The Island of Kos
- @Bethany_Grey
- Oct 7, 2017
- 4 min read
I have been so lucky this year to be able to visit so many different places, in the UK and abroad. Seeing new places has become so important to me as I’ve grown up. I can honestly say that travelling never particularly appealed to me, I enjoyed a holiday here and there, however I was always more interested in working on other things around me. I was too focused on working on myself that I didn’t realise that travelling and experiencing new things would infact help me on this journey.
Recently I have started to realise just how amazing other cultures and countries truly are, along with the many people who I could meet along the way. Life is for enjoying every moment to the absolute fullest and a part of me has a new found need to explore, to learn new things, experience new cultures and meet new people. I see travelling and exploring as an important step for self growth & development.
I was extremely excited to be flying off to The Summer Palace Beach Hotel, located on the beautiful Island of Kos. I had a week to make the most of the sunshine, eat as much food as I could possibly stuff into my face, and of course take hundreds of photos of everything I saw.
Gazing across the Aegean Sea, Nissiros Island & the Bay of Kardamena; The Summer Palace Beach Hotel looks incredible set up the mountain side as part of the chain of Mitsis Hotels. I was so pleased with our sea-view room; after arriving late at night it was such a lovely surprise to wake up to an amazing view across the sea; the pastel early morning sky softly illuminating Nissiros Island in the distance. The sound of the waves below & chatter of the birds as they glided by was the best introduction to our first day at the Summer Palace.
The staff were so lovely and welcomed us so warmly. Every day we were greeted with ‘Kaliméra’ from every member of staff we crossed paths with (the only Greek I managed to remember!). One thing that makes a Greek experience is of course the classic white & blue theme of the buildings, as well as the beautiful pink Bougainvillea flowers that tumbled over the pretty doorways and walls.
The Mitsis Hotels are only 5km away from Kardamena, a gorgeous seaside town, and 35km away from Kos Town. We decided to hire some quad bikes from the Summer Palace and spent the day travelling down to Kos Town and exploring, as well as riding up the winding mountain roads (safely of course!) to see the amazing views as the sun started to set. The next day we went on a boat trip which brought us to Nissiros to see a volcano and a few other stops on the way; Nissiros is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, situated between the islands of Kos and Tilos. Not only was it a great day out but we also sailed over on a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ inspired pirate ship, which I’m almost positive made the trip for all of us.
The Summer Palace Beach Hotel has so many options for activities, whether it’s relaxing down on the beach or one of the many pools & bars (flowing with drinks and snacks all day) to water sports, bikes & quad bikes, horse riding, scuba diving lessons and more, there is SO MUCH to do. As well as exploring the Island we were mainly there to get in as much relaxation as possible, and that’s exactly what we did!
Not only were the facilities great, but the food was AMAZING. I had never experienced all inclusive before and I cannot believe I have been missing out for so long. The food in the hotel restaurants were so, so good. I was pleasantly surprised by the huge array of different foods and also how they switched up the buffet fairly frequently, so guests aren’t eating the same thing every day for a week. Not only was there a main hotel restaurant, but also two more, Italian and Greek, which were also included in the all inclusive deal which we were really impressed with. The food was delicious, the Italian was located by one of the stunning pools of the hotel, and the Greek located down on the seafront, both are absolutely worth going to during a visit!
I can not recommend visiting The Summer Palace Beach Hotel enough. I hope to visit one of the other hotels/apartments in the Mitsis Hotel Chain in the future! I'd love a little longer to explore more, photograph more, eat more and of course relax a little bit more too!
You can find out more about The Mitsis Hotels and the gorgeous Island of Kos over on their website:
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