The photos of this hotel don’t do it justice- it’s a very picturesque place. The Platanista is set out over a large well-kept site with two lovely swimming pools, tennis courts, outside entertainment area, mini golf, pool bar and snack bar. It’s a long walk to Kos Town- we walked it but I suggest you catch the bus or taxi as in the heat of the day it is a slog! The hotel’s section of the beach is so peaceful with a beautiful view of Turkey and the most delightful taverna next to it. Unusually there are always sun beds free at the hotel or beach. We rented a car from the hire place next to the hotel which was a competitive price and well worth doing. An area for improvement is the evening entertainment which was poor - generally 45 mins of them trying to get the audience involved. They need to spend money on getting some professional acts in. Overall, a lovely holiday at the Platanista and you won’t be disappointed in choosing this 4 star hotel. Kos is definitely worth visiting- we will return to the island.

I spent a week at the hotel with my teenage daughter at the beginning of August. The hotel is really great, everything is so clean, the grounds are beautiful. All the staff work really hard and are so friendly. Nothing is too much trouble. The food was excellent in the restaurant at both breakfast and dinner with a great choice.

The pools are great, both really large and they never felt crowded, one with a swim up bar. There are also plenty of Sun loungers and umbrellas and it was never difficult to get one. The beach which is a 2 minute walk isn’t great but the pools more than make up for it.

We hired bikes a couple of times from outside the hotel and rode into Kos Town which only took around 15 minutes and was really convenient to go wandering round the harbour and old town. We also did the Tui trip to Zia to watch the sunset which was beautiful and it was well worth asking the rep to book a table for dinner, we went to Olympia2 and had a table upstairs on the terrace.

The rooms are newly refurbished, modern and cleaned every day with fresh towels daily. Our maid was great and worked really hard and nothing was too much trouble. There is a kettle in the room and tea and coffee and a small fridge.

The only thing I would change would be for the hotel to perhaps leave one bottle of water in the fridge on arrival. I had read the reviews before I came and knew as we were arriving late at night there wouldn’t be any water so took some with me. I was glad I did as we eventually arrived at 2am and the bar was obviously closed and nowhere to get any water from.

There is a petrol station at the bottom of the road and you can stock up on water for the room from here, cheaper than buying it in the hotel and a supermarket a 15 minute walk away.

We had a great holiday and I would definitely come back and stay at the Platanista again.

The entertainment crew, Robert in particular was brilliant, he made a great effort all the time. All the bar staff Spartak and his team were top drawer and the waiting team in the restaurant did a great job.

The hotel management need to take a look at themselves, the primitive rule of wearing long trousers in the dining area is very poor, inconvenient and unjustified .... a joke!