I have just returned from a week in Kos, staying at the 5 star Iberostar Kipriotis Panorama hotel – it was a fantastic holiday and certainly the best hotel I have stayed in. I want this review to help as many people as possible to decide if it’s the right hotel for them.

I’ll start by writing what we wanted. This trip was for me and my girlfriend who are both 26 years old. We wanted a holiday where we could essentially do nothing except sunbathe, swim in a clean pool, eat good food, drink and relax. We weren’t looking for a sightseeing tour, we didn’t really want to have to leave the hotel complex (so we booked ‘All Inclusive’), we weren’t worried about nearby beaches & were not fussed about evening entertainment – we wanted pure relaxation with a touch of class.

We felt the Panaorama would give us all this, but I must admit on the build up to the holiday after initially booking the hotel 2 months ago, I became worried about some reviews stating that on arrival, guests had been relocated to the 4 star Maris hotel on the same complex. Also, as mentioned we had booked ‘All Inclusive’, but found it difficult to find out exactly what was included, specifically drinks – was it only local beer and wine? Were spirits (vodka, rum etc) and/or cocktails included? Finally, would half-board guest be treated with priority by staff as they would be paying for drinks/meals and might therefore leave better tips? We needn’t have worried about any of this, and I’ll explain why.

1) Panorama guaranteed - If you want to ensure you stay in the 5 star Panorama rather than the 4 star Maris, then make sure that when you’re booking your holiday that it states clearly you will be staying at the IBEROSTAR KIPRIOTIS PANORAMA. Many of the Travel Agents we saw online were selling deals to the ‘IBEROSTAR KIPRIOTIS PANORAMA-MARIS HOTEL’ or ‘PANORAMA-MARIS COMPLEX’ - if you book a deal stating this you may save money, but there is a very good chance you will be put in the annex sister hotel the Maris. It’s a nice hotel but it is not 5 star & not a patch on the Panorama in terms of food, facilities and staff.

We had paid a bit extra when booking through the TravelRepublic website to ensure we were staying in the Panorama, and also booked a sea view room, and ensured I confirmed this via email and over the phone to the travel agents on the run up to the holiday after reading the reviews that had put doubts in my mind. Make sure you do the same, it’s worth it…the view from our balcony was incredible!

2) All Inclusive - as I said earlier, we didn’t want to spend time travelling 3km to nearby Kos Town in order to find decent restaurants/ bars, we wanted to have it all on site and for it to be 5 star in quality, so we went All Inclusive. You are given a wrist band when you check in so that all staff are aware that anything you order in the restaurants/bars is already paid for without you having to give your room number.

Going AI was the best decision of the holiday - the food was excellent, the service outstanding and almost all drinks were included. In the restaurants only beer & wine are available, but in the main bar all drinks; local beer, local wine, spirits, cocktails, soft drinks, tea, coffee, milkshakes etc. are included. The odd thing is excluded such as champagne and the more expensive wines, but that is to be expected.

We also took advantage of the other onsite facilities such as tennis for no extra charge, and the soft drinks, bottled water and beer in the minibar was all included and filled up every morning.

3) Priority service – simply nothing to worry about, the staff were faultless, so polite but the hotel never felt stuck up or pretentious. All guest were treated the same, we had excellent table service at all the bars and in the restaurant, it really adds to your stay when you feel the staff actually care about you when they serve you. If you feel you get good service then tip, if not, don’t, it won’t affect how quickly you are served, and this is what you expect from the staff at a 5 star hotel.

This covers my 3 worries, but there were so many other positives. I must mention how clean the hotel is, the cleanest I’ve ever stayed in. The reception area as you walk in is so grand, the pool area is gorgeous & the views from the sea view rooms are breathtaking.

Our room was spacious and cleaned everyday. Not just the beds made, but cleaned completely, with all out clothes folded for us - something I’d never experienced before at a hotel! As mentioned we had a big balcony overlooking the sea.

In the main bar the selection of beers, wines, spirits and cocktails are outstanding. There is also the pool bar during the daytime where you can get soft drinks, water and some alcoholic drinks as well as tea, coffee, fruit juices and milkshakes (all included in AI). The staff at both bars are very friendly. I saw one review on Trip Advisor suggesting the man at the pool bar “refused to speak English, only German”. Well I imagine he was talking about the main barman who works behind the pool bar everyday and was JOKING! When we first went to the bar and he realised we were English he spoke German for the first minute but it was clearly jovial and we were soon talking to him in English. He helped my girlfriend find her purse when she dropped it by the pool area so we liked him! :)

The buffet food changes everyday for breakfast, lunch & dinner, and includes everything you could ever think of, the freshest greek salads, breads, pastas, greek and international dishes cooked in front of you by the chefs, and far too many puddings :)! We were there 7 nights and didn’t get bored, and I feel there is enough variety to keep you satisfied for 2 weeks as it’s ever changing. You can enjoy your dinner out on the terrace overlooking the sea and the gorgeous sunset, it really makes your holiday seem special.

There is also the themed restaurant which covers Asian 3 nights a week, Italian 3 nights a week (again all covered by All Inclusive), and then on Tuesdays nights is Greek night down by the Pool area, where they hold a Greek BBQ Buffet with Greek band, music and dancers, all guests are invited down and it’s a really great atmosphere.

Every other nights the entertainment is low key, with a Greek guy called Steve playing keyboard and singing some classic pop songs from the 70s/80s/90s in quite a cheesy Greek style in the main bar terrace – it’s really background music and lets you get on with your night, drink the night away overlooking the coastline/pool/sea and this was perfect for us. If that’s too low key for you, then you can always head in to Kos Town, but we never found this necessary. A quick example in the differences between the Panorama and the Maris – we heard Karaoke coming from the Maris Bar on a couple of nights, both times sung badly and loudly…if this had been the entertainment at the Panorama we would have been disappointed as it certainly removes the 5 star feeling, but this is more your thing then maybe the Maris would be the better hotel for you, I got the feeling it may be better suited to families with young children.

Final positive – the mini-market inside the hotel sold all the essentials, sun cream, food, drink, cigarettes, souvenirs etc so you can get everything you need from here for reasonable prices (20 cigarettes were 2 euros, about £1.60). They also had English newspapers ‘sameday’, available by about midday/1pm each day.

There were just one or two negatives to mention; the beach right next to the hotel and exclusive for guest of the Panorama/Maris is small and not very nice. We only popped down briefly before returning to the pool area! Also the entertainment in the evenings may be too low key for some (not us, but others may want more). The only other thing is the fact you have to pay for the safety deposit boxes, so we didn’t bother and locked our valuables in our suitcases. But that is literally it!

So that is my review, it’s longer then I had planned but it’s worth it if it helps someone to decided to stay here and enjoy as good a holiday as we have just had! If you stay at the Iberostar Kipriotis Panorama hotel, you will not be disappointed.