Koia All-Suite Wellbeing Resort

Architecturally, it is not your classic high-end hotel with a typical lobby and automatic sliding doors. Instead, it is a very modern," adults-only" resort hotel on the sea, featuring several separate buildings that share common areas, restaurants, and facilities. It is nice to see it from above. It resembles a village of stylish "houses" where guests enjoy their privacy in spacious, brand-new, modern suites—often featuring spectacular sea views and private pools. For us, it was an unforgettable experience. The staff is extremely kind, professional, and welcoming. Breakfast is plentiful and high-quality, and the cuisine at the on-site restaurant is truly excellent, especially at dinner. An amazing place to stay for a holiday. The rooms are beautifully decorated, creating a cozy atmosphere. It is well-located; the surrounding grounds are lovely, though it is a bit far from Kos Town—you need a car to reach the shops and the town center. It is a great, unique place to enjoy the sun and sea in Kos. Very peaceful and quiet, ideal for total relaxation. Highly recommended.

Five stars for the setting — 2 stars for the experience. It is almost impossible not to give this resort all the stars in the world. The location on the mountainside is truly spectacular, the rooms are beautiful, and the views of the sea and the Turkish mountains are breathtaking. That said, our 2 star rating comes with a surprisingly long list of comments. The welcome was extremely warm. We were greeted with a delicious welcome drink and given a short tour, including some background on the owners’ philosophy and their vision for the resort. That philosophy is immediately noticeable: everything and everyone radiates a wonderful sense of serenity, and you cannot help but surrender to it. For the first time at least. The staff are exceptionally friendly. In fact, they are so friendly that you may be asked, “Hello, how are you today?” several dozen times a day. Every member of staff. Every time they pass. Morning, afternoon and evening. It is undoubtedly well intended, but after a while it becomes rather overwhelming and starts to feel a little forced. Guests are transported to their rooms in electric buggies, which is very welcome because the rooms are built on and into the mountain. Walking uphill in the heat is quite a workout. Our room was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, we immediately noticed hairs on the floor — in several different colours — and they continued to appear throughout the week. I removed them myself every day, which was not quite the housekeeping activity I had expected to undertake on holiday. The room had a lovely “private” pool with magnificent views of the sea and the mountains of Turkey. However, the pool is not actually private. “Personal-use pool” would be a more accurate description, because privacy is certainly not guaranteed. The edges along the bottom of the pool were also slightly dirty and yellow. On the positive side, the pool was serviced every day and the garden was maintained regularly. The resort itself, by contrast, is spotless. It is beautifully maintained, the grounds are stunning, and everything looks exceptionally well cared for. After our first night, we had to Whatsapp reception to ask whether clean towels and housekeeping would still be coming, as our room had apparently been forgotten. The housekeeping ladies themselves were very kind. Something we found particularly intrusive was having members of staff unexpectedly enter our room in the evening to deliver small gifts, such as tahini or a face mask. This happened several evenings in a row. The gesture may have been intended as thoughtful, but we would have preferred privacy over surprise tahini. Another recurring issue was that many things were simply not explained or communicated very clearly. We did not know there was going to be a barbecue evening or a pizza evening, and it took us several days to fully understand how the breakfast concept worked. We were sent a program of the week activities, when we arrived. But were never reminded about any of the activities. If half the "how are you's" would have been exhanged for information, this would have been helpful. The same applied to the activities offered by the resort. There were apparently workshops, live music and other events, but these were not actively brought to our attention. The resort has its own app, yet most communication with guests takes place through WhatsApp. That is perfectly fine, but then WhatsApp should also be used consistently to inform guests about the daily programme, workshops, live music and special dinner evenings. A simple message such as, “Tonight there will be live music,” or, “Tomorrow’s workshop starts at 11:00,” would make it much easier for guests to participate. It is a shame to organise these activities and then communicate them so quietly that guests only discover them afterwards — or not at all. For a resort with such a carefully designed philosophy, the practical communication was surprisingly unclear. A proper explanation of the weekly programme, meal arrangements, activities and ordering process upon arrival would have made a considerable difference. Bottled water is provided in the room because the tap water is not really suitable for drinking. Guests are specifically told that these bottles are complimentary. At dinner bottles cost €5 each. This is not explained when the water is served; it simply appears on the final bill. We did not use a single bottle from our room, yet paid a premium for water every evening. At a resort in this price category, that felt frankly ridiculous. And of course, we are on holiday and will not mind our wallets and spend what we want, but this feels uneasy. The food is where our experience becomes very contradictory, because there is both a lot to criticise and a great deal to praise. The chef is clearly a true professional. Every plate arrives looking like a small work of art, and everything we ate was genuinely delicious. However, guests staying on a half-board basis will work their way through the dinner menu fairly quickly. There is limited variety, particularly for vegetarians. On our first evening, we could choose from the regular menu or an additional Greek menu featuring a large selection of meat. The meat dish was enormous — arguably too much for one person. We also ordered scallops: four of them, barely enough to make an impression, and they required an additional €12 supplement because they were listed in the “premium” section of the menu. The four scallops disappeared within minutes, while an overflowing plate of barbecue meat remained on the table. The proportions and pricing made very little sense. Again, the food itself was excellent. But it is disappointing that certain items require an additional payment when a one-week stay costs well over €5,000, even with breakfast and half-board dinner included. Breakfast was also rather underwhelming for a resort of this standard. There was certainly a variety of items, but the presentation did not feel particularly fresh, with much of the food sitting open and uncovered. The bread selection was limited, although the sweet pastries and cakes were excellent. The very soft, almost slimy boiled eggs were less successful. The à-la-carte breakfast concept also feels unnecessarily complicated, and because it was not properly explained, it took us several days to work out exactly how it was supposed to function. Everything takes a long time, and when you arrive early, it may not yet be possible to order an omelette. Once seated, the waiting begins: first for someone to ask whether you would like juice or coffee, and then — after saying yes — possibly until the end of breakfast for the coffee to actually arrive. The service is not smooth or efficient. It feels slow, awkward and rather laborious. And throughout the entire process: “Hello, how are you today?” From every member of staff who passes your table. We were fine the first twelve times. A special mention must go to Maria, who looked after us during dinner and was an absolute gem. She was so warm, open and genuinely friendly that I actually asked whether it was an act. She assured me that she was simply being herself, and we believed her. Her service and personality made our dinners considerably more enjoyable. Finally, €4 for a small cola — or for another glass of the welcome drink — also felt excessive. Perhaps the price includes all the accompanying “Hello, how are you today?” questions. So yes, five stars for the setting, the views, the atmosphere, the chef and certain members of staff absolutely deserve them. It is an extraordinarily beautiful resort. But at this price level, the housekeeping, privacy, communication, breakfast service, limited menus and constant additional charges should be considerably better. We will not return, as this was simply not for us. But looking at all the positive reviews, it appears it's just us. ;-)

A week long honeymoon with the wife that was eight years late but worth the wait. Our stay at Koia was everything we hoped it would be. (for ref we stayed in suite 403). The room had a fantastic sea view that was truly a perfect way to start the day. Pleasing room design, comfortable bed, space to unwind both inside the suite and outside next to out little pool made it a a really enjoyable place to be. We spent half of our holiday sunning ourselves in in private, it was that nice. The long breakfast window (7-11am) meant we could actually unwinding and relax and catch up on sleep without worrying about missing breakfast (A BIG DEAL TO ME). No kids, no dog, no routine, waking up after a good night's sleep after 9am was a real luxury. Unhurried mornings are rare. A week of this alone made me VERY happy. Food (we were half board) was fantastic. Breakfast was great quality no matter what we chose. Bread was fresh, yoghurts were amazing, cheeses and meats were hard to resist. Impossible to fault. The only tiny thing I would suggest is changing the breakfast tea offering from Lipton to something a little more robust. @Koia - please consider this, might even save you some money, Lipton is not good). The atmosphere in the dining room was also very good. Very relaxed, exceptional service for all the staff, perfect background music. Faultless. Food from the Bar. As we were half board we didn't really eat much during the day (TBH after a decent breakfast I was not looking to eat much more until later in the evening) but we did order sandwiches a few time. Both orders were delicious. Evening Meals. The Chef and all his kitchen staff did a great job of delivering some really great, individual and memorable meals. 4 courses was almost too much! We also ate off the set menu and ordered Steaks 2 nights - Fillet and Ribeye - my Ribeye was one of the best I've had in recent memory. The staff. Awesome. Hopefully you guys hear the feedback. I don't think I've enjoyed being in a hotel/resort as much as being at Koia. All of the staff were polite, helpful friendly and above all, genuine. Really nice people. Nic, Alex, thank you and thanks to the wider team. Staff can make or break a holiday. You guys made it. (big thanks from me and Cassandra). Spa. I didn't do the spa side of the resort but the wife indulged. Her thoughts on her first massage were 'that was the best massage I have ever head, period.' - She is one for Spa's and coming from her I was quite surprised. A woman who has travelled extensively for work and pleasure, who has spent a lot of time and money in spas around the world rated the massage in Koia as the best she's ever had. No idea who the lady masseuse was but well done!!! Overall, I can't fault our break at Koia. I wish the whole team the very best and hope that they continue to make it a great place to spend time, unwind and relax. 10/10

We stayed at the Koia for 5 nights and were delighted. The room (we had one with a private pool and a partial sea view) was very nice and spacious. The only slight criticism would be the cleanliness, as there was some hair left behind by the previous guest. The hotel grounds and the view are stunning. The food in the restaurant and the drinks at the bar were very good. The organisation at reception and the service in the restaurant and bar were excellent. In particular, the staff – Effi, Marcos and Dionysis – provided perfect service thanks to their excellent organisation and exceptional friendliness. Overall, the value for money was reasonable and fair. We’ll definitely be back!

6 nights at KOIA, loved our swim up room, also switched to a hot tub room half way through as was fully booked during out whole stay. A little bit busy at restaurant a couple of nights, & few minor issues that management handled superbly, So that’s why it remains a 5 rating, the location & views are beautiful. Swim up rooms are amazing. Massages were amazing also. Cocktails at the pool bar are great, the pool bar staff are amazing & the restaurant staff & all food was fantastic ! All the local wines they offered where great, & the porterhouse steak we had one night was beautifully cooked, we did a mixture of full board and half board & everything we ate was spot on. Shout outs to Alex for being a all round top guy, Mariana the best host, & already missing choosing a bottle of wine with Maria each evening, in fact every single one of the staff members were fantastic, See you again next year KOIA 👍 Also used Koia private transfers to & from airport & everything ran smoothly.