If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR152.03), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
If living well is the best revenge, get yours at Koia All-Suites Wellbeing Resort. This sun-soaked adults-only Aegean hideout is founded on the principles of ancient-Greek physician and philosopher Hippocrates of Kos, who taught that wellbeing is only gifted when one is in balance with the natural environment. Here you can practice your own version of holistic wellness: take a cliffside yoga class amid a shore-facing olive grove, a dip in the nearby beach, a nap in the sun, and then savour a six-course degustation (perhaps by the poolside fire pit). And, testament to Hippocratic staying-power, Koans still enjoy an above-average life expectancy to this day, so book here to give yours a boost.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A 30-minute session in a private spa cabin (with access to the sauna, steam bath and relaxation room with salt wall). GoldSmiths also get a bottle of wine and sweets or fruit on arrival
Koia Wellbeing Resort is an all-suite property. There are just 51, and most have private pools.
Check–Out
11am. Check-in is from 3pm. Late check-out is usually available on request (with two days’ notice), subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £147.77 (€173), including tax at 13.5 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional government tax of €10.00 per room per night on check-in.
More details
Rates include a Continental or buffet breakfast and yoga and Pilates classes (three times a week).
Also
The Cave Junior Suite Sea Views are best for restricted mobility, and several have accessible bathrooms.
At the hotel
Beach nearby, spa, sauna, gym, charged laundry service, and free WiFi. In rooms: smart TV, air-conditioning, minibar, workspace, Nespresso coffee machine, beach towels, and black-out curtains. Most suites have a wine cooler stocked with local bottles, too.
Our favourite rooms
Pick any of the suites with a private pool.
Poolside
The opportunity for a cleansing dip is always near, and with the majority of suites having a private pool, the water need never be crowded. The main infinity pool, which blends into the Aegean over the horizon, is conveniently close to the restaurant and bar, with all-day service. There’s also a smaller indoor heated pool with a sea view at the spa. The resort has use of a nearby beach, accessed via a short walk across a provincial road, where there are free-to-use sunloungers for guests. Nearby, hot thermal springs flow into the sea at the pebbled Agios Fokas beach, creating therapeutic tidal pools with pockets often as warm as 40 degrees. Too toasty? Just jump into the sea to cool off.
Spa
The ancient Greek word for water is ‘ydor’, and its presence is an edifying influence at Koia’s Ydor Spa. The treatments are rooted in Hippocratic philosophy, and although he probably never received a wild-rose anti-ageing facial massage himself, he’d surely be awed to see such an extensive spa menu today. There is a gym and an in-house beauty salon, and guests can book a private spa suite for up to six, which comes with its own sauna, steam bath and a Himalayan salt wall. The resort boasts a weekly schedule of free yoga and Pilates classes, too, which are held in a cliffside olive grove, with private lessons available for an additional charge.
Packing tips
An open mind, ready to absorb the Hippocratic principles for healthy living, and a plan to reform your life. Even if you ditch them when you get home, and your mates are already at the pub.
Children
Sorry kids, only over-16s can stay.
Sustainability efforts
Koia is set on Kos, where father of modern medicine Hippocrates was born, and is fittingly his belief that the natural environment is inseparable from the wellbeing of a person. So sustainability is taken seriously here. Bioclimatic architecture reduces energy consumption throughout the property, and there is a stringent recycling programme in place. Most of the veggies used in the kitchen are grown on-site, and the resort sources almost everything else from local producers.
Sit fireside in the Hidden Garden, sipping a negroni as you wait for the exact moment when the final tip of the sun dips lazily into the horizon.
Dress Code
Nattily nautical.
Hotel restaurant
Chef Savvas Lykidis heads the kitchen at the in-house Thyme Restaurant, a fine – yet laidback – dining affair serving a menu packed full of site-grown greens and locally sourced produce. His dishes blend the best of wider contemporary Greek gastronomy with proud Koan culinary traditions, heavy in the use of the endemic herbs that Hippocrates advocated. Breakfast is a blend of traditional buffet (with a dedicated olive-oil station) and á la carte options which can be served in-suite, or for those with a private pool and a penchant for jeopardy, on a small floating pontoon. Lunch has a communal mezze theme, and at the Pool Bar and Restaurant these Greek favourites can be served right to your sunlounger. For an – even more – magical setting, dine by the light of the fire pit.
Hotel bar
The beating heart of Koia All-Suites Wellbeing Resort is unquestionably the Elixir Bar. Sitting as the focal meeting point of the resort, Elixir has commanding sea views and a concept that extends beyond simple drinks. Of course, there is an amply stocked cellar full of Greek wines as you’d expect. But more notably, barkeeps mix natural flavourings, homemade liqueurs and booze of all varieties into creative cocktails. The signature drink is the Pink Grapefruit and Thyme Paloma (tequila, pink grapefruit soda, freshly squeezed lime juice, and a special grapefruit-thyme-chilli syrup), but the menu is just as strong for those abstaining. Herbal drinks, speciality tea blends, mocktails, fruit juices, and smoothies are all perfected. Wellness tonight or wellness in the morning – the decision is yours.
Last orders
The Continental breakfast runs from 7am till 8am, when it’s joined by the buffet till 11am. Lunch is from 1pm till 5pm and dinner from 6.30pm till 10.30pm.
Room service
There are in-room dining options from breakfast till bedtime, serving from 8am to 10.30pm.
Koia All-Suites Wellbeing Resort reclines on the hills behind sleepy Agios Fokas beach, on the easternmost tip of Kos, in Greece’s sun-kissed Dodecanese islands.
Planes
Kos International Airport is 45 minutes from the resort by car and is directly connected to several major hubs in the UK and Europe, with an increased service during the peak summer months. The resort offers bookable transfers, priced from €70 one-way for up to four passengers. Or, touch down at Milas-Bodrum - from this ancient seaside resort city the ferry to Kos Town takes a little over an hour, and the resort is a further 15-minute drive from there.
Trains
Time-conscious travellers should fly in, but Kos can also be reached by land and sea. From Milan, take the scenic train down Italy’s Adriatic Coast to Bari. Catch the overnight ferry to Patras on the mainland, hop on the local train to Athens, then sling your bags aboard another ferry threading through the islands to Kos.
Automobiles
Unless you have no intention of leaving your private pool (that’s the general mood here), hiring a car in Kos Town adds flexibility to explore the island, and parking at the resort is free.
Other
Kos is well served by ferries criss-crossing every corner of the Aegean. The journey from Athens’ Port of Piraeus can take over 10 hours, but there are many closer connections available.
Worth getting out of bed for
There is no better alarm clock than sunrise in the Greek islands, and since every suite at Koia All-Suites Wellbeing Resort has commanding views out to the horizon beyond, the purple-pink hues will have you on your terrace at day-break, coffee in hand. The resort runs a packed weekly schedule of activities which give context to the world that Hippocrates lived in and heavily involve the natural plants that inspired his work. There are tasting classes (some for an additional cost) in Koan wine, honey, and olive oil, led by visiting local sommeliers and producers. To get your heart rate pumping, ask reception for directions to the nearby hiking trails. Palio Pyli traverses a forest to the mediaeval ruins of the fortified Byzantine settlement of Old Pyli; or make the slightly longer (a two-hour return trip) hike to the summit of Mount Díkaios. There are broad views from the island’s tallest peak and the chance to visit the small chapel at its summit – be sure to stay for sunset. Further afield, Kos is littered with Roman ruins. The second-century Odeon of Kos is a remarkably well-preserved open-air theatre. The restored Casa Romana, built in a grand Pompeian style, houses a notable collection of mosaics, frescoes, and sculptures.
Local restaurants
Koia sits in a sleepy corner of Kos, so to find a buzzing restaurant scene, make the 15-minute drive into nearby Kos Town. Barbouni is an energetic seafood and sushi bar on the waterfront with a DJ spinning tunes as the sun goes down (bookings are essential). Nick the Fisherman is a Greek seafood taverna in the old style that comes highly recommended, and Patriko offers more traditional meat-based Greek fare. Be sure to check specific opening times out of peak season, as many close for the winter.
Local cafés
For true speciality coffee, banana bread and a delightful Basque cheesecake, head to the Cup in Kos Town. To sit back and savour a peaceful brew under the cooling shade trees, set your walking directions to Café Neratzia.
Local bars
Every Aegean island worth its salt needs a good beach bar, and here Agios Fokas All-Day Bar Restaurant does what it says on the tin. For cocktails at sunset, head to Ammos Beach Bar.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this clifftop resort on Kos and unpacked their completed novels and yoga mats, a full account of their restorative break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Koia All-Suites Wellness Resort in Greece…
Young med students traditionally take the Hippocratic Oath on graduation day, as a commitment to an ethical code of conduct as they begin their careers. The ancient Greek physician it’s named for – known as the father of modern medicine – was born on Kos in 460 BC. His primary teaching was that our own health is only as good as that of the natural environment surrounding us, and that we should stay in harmony with it.
Koia All-Suites Wellbeing Resort is founded on these principles, but even if you already feel pretty great, this cliffside ocean-view resort on a captivating Greek island is an environment conducive to feeling even better.
Kos is known for its abundance of both beaches and Roman ruins, and nearby Agios Fokas has both. It’s a sleepy corner of the island, a perfect match for a resort designed for relaxation, which cascades down to a private pebble-dashed stretch of black sand so beautiful it is said Cleopatra stopped for a swim here while sailing from Egypt to Rome.
The all-suite property has been designed to coexist in harmony with the arid, rocky landscape, and the materials used throughout (stone, rich woods, olive hues) bring that feeling inside. Its layout was inspired by the ancient Doric Hexapolis settlements found in this region, and the suites – all with impressive views across Kerameikos Gulf and beyond – are pleasantly spaced for privacy.
There’s no wellness guilt here – you can sip beers and cocktails by the pool all day if you wish – but it’s not hard to be good. While not being specifically vegetarian, the Thyme Restaurant’s menu, and the mezze dishes spinning out of the Pool Bar all day, are intentionally scant on meat, showcasing the hotel’s home-grown vegetables instead. And the Elixir Bar’s dry alternatives to its cocktails (which admittedly look irresistible) don’t make teetotallers feel as if they’re missing out.
The majority of suites have private pools, and since there are only 51 of them, the property never feels busy or crowded. A short walk away is the resort’s beach with free sunloungers for guests; but we also enjoyed the hot springs at nearby Agios Fokas. Whatever path you choose here, you’re guaranteed to leave Koia feeling fully rested and dreaming of this sleepy corner of Kos long after you’ve returned to the day-to-day.
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