Absolute Kiotari Resort

Located in the serene Kiotari area of Rhodes Island, Greece, Absolute Kiotari Resort presents itself as a stylish and modern hotel promising a relaxing escape. This establishment, serving as both a lodging and a point of interest, garners varied feedback from guests, highlighting both its strengths and areas for improvement.

✨ Overall Ambiance & Design

Many guests laud the resort's aesthetic, describing it as fabulous, stylish, beautiful, and spotless. The design aims to create a tranquil environment, successfully offering a calm and warm atmosphere conducive to silence and relaxation. The common pool area is particularly noted for its appeal, featuring plentiful luxury sun loungers.

📍 Location & Surroundings

Situated in a quieter part of the island, the resort boasts immediate proximity to a beautiful pebbly beach with crystal clear waters. While the location offers peace and picturesque views (with some rooms enjoying a sea view), it's worth noting that the shuttle transfer from the airport can take approximately an hour and a half. Conveniently, there are several good restaurants within walking distance, along with a mini-mart just outside the hotel.

🛏️ Accommodation Experience

Room experiences vary significantly. Some guests found their rooms, such as the junior suite with a whirlpool bath, to be a decent size and great. However, others reported rooms being very small, though the beds were consistently described as large and comfy. A notable concern raised was an occasional horrible smell emanating from the shower/toilet drain in smaller rooms. While a kind welcome bottle of brut was appreciated, some guests felt that daily room cleaning went only as far as bed making, with deeper cleaning being inconsistent. For those sensitive to noise or views, it is advisable to be cautious about pool rooms facing the main road and north.

🍽️ Dining & Drink Policies

The culinary experience at Absolute Kiotari Resort is a point of contention among guests. While some reviewers praise the food as delicious, diverse, and excellent, particularly the breakfast buffet with its variety and gluten-free options, others express strong dissatisfaction. Criticisms include the buffet food being described as basic, often cold, of cheapest quality, partially industrial, not local, and tasteless. Examples cited include canned fruit at breakfast and deep-fried souvlaki at lunch that lacked freshness.

However, there's a strong consensus that the lunches at the pool-side bar are a highlight. These dishes, such as Gyros and Souvlaki, are made fresh and consistently reported as absolutely delicious, making full-board an appealing option for these specific meals.

⚠️ Important Note on Drinks

A significant point of feedback, especially for guests on full-board, is that the package includes food only, with no drinks whatsoever, not even water. Guests are informed that tap water is not safe to drink and are consequently forced to purchase bottled water from the bar or mini-mart. This policy has been a major source of concern due to both the environmental impact of plastic bottles and potential dehydration risks, particularly in the blazing heat. While hotel drinks are generally good and beer is reasonably priced, wine and gin were noted as expensive compared to local alternatives outside the resort.

🙋‍♀️ Service & Staff

The majority of guests found the staff to be wonderful, smiling, very friendly, and helpful, assisting with services like car hire. However, one review noted that staff could be unfriendly and standoffish to begin with, though they tend to warm up over the stay. A more consistently welcoming approach for newcomers was suggested.

📝 Conclusion

Absolute Kiotari Resort offers a visually appealing and relaxing environment in a peaceful Rhodes location. It shines with its stylish design, pleasant pool areas, and friendly staff. While the pool bar lunches are a definite culinary high point, the overall dining experience can be inconsistent. The hotel's policy regarding drinks, especially the exclusion of water from full-board packages, is a crucial consideration for potential guests. Despite some areas for improvement, many visitors have found it to be a restful and recommended destination for a high-standard and calm stay.

We had an awesome time at this fabulous and stylish resort. The room was great, and the buffet offered a wide variety of food for both breakfast and dinner, including gluten-free options. The service was excellent as well. I highly recommend this hotel for a high-standard and calm stay in Rhodes.

I stayed here at the end of September for my wife and I's anniversary.The hotel itself is absolutely beautiful. Everything is really well considered and they've done an amazing job at creating a super relaxing environment. We loved chilling by the pool most days on the luxury sun loungers which there are plentiful. It's located in Kiotari which is a quiet part of the island and right by a beautiful pebbly beach, although bear in mind the shuttle transfer is about an hour and a half.Admittedly, the breakfast/dinner buffet food isn't great - it's not bad, just quite basic and often cold unless you get in there as soon as a fresh batch is made. There is a good variety though. We HIGHLY suggest going full-board at this hotel as it's the lunches at the pool-side bar where Absolute Kiotari really excels, it's made fresh and every dish was absolutely delicious - especially the Gyros and Souvlaki.Staff were unfriendly and standoffish to begin with, but definitely warm up the more they see you around. A smile for newcomers and a "how can I help?" would definitely go a long way.Room was very small, but the bed was large and comfy. There was often a horrible smell coming from the shower/toilet drain which did fill the room as it was so small. The hotel did a lovely job of providing a welcome bottle of brut which was very kind. The cleaners also just made the bed every morning and didn't clean the room - maybe we weren't there long enough for them to do this.As I mentioned we both paid for full board at this resort. It is not made very clear that this includes food only, no drinks. And by no drinks, they really mean NO drinks, not even water. I was shocked to find out when being denied to refill my water bottle that the taps are not safe to drink from and guests are forced to buy water either from the bar or from their mini-mart just outside. I have a few problems with this, firstly, massively wasteful forcing guests to buy dozens of plastic bottles of water a day. It's also quite dangerous for guests by the pool in the blazing heat to have to go and buy water which increases risk of dehydration. I understand a smaller resort like this needs to make money, but to monopolise on such a basic human need I don't really find acceptable to be honest. Having a water station at reception and offering free water by the pool/at mealtimes would go a long way and, in my opinion, should just be a given considering how much you pay for full-board.This aside, this was a really relaxing place to stay and felt well rested by the time we needed to go home.

The hotel is clean and nicely furnished, the common pool is nice, too. With the exception of one restaurant staff, all staff were very nice and helpful. For the rooms beware of the pool rooms facing the main road and north (which we got changed after a week). The location is nice, calm and some rooms have a sea view.Unfortunately the food is absolutely terrible though, cheapest quality, partially industrial, not local and tasteless. And that for breakfast, the pool bar and dinner. Canned fruit at breakfast, not fresh meat souvlaki thrown into the deep fryer at lunch (pool bar restaurant, we tried other things) and a dinner buffet that you wouldn't expect in a 4 star hotel. Really sad and disappointing.The disappointing food experience unfortunately drags down this otherwise pleasant hotel for us.

Awesome place. The hotel is spotless and very stylish. We had a junior suite with whirlpool bath which was a decent size for the 3 of us. The breakfast was very good and we ate in the restaurant once which was good but we chose to eat at the other restaurants in walking distance on the other nights.The hotel staff are very friendly and helped us to arrange car hire which included pick up and drop off at the hotel itself. The drinks are good, and the beer is reasonable. The gin and wine we found expensive, especially when down the road you can get a litre of wine for €15!The location is very good, with 5 or so very good restaurants in walking distance as well as a lovely pebble beach with crystal clear waters.Definitely would recommend staying here.

The hotel is very nice, clean, and the staff are wonderful and smiling. Here you willfind a calm and warm atmosphere, you will be able to enjoy the silence.The food is delicious and diverse, I can't complain, those who do, probably have a Michelin Chef at home.