels down early and go out for the day so on a couple of occasions when we could not find a sun bed we removed peoples towels which did not look like they had been used.
The Food in the restaurant was good plenty to choose from they change the hot meals everyday so there is a variety and they are all different servings during breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Allot of people did get bitten by mosquitoes but I found that using Boot’s own brand mosquito repellent wipes worked the best as I did not get bitten after using these (Mosquitoes hate the smell of citrus fruits and that is what these wipes smell of)
The hotel room was clean and very large we were overlooking the beach which was nice as when there was entertainment on during the night (Greek night, disco’s, bingo and quiz’s) we did not hear any noise. There are a lot of entertainment and sports activities to do during the day like aqua aerobics, beach volleyball, football, basketball etc.
Try not to use the shop opposite the hotel as they are expensive take a walk along the beach to Mastihari and then go up the main road away from the beach and you will find the main supermarket which is much cheaper.
Your best bet to get into Mastihari is walking along the lit up beach path which runs from the hotel to the village where you will find a few bars and restaurants with endless amounts of sandy and clean beaches. I would not recommend doing any excursions with the holiday companies as they are expensive, go and explore yourself and you will get trips cheaper from the local people.
The Greeks love the English more than any other nationality so be polite and courteous to them and they will welcome you and help you with open arms.
The beach was OK yes there is a lot of seaweed but this was because there had been a storm near the mainland which had disturbed the seaweed so it floated over to Kos, but every morning while we there a JCB cleaned the beach of all the seaweed and rubbish.
A couple of things to warn you is that during peak season there are a lot of kids and they do run riot at night but then you should expect that as this is a family hotel. Also if you have a late night or early morning flight on departure expect not to get a courtesy room as the hotel is fully booked but they do offer a room for 1 hour so you can shower etc.
Overall a good relaxing holiday with plenty to do on the island of KOS or to just chill out.
You should not read too much into the bad comments as you personally make the holiday what you want. All Greece hotel rooms or apartments are usually quite basic expect this (We are not in the UK now people but in Greece).
I think people fail to understand that when you go on holiday you go to experience other cultures and lifestyles. If you want all what your used to at home then stay their or go on holiday in your own country and well for the price of the accommodation who can really complain.

We’d like to thank those who contributed to this site before we went. Being prepared for the worst made our holiday a greater success. Thank goodness for moaners.
What would be a help is to have a brief summary of the person writing. I’m 40 and a Chartered Surveyor. I’ve a wife and 3 children of 3, 9 and 11. Our aims were simply to have sun, sea, pool, pretty area and a few nice tavernas nearby.
There are plusses and minuses about this hotel. We think some of the scorings are a bit harsh. I stress everything that follows is just our opinion and the diverse range of views just go to show that the holiday will be as good as you make it. You’ll have to make your own fun by taking plenty of Euros and going out to see this beautiful Island and the lovely people.
We perhaps sympathised most with the last more upbeat entry by the end of 7 nights but became more downbeat as we approached 14 nights.
Our first mistake was to book with Lastminute. Once the money was paid they handed us over to Travelbargains and referred all problems back to them. We found Travelbargains unhelpful. I made over 20 calls and 6 e-mails to arrange a transfer and got only 2 attempted replies. After I got my sister (a national journalist) involved Lastminute arranged for us to be contacted within 10 minutes. It shouldn’t be like that! Take a taxi – they’re plentiful at the airport, about 15 Euros to the hotel and they appear honest.
The defence when anything proved disappointing was that we were only paying a small amount, “what do you expect for the price?” (£3215) We read the Lastminute hotel details and perceived a quality hotel at a last-minute booked discount price. Not the case.
If you like drinking free drinks at the bar from 10.00 to 23.00 and to eat as much as you want then that’s what you’ll get. I’m afraid there were plenty of people like that. We expected a 4* experience but of course Greece’s star ratings aren’t up to ours (and we’d been to Greece plenty of times before but not been presented with this package in advance). Again the literature should make this clear.
Arriving at 3.30 we found a friendly reception. Our apartments proved spotless with nice modern bathrooms. The beds are old but with clean sheets, although the bed cover and curtains are old and tatty.
Mosquitoes weren’t a problem as long as you kept the windows shut and plugged in the repellent. You must have air conditioning (we were the lucky ones who got it included whilst others paid 6 Euros a day).
The pool was lovely but if you’ve young children you’ve got to get towels on to the beds by the baby pool early (yes, the Brits proved more adept at this than the Germans) or else you’ll spend the days sitting in plastic chairs. I saw the Crystals being randomly thrown in to the pool each day and swimmers were even allowed in at the same time!
The grounds are beautiful with a gorgeous range of plants and all well tended. The views to the sea are wonderful, particularly at sunset.
The staff are lovely. From the Receptionists, cleaners, most restaurant and many bar staff. When you saw the rudeness they received from many (often the Germans) customers it was a credit to them. “Kalimara” (good morning) goes a long way. That said there was the feeling that at bar and in the restaurant we are there to serve their rules rather than be served by them.
In the restaurant, one of the older waiters came and told us off for allowing our 3 year old to spill rice on the floor. It was an accident and we would have apologised! Until the end of the first week we’d had a good relationship with the headwaiter who’d always got a friendly word. Then we tried to move 2 tables together so we could sit with friends. We were approached by 3 waiters who told us off and the head waiter had words too. In British style we apologised but after that the treatment was almost hostile from a few. The waitresses and some of the young waiters were always lovely though.
Food is good for breakfast. Muesli, large vats of yoghurt, tinned peaches, honey, jams and fresh bread. Hot food, though tinned sausages should be avoided (a theme in all mealtimes). Juices are no more than cordials with trace elements of juice in. The coffee is nice when it’s freshly poured in to the urn from a bucket but tinny when it’s been there a while.
Lunch and dinners are ok. Plenty of salads but these never change. Go for a few different ones each day rather than all of your favourites or else you’ll be very bored. The hot food ranged from very nice to appalling. Always a range of Greek dishes as well as plainer European food. Puddings were ok with delicious fresh melon and often nectarines but the rest was usually pretty disappointing e.g. a sort of trifle cake with bread instead of sponge. After a week we were bored with the food!
The shame is that you are inside and as buffet service you feel like in a canteen (even though there are always clean tablecloths). I’d have liked the chance to eat outdoors under a vine-clad pergola. This would at least give it some atmosphere and the Mosquitoes wouldn’t be out at those times.
What saved the holiday was that we went prepared to eat elsewhere and after we heard the Dolphin Bay recommended we gave it a go. As you face the sea, turn left and walk along the hotel beach until you see steps at the end. Opened by ******* in June, he has constructed a beautiful 4* setting where watching the sunset was fantastic. The service was so warm and the food was incredible and too cheap. I’m used to a lot of good meals but reckon I’ve not eaten better in the last year. Not forgetting those lovely frosted glasses and ice-cold beer. ******* was always bringing free items for the children such as Ice cream cocktails, fresh fruits and cherry tomatoes all grown on site. I’m afraid that his main custom was intended to be from our resort where people were getting food and drink for free so few were there. Do yourself a big favour and go there early on in the holiday – you won’t regret it (and I’m not on commission).
A few tips:
-Go to the Medhotels welcome talk. This was professionally delivered and informative.
-We preferred to go on trips by ourselves and were able to do so much more cheaply that way. E.g. hired Toyota Yaris with A/C from Matichari Travel for 35 Euros a day (delivered to the hotel, friendly service and good clean car). Used this to go to Paradise Beach, Agios Stefanos, Therma for the hot springs, Zia to watch the sunset. Also take the ferry to Sponge Island for 3 Euros each way then hire a car and tour the beautiful Island, public bus from Matichari to Kos Town for 6 Euros return (half for children).
- Hire Quad bikes from in front of the hotel and go off-roading. Great fun! Also hire mountain bikes there for 4 Euros a day. 10% discount for multi days.
- half way between hotel and Mastichari (15 minutes walk) is cheap pedalo, canoe, etc hire.
- for goodness sake, try Dolphin Bay!
- don’t expect to get a room on the last day or that having young children will make a difference. You have to queue from 10.30 to see if you can pay to have the room extended and if the answer is no then no it remains. We got one room extended until 9 pm, some got until midnight but many were refused altogether.

With reference to the above Hotel, we have reason to make the following complaints, the hotel was totally unsatisfactory and unable to cope with the 830 guests it had staying during our 7 night holiday.
This Hotel is definitely NOT a 4* rating. We have stayed in many 4* properties in Greece that ARE . So when you are told that IT IS GREECE SO YOU HAVE TO EXPECT LOWER QUALITY.. that is rubbish, we have a right to expect 4* to be exactly that 4*..not a poor 2* substitute.
We were offered on arrival at 01.50a.m a room (No.111 for future customers advice) this room smelt of urine and was fusty when the door was opened, and this was after a trek into 'no mans land'. The room was akin to a prison cell with awful decor plugs and telephone not working electrics UNSAFE to use and overlooking CELL BLOCK 'H'. HORRENDOUS. How could this be advertised as a 4* Hotel?
I returned UNPACKED to reception to be told that the only vacant rooms were being kept for Allocated on Arrival guests....OH NO I don’t Think So.. Advice to future guests stick to your guns and demand a better room, they do have them.. usually for the German guests though...I quoted my rights to the reception Manager and eventually 3 HOURS LATER we were given a better room. obviously had been renovated recently, although even this room had no shower that worked properly, and, taps that wobbled precariously when put on more than slow!
The next morning after only 2.5 hrs sleep we went for Breakfast...to be told we had to leave after only 5 mins, as the restaurant was closing!!! I explained that we were late arrivals...NO MATTER. we had to leave, so we went to the pool bar for coffee and hard Ham & Cheese rolls,...No there is nothing else available. AND THIS IS ALL INCLUSIVE!!
The pool is murky and crystals were thrown in at random and not measured, I got an ear infection which I was told that was caused almost positively by dirty pool water...with all the children in the hotel at the time surely a proper monitoring of the cleanness of the pool would be imperative!!
The barman was positively hostile at the pool bar, and when challenged I thought there would be 'fighting', and the queues for ice cream and tea & cakes (stale) in the afternoon were positively HORRENDOUS with people slipping on wet floors.
There were not enough sunbeds nor umbrella’s nor shady areas around the pool as you can imagine all those people in one area the noise was deafening, so do not expect to rest or doze or even concentrate on a book. at times I am sure the sound barrier was broken...and that is without the constant aircraft noise...none of which is mentioned in the hotels description!!
Evening meals are like a WAR ZONE my Husband likened it to a works canteen!! no nice relaxed evening meals there then...try local restaurants in Mastahari for a peaceful meal to escape for a while. I slipped on spilt food ( along with many others) When I showed the head waiter he replied NO PROBLEM and kicked it to the side !!!! obviously for the next person to slip on!! very little respect for the guests. On another occasion I asked why there was no ice-cream left at 8.15 (the Canteen didn’t close until 9.30pm) the children were left without a dessert, offered me a euro-note to fetch more from Mastihari? when I challenged him he told me take his car to fetch it!! Obviously trained to a high standard at this hotel and must have attended a charm school...and this is the head waiter. SAD isn’t it.
We also had no water for evening baths on 3 consecutive nights...had no rooms cleaned one day when reported to reception. it still didn’t get cleaned that day. although we did wonder if the floors were cleaned at all during and before our stay as I do not have LONG BLONDE HAIR!! found all over the floor UGH .The unwelcome Guest COCKROACH was left on the floor until I asked the maid to remove it. DELIGHTFUL.

We talked to other guests during our stay who were equally as angry as we were about the level of service , accommodation, all-inclusive facilities, entertainment(NON!) and general level of cleanliness and food availability for adults and children and we all hope that something will be done to remove the 4* status from this hotel maybe 2* would be more like it (although we have had some very good 2* accommodation in our time ..far better than the Achileas).
I can honestly say that this was the worst holiday I have ever been on and I have travelled widely with my work within the travel industry and for my own pleasure, a complete waste of hard earned money, Holiday allocation, very , very disappointing indeed.
FOR THOSE OUT THERE WHO LIKE TO HOLIDAY IN CONCRETE JUNGLES, WITH BASIC FOOD , WATERED DOWN DRINKS GIVEN AT THE BAR-PERSONS DISCRETION, SLEEP WITH ANTS, COCKROACHES, MOSSIES ETC IN YOUR CELLS.(ROOMS) BE BORED SENSELESS IN A HOTEL WITH ABSOLUTELY NO ATMOSPHERE, WITH UNWELCOMING STAFF...THEN GO AHEAD AND BOOK THIS HOTEL.

What a bunch of moaners, I had to check twice to make sure that there weren’t in fact 2 hotels with the same name in Mastihari, as all the bad reviews bore no resemblance to the hotel that I have just returned from.
I did things round the wrong way (booked the holiday and then looked for reviews), which with hindsight was just as well, because if I had read all the reviews first I would have probably given this holiday a miss, which would have been a real shame. Although I spent the week before we went worrying that I was taking my family to a cesspit.
I’m going to give you my honest opinion of my holiday and at the end put the record straight on some of this negativity left by my peers.
My Family : 2 x Adults (36 & 42)
2 x Children Both Girls (9 & 10)
Arrived at KOS airport around 17:00 Greek time, met by Med Hotels rep and put in a taxi to take us to the hotel (10mins to get there). Met the first of the Maria’s on reception (there are 3 !), very friendly and efficient, gave me details of restaurant eating times and a map of how to get to our apartment.
Phone calls home can be made from one of the booths or from your room and are charged at the same rate, my wife made a call for 30 mins and was charged 29Euros (£20ish – make the calls short !)
Apartment was basic, 2 rooms (each with 2 single beds) and a toilet / bathroom (bath and shower), the whole of the apartment was clean as was the linen and towels. Had come prepared for the mozzies and plugged my zapper in straight away in one of the many plug sockets. Also had air conditioning in the master bedroom, which worked without fail every day and for which there was no charge.
The food for the week that we stayed was brilliant, one of my girls is a fussy eater, doesn’t do breakfast, only ever wanted melon & ice cream for lunch, but always found loads of stuff she liked come dinner time. The rest of us had a banquet!
Breakfast - Probably the weakest of the 3 meals
Fried Eggs, Scrambled Eggs, Omelette, Frankfurter Sausages, Cooked Ham, Beans, Sweet Dough Balls, Rolls / Bread, Tea, Coffee, Water and Still / Fizzy drinks
Lunch / Dinner - Equally Delicious
Pork, Veal, Lamb, Chicken, Beef, Fish, Kebabs, Souvlaki (another pork kebab), Mousaka, Chips, Pasta, Rice, Lentils, Chick Peas, Bread (Brown & White), Stuffed Aubergines, Mixed Veg, Coleslaw, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Onions, and then mountains and mountains of salad - Fresh and very well
presented. Beer on tap, Water and Still / Fizzy drinks
A man who is the spitting image of the guy who plays the man from Del Monte in the advert manages the restaurant. He personally greets a great number of guests and ensures that his waiting team are doing their jobs properly. He was always courteous to guests and whilst wandering round stops to chat. Sorry, but he was friendly to all the kids whilst I was there apart from one boy who was reprimanded for running (considering there were 150 to 200 people getting food - I didn’t think that this was unfair!)
The hotel grounds are extensive and apart from the beach area are very well maintained, there is a zoo of sorts (not just a couple of swans Dr.Love - you should have had a walk around by the reception area). The zoo consists of Wallabies, Reindeer, Lama, Lots of birds some ducks and chickens, please remember this is Greece not Windsor and the animals although looking healthy enough don’t have particularly clean cages.
There are cats but the grounds are far from being over run and in the week we were there nearly all the kids delighted in the antics of the 4 kittens. For wild cats they all looked quite healthy - perhaps the ones with Leukaemia were on holiday!
The pool is fantastic and was where we spent most of our time, my wife sun bathing and me and the kids in the pool. The pool bar(s) are both ok, found it too hot to drink anything other than water during the day but saw others indulging in alcoholic beverages. You are only allowed to get 2 drinks at a time and if you want lager during the day you’re given a glass and you help yourself. The snacks were basic but served their purpose, ice creams are only available between 15:30 and 16:30.
The Disco is a waste of time, 11 people the night we went and no one wanting to dance – give it a miss, if you want night life go Kardemena or Kos town for the night !
The entertainment team are mad as hatters (4 Germans all with very good English and completely unbiased), there is an itinerary posted each day in the reception area. Water aerobics, water polo, football, volleyball, basketball, competitions and an entertainment event in the evening (Top Of The Pops, Bingo, Music Review etc….) I can’t comment on the Kids club as my girls wanted to swim from 8 to 8.
The supermarket across the road was a blessing, all the staff were very helpful and all spoke good English, the price of stuff was exactly the same as in Mastihari itself.
I can also highly recommend taking a walk along the beach into Mastihari, its lit in the evenings and is a nice way to walk off your dinner. I f you fancy a change (we ate out twice) go to Horizons for a cocktail (they have a kids cocktail menu also) and then back to the first restaurant on the Beach “El Greco” the food and service are fantastic ! Do the Lobster, a meal you’ll never forget !!!!!!
If you’ve booked with Medhotels.Com I highly recommend the trip to Turkey (Bodrum) what a fantastic day out for all the family, Mad Marty your guide what a funny guy, listen to him, he’s the MAN !
DO - Haggle, Buy Gold, Jeans, T-Shirts, Shoes,
Handbags, DVDs, Gameboy Games
DON’T – Playstation Games and Please, Please, Please
Don’t Not Go
If you haven’t booked with Medhotels make an effort to go under your own steam it really is a good day out !
Well that’s about it for my holiday I loved it, my wife loved it and my girls loved it, it’s a quiet family orientated place, if you want a party atmosphere with loads of night life go to Kardemena or Kos Town, if you want to relax on a quieter resort then come to the Achilleas !
We’ve been to the Canaries, Italy, Spain and Greece when asked which they liked the best both my girls said Greece – That speaks volumes to me as a parent.
Now then to put the record straight (or as I see it) for you moaners :
For all you people with low scores : I’d put good money on this being your first trip to Greece – You should have known there’s a laid back culture, nobody is ever in a rush, get used to having to wait while shopkeepers answer phones or stop to have a conversation with their cousin who’s just stopped outside the shop in his taxi !
You’re abroad there are and will be mosquitoes and you will get bitten, go prepared.
You book your holiday, you know the times you’re flights if they don’t fit with your family (I wouldn’t ever fly at 03:00 with kids) book a different holiday or juggle flights (ask the operator or look around – they are there !) don’t come home and whinge that you were up till 5 and had to be out your rooms at 12:00 this is common practice across the world not just at the Achilleas (it means that they have time to prepare the room for the next occupants). You can pay to have an extension on your room, ask at reception., make sure you agree a time to vacate it though
Come on, do you think the pool man would really be doing all that work for £2.50 a day another Greek Tragedy I think
Miss B Parmar did you look down by the foot of the beds or between the cupboards ? About 2 foot off the ground I think you’d of found those elusive plug sockets, one of which could of accommodated your mosquito sprayer and saved your mother her unnecessary pain.
Miss B Parmar I don’t need a crystal ball to tell you’re a dog lover, try rural South of France if you want to see places that have real wild cat problems.
Miss B Parmar why would you want to go to the beach if it wasn’t nice when there is a massive swimming pool ? With a bar, sunshades and sun loungers and No Cats (they are not overly fond of crowds or water !)
Look at the reviews I wonder if Miss B Parmar is Mrs A Parmars daughter, they score 4/10 and 7/10 both went in July and have the same spelt surname, surely too much of a coincidence, if so your mum seems to have enjoyed her stay !
The other negative reviews are from last year and things change so that’s it all I want to say to finish is if you want a holiday resort like back home go to Spain or better still stay in England ! If you want something a bit different come to Kos ;-)

After reading reviews I was dreading the holiday. Different people had different views but most were negative. When we arrived at the hotel at around 4am. We were tired and just wanted to get some sleep. We were shown to our room by an elderly gentleman who I swear was related to Sebastian Coe we had to run to keep up with him. We entered the room which as most reports say very basic. The kid’s room had no air conditioner but ours had. When my son pulled back the covers on his bed he found two spiders running round, after checking all the beds we went to bed. Next morning a look in the bathroom, clean, fresh towels, soap etc. Shower is hand held which was a pain to use. I am sure a bracket on the wall wouldn’t cost too much and would make things easier. Breakfast every day was the same scrambled egg(looked disgusting) fried eggs (cold) boiled eggs, beans(cold)sausage(don’t ask!) Cereals, fruit. Then onto the pool, magnificent, biggest pool I have ever seen at any hotel. It was clean lots of sun beds for every one (although not enough umbrellas).entertainment team have different things going on during the day for the kids plus water game each day for adults as well. Lunch was usually the best meal of the day although this got boring as it was more or less same food day in day out. Evening meals was ok if you are German, as most of the guest were and food was geared toward them. On two nights my meal consisted of soup(yesterdays left overs) and a plate of chips.
Entertainment was none existent, at night music was played in the bar, which felt like a sauna it was so hot. Most people sat outside which meant you couldn’t hear any music but was a lot cooler. Drinks were fine but you are only allowed to get two drinks per person at one time(small beers only no large) so if you wanted drinks for yourself and the kids two people had to go to the bar. Queues were inevitable as the hotel was packed.
If you walk toward the beach and turn right a path (lit up at night)takes to masharati town, a lovely walk with a few restaurants and a few shops, if on the other hand you turn left at the beach a couple of bars on hill tops with spectacular views, well worth a visit. Food is much better than the hotel, but you end up spending more money than you planned. Music playing, friendly people who make you feel welcome. For the first time I felt like I was on holiday.
The hotel has one pool table and two table tennis, you have to be quick to get on any of them as kids are waiting for someone to take the equipment back to reception (10 euro deposit) kids constantly waiting usually not getting on anything. Hotel has a television lounge, very big with one television in the corner, this room was used by the kiddies for cushion fights which the staff did nothing about or was used by the teens to get p***ed. They had no problems getting alcohol and generally ran riot.
I would not go to the hotel again or recommend it to anyone else. The staff are not very helpful few speak English but most speak German. No entertainment. Middle of nowhere, nothing like a four star hotel.

We arrived expecting the worse after reading previous reviews, but with the decision made that if the food was bad we would eat elsewhere, needless to say we did pretty much every night. The restaurant was like being back at school, yesterday’s food mixed with fresh, stale bread, no variety, and poor drink selection. The staff tried to hurry you through your meal. On one occasion my girlfriend saw a lady’s tabled cleared whilst getting a drink. And being tutted at or dirty looks was commonplace; we decided that they must be very unhappy in their job just laugh at them it’s all you can do. You like to feel you are on holiday and the customer not that you are one of their staff and in the way!
The room was comfortable and air-con was on all the time so no complaints there, we were in a bungalow that had no buildings in front of it and looked straight out onto the sea, it was beautiful to wake up to every morning. The pillows had bricks in so make your own! And our towels disappeared on the penultimate day never to return. No kettles in the room however there were two cups, and when we asked for a pan (as there are two hobs in some rooms) the receptionist laughed and called me mad, in Spanish. The receptionists were a mixed bag but generally useless and sometimes obstructive. They messed up our hire car, promised us the use of our room for a further day, there took it back; lied about the use of the courtesy room, which was filthy, even the toilet hadn’t been flushed.
The bar was very boring and the drinks terrible. Lager is served in 1/4 pint glasses, no more than two drinks per person (very humiliating) the German lady who worked on the Pool bar was one of the rudest people I have ever met and I had to meet her a lot because of the 1/4 pint problem. The lager is 1.5% so about 8 visits to the bar for an English strength pint. Queuing for 10 minutes at the bar was commonplace. No entertainment lots of mosquitoes get mosquito milk, very effective. There is a zoo there, just a collection of distressed animals, Swans with broken wings, those sorts of things.
Now for the good news, the pool was massive even full of inflatable there was plenty of room, sun loungers were good, and it was lovely weather. The fishing village 10mins down the coast is lovely and we ate there most days (and nights) there is a restaurant (the first you walk past on the cost) co-owned Greek and English. Eat here it is cheap, good quality, friendly with a varied menu and a different special every night.
The island has enough to entertain for a week but no longer. The bad things didn’t spoil the holiday because you make sure they don’t, pool was good, room good (some others didn’t look as nice), island nice and local village lovely and unspoilt.
I agree strongly with the last reviewer when he says it has great potential because it’s true it could be so lovely.
Hotel 1/10
Resort 8/10

Well, What can I say?
Fantastic, amazing....
My Husband and I went here after booking on lastminute.com, and after reading some of the reviews we were in 2 minds of what to expect. anyway when we arrived early hours of the morning we waited in reception for 10 minutes before being shown to our room by torchlight. When we got to our room after unpacking and putting our clothes away the sun was starting to come up, so as I walked towards the balcony and drew back to the curtains ... Well... It was like you could have been in the movies, we has a sea view and to see the sun set upon the beach, I wanted to go straight down and watch it from the beach as we were on our first anniversary (what more can a girl expect?) but my husband wanted to sleep, as we had been awake all night.
When we did wake up, although we didn’t make breakfast we did wake up in time for lunch.. Were on holiday!!!!
We took a travel kettle with us so after a nice cup of tea we wandered down to lunch, when we walked in all I could say was wow... they had about four different tables doubled up with salad, and cheeses and bread at the end, then two different hot tables. Ok so the food was slightly the same everyday there was always some sort of variation.
People forget this is not the UK you don’t get the comforts of home if you want them then stay home, Greece is always going to be basic and this basic was perfect, all the kinds of salads you can think of and hot foods - pumpkin pie, meat pie, fish - grilled in a sauce and plain was lovely, one girl I spoke to moaned about the food and said that she swore she lost about a stone, well I nearly turned around to her and said you need to...

Nothing at all worth complaining about in that department.
The bedroom was lovely, although you DO need a mossie repellent of some kind as this hotel seems to attract them, when you walked along the huge glorious pool you could see how many people had got bitten, however we were prepared.
The night life wasn’t spectacular but we came here for a relaxing holiday to enjoy each others company which is exactly what we got, and yes we met a few couples but we went on holiday together to be together and experience different cultures outside of home.
It took 15 minutes to walk to to the little town of Mastahari along the beach which we did every night just to explore and still made it back to get our all inclusive Tequila Sunrises by the pool.
You go on holiday together to be together and get away from what you have at home, and that what we did, we thoroughly enjoyed this holiday and would go back maybe one day.

BE WARNED!
I booked the holiday a week before going on a spur of the moment thing. It was the first holiday my girlfriend and me had been on for three years. About ten minutes after booking it I discovered web sites such as this with reviews on the resort. As you can see the negative reports far outweigh the positive reports. however, I am not a fussy person and I was prepared to go there with an open mind.
On arrival at Kos airport we took possibly the fastest taxi ride ever to the hotel (15 euro) and I did suggest to the taxi driver that he should enter the next grand prix! We checked in and were shown to our room by a little man with a torch. The room was basic but clean with a view over both the pool and over the beach down to Mastihari Bay. The sun was rising and i can say I was impressed!! So far so good!
The next day by the pool was great, the pool was very spacious and there were numerous sun loungers. The pool bar was open from 10 o clock. PLEASE NOTE: This bar is run by a lady by the name of ***** who has the greatest quality of customer care ever seen...yeah right!
Overall the holiday we had was excellent but that had nothing to do with the Achilleas Beach Hotel. The saying goes "You make your own fun" couldn’t be truer. All the highlights of the holiday were activities that we did outside the hotel. This included trips to turkey which is well worth it, hire of quad bikes for trips to Paradise Beach (snorkelling and water sports) and Zia to watch the sunset, and a day in Kos town.
As I just mentioned the holiday was fine but these points still stick in my mind. Many of these points only require a little customer care and would make a world of difference.
1. All staff (other than animation team and girls on work experience) very very rude with no idea how to treat a customer. Most of whom obviously don’t know how to smile and need a personality transplant. PLEASE NOTE: Pool bar staff ***** and a young man called ******** who you swear was giving away his own personal beer and drinks!!! This guy was close to a beating a few times!
2. The rep who is about as much help as a chocolate teapot. If you need to speak to him and he tells you to come back tell him NO you want to speak to him now. A number of people wasted an afternoon going backwards and forwards until he finally had time to fit them in. He talks to fast in the same tone voice and people have trouble understanding him. A lot of help there.......
3. You can only take two drinks from the bar in one go. Even if its soft drinks and even during the day. So if you had a family of four getting drinks was a nightmare.
4. Dogs drinking out of the pool during the day. Yes dogs drinking out of the pool during the day!
5. Maintenance being carried out in the pool during busy peak times. Drills and screwdrivers were left on poolside for up to half an hour as children played near! This was crazy!
6. Chlorine crystals were just being thrown freely into the pool each morning by the cup full. No measure of how much was being thrown in and not enough time for them to dissolve properly before people were using the pool. Many people complaining of sore eyes and the pool was very cloudy.
7. We went back to the room one day and electrical fittings from a light hanging down. Very dangerous! When I told reception they said someone would be around soon. We showered, dressed and waited for two hours before going out. Nobody came in this time!
8. As our flight wasn’t until early hours we hoped to keep the room until midnight. along with another couple we hoped to share our room. Then on the morning of departure when my girlfriend went to pay the extra cost we were told we couldn’t have the room! On bit of advice is to send the boyfriend or husband if you want something from reception because the receptionists treat men differently. Anyway we had our room!
Last point and most important point. Take inspect repelant!
And
This resort is not suitable for children. Unless you want you child to be bored and eating a diet of chips and ice cream!
And i don’t even have children.
Shame because these points are easily addressed!

Firstly, can I say that we had a lovely holiday. The local people are very friendly and Kos Island is beautiful. The hotel itself is not 4*, but it is not ghastly either. There are probably about 200+ rooms (chalets).
I read the reviews before we left home and was aware that things might not be "brochure perfect", but I kept an open mind and overall the hotel was satisfactory.
Where to begin...
Reception: large, spacious, clean. The Reception staff were friendly and helpful. There was always more than one member of staff on duty during each shift and they were kept busy by a multitude of enquiries from the guests. We usually had to wait a couple of minutes in a queue before being able to speak with them. Their English is good and we could make ourselves understood to them.
Check In: We arrived at 7am. There was a coach-load of guest’s checking-in at the same time. Guests are asked to leave passports with reception and are then given a room key. Instead of leaving reception to make your way to your room, you are asked to wait to be shown to your room by a member of staff. This is fine as long as the queue of people checking-in is not too great...as you can imagine. When, eventually, all the guests are checked-in, various members of staff take a small party to their rooms. The staff are not carrying luggage; the guests are! The staff are able to walk more quickly...do try and keep up.
Rooms: I think we were lucky. Our room was large and airy. We had twin beds (pushed together to make a double), plenty of cupboard space (with coat hangers), a large dressing table with a good size mirror. The bathroom contained a loo, sink and a full-size bath with a hand-held shower over. The air conditioning unit was on the ceiling over the bed and pumped out "coolish" air. We had a small balcony with a patio sized table and two chairs. The room only contained three plugs and we had to use our initiative to plug in the kettle. I ought to point out that the rooms DO NOT contain kettles, we had taken our own. The full-length curtains are not good quality, but they do keep the light/heat out of the room (which is their purpose). In all, upon arrival, we were happy with the room allocated to us. Twice we were unable to have hot showers as the hotel ran out of hot water. Don’t leave it too late when showering in the evening.
Restaurant: Lots of staff, reasonably friendly. The head waiter and the more senior waiting staff would always nod and say "hello", but the more junior members of staff generally did not speak that much. The restaurant is a busy place. During meal times the staff have to make sure that everyone staying is catered for. I got the impression that ALL the guests staying at the hotel were "all inclusive". I think that the waiters were under pressure to get everyone "through" in time. The best time to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner is when the restaurant first opens otherwise it is difficult to find a table and the noise level is greatly increased. The restaurant is clean and the staff tidy/re-lay the tables quickly. The slip cloths are replaced for each customer so when you sit down you know the table is clean. The tables are mainly set for two or four people. I did see larger tables with "reserved" signs on them. I guess, if there are more than four in a party it would be worth asking the head waiter for a reservation, otherwise you would be split up at meal times. The restaurant does have piped music but the noise level from the guests is quite high so you might not be aware of it. The restaurant is self-service.
Breakfast: 7.30-9.30. Lots of bread (tastes lovely), butter or margarine, jams and various conserves, eggs, cereal, peaches, and traditional cooked breakfasts. I can’t comment on the cooked breakfast as I had cereal everyday (my preference). The fruit juice is OK; a bit watered down. There is tea and coffee available. Breakfast is a very busy time.
Lunch: 12.30-2.30. Salad - always fresh and varied. Hot food, chips, potatoes, pasta, rice, chicken, beef or pork, veg, vegetarian dishes. I tended to have salad and bread for lunch. Again, it is busy so get there early. The hot dishes tended to lean towards German fare, be aware that their palate is different to ours - not that the German food was unpleasant.
Dinner: 6.30-7.30 (1st sitting) and 8.00-9.30 (2nd sitting). Salad as before. Hot food as before, tending to sway towards German dishes. The meat dishes were mainly served in sauces. The chips are nice though. I didn’t eat the puddings (my personal choice) but there seemed to be a variety available + ice cream. Wine and fruit juice is available.
We usually aimed to get to the restaurant at 7.30 as the 2nd sitting was starting. It does get busy though. They do close the restaurant on time so don’t turn up at 9.30 expecting to languish over your meal. The waiters start clearing the food away promptly.
Pool: WONDERFUL. The hotel pool is huge and never full, despite how many guests are swimming/playing in it. The early birds have the pool to themselves for "proper" swimming. The kids don’t usually make a splash until 10ish. The water is clean and warm. It is fairly deep though, deep enough to dive into. Around the pool are the sun beds, some in full sun and others in the shade. As the sun moves over during the day you may need to turn your sunbed around. They are made of a kind of nylon and although comfortable they are hard to lie on ALL day (but then anything would be hard to lay on for 8 hours). Some guests were lying on lilos, which they put on top of the sun beds. There are a lot of sun beds but don’t leave it too late to make your choice as the ones in the best positions tend to get taken quite early. Most guests put their towels on the sun beds and then made their way to breakfast. The pool bar is good, serving a variety of drinks. I recommend the ouzo cocktails - blows your head off.
Keep an open mind and go to the Achilleas with a view to enjoying yourself, it isn’t 4* but your holiday is what you make it.

This was our first holiday with our kids who were 5 and 7 and we thought this would make an excellent easy holiday - it being 4 star and all-inclusive. However we hardly eat much in the restaurant and got little sleep. We ended up having a lovely holiday - due to spending the majority of our time away from the Achilleas Beach Hotel.
We arrived at 5.30 am and were shown to our room. It had not been cleaned since the previous guests. So we then hauled all our bags back to reception and were then asked to follow this man to another room. This room had no beds in it. Suddenly I felt that the bad reviews I had read about this place were true. We were finally shown to our 3rd room and it was clean and beds made up. Although on closer inspection of the marble effect base to the kid’s beds there was crumbs and looked like flakes of white cornflakes (please do not say this was skin!!).
The food in the restaurant was edible but samey. The kids - who love chips and ketchup - did not eat much of their chips - and the feta was rubbery - like the cheap stuff you buy in the UK. Wine, juice and beer were watered down badly. The sandwiches at the poolside bar were our main supply of food during the week as they were tasty. The restaurant manager was grumpy with the kids.
The entertainment was ok - kids enjoyed the fun evening but not starting to 9.30pm made it difficult for them to stay awake and then get up for breakfast was even more difficult.
There was a 'zoo' outside the canteen, which consisted of a concrete pool for 2 very unhappy looking swans. Loads of cats everywhere - but when we looked at them a few of them had cat leukaemia. We passed the message onto reception but they just smiled.
Pool was good - although I was shocked to see the pool attendant add crystals of sodium hypochlorite to the water in the morning then a couple of minutes later kids jumping in. They were then complaining of their eyes hurting and the crystals were un-dissolved in the bottom of the pool. This is highly dangerous!
Reception were nice but not very clear with their instructions - I felt really sorry for the families that could not hold onto their room after 12 noon on departure day - and their flight was not until 3am the following day. All they were offered was a room which was communal to dump luggage and have a shower.
Cleaners were very friendly along with the man who worked all day and night cleaning pool, laying out sunbeds, cleaning seaweed away from beach, watering plants. He said he only gets 4 euros a day. What a con - the man deserves more.
We hired a car and had a fab day out at Tagaki and Kos and small mountain village of Zia. The ALAL taverna overlooks the whole mountain a great friendly hosts with great food very reasonably priced. This is what I thought Greek folk were like - not the miserable lot with samey bland food in Achilleas hotel.
The shop across the road is a price rip off and staff very unfriendly - don’t you hate it when you are being served in a shop and the shop assistant is on the phone to somebody else.
Take the plug in mosquito stuff with you - it saved us from being eaten alive in our room - and the air conditioner was loud and rattly - but it did the job of keeping us cool but awake all night.
The curtains were like pieces of old fabric you find covering up the cat basket - tatty and smelly.
I would not recommend the Achilleas Beach hotel to anyone, what a shame as it has so much potential.