Wow ! What else can I say. I knew Ios Palace was a nice hotel. I had read the reviews - I had even spoken to people that had stayed there before we decided to book our week at Ios Palace - and expected a great experience. But Ios Palace far exceeded our expectations - in every way possible.! From the beautiful hotel facilties, to service way beyond we thought was possible - Ios Palace really is a "Palace". Our two week vacation took us from the "Jumeira Beach Hotel" in Dubai - a 5 star property - probably one of the nicest (and most expensive hotels) in the world - a very impressive hotel - A very hard act to follow. But when we arrived at Ios Palace - a much smaller hotel (and about 1/5th of the cost) - on the tiny island of Ios - we were impressed once again! The warm welcome at the front desk from the receptionest immidiately made us feel at home. We were in awe as we explored the property - beautifully set on the hillside - and the view ..... unbelievable. Ios Palace is an older hotel, so we didn't expect massive rooms, or excessive ammenities - but let me tell you. When we walked into our room; with simple but beautiful and modern decor - we knew we were going to have a great week. The room was massive - divided into a sitting area and the bedroom, and a gorgeus balcony overlooking the water. The bathroom was very clean, modern - and the shower was great. I always rate a hotel by the shower - and it was the best we have had anywhere in Greece. And that was just the first day! Ios is a beautiful island - much larger than we had originally thought - with rolling hillsides and beautiful beaches. The small walk to town from Ios Palace brings you to and incredible selection of shops and restaurants - both local and international food selections that were all worth the experience. We only made one mistake - we didn't try the restaurant at Ios Palace until our third day - we don't normally enjoy hotel restauarants - but what a mistake it was. After the first time we had dinner in the hotel restaurant - I didn't want to go anwhere else. A gorgeaus hotel, beautiful pool area, and now an excellent restaurant. Try the Shrimp Pasta - you won't be able to find the pasta because the shrimp are so big (and good!). I can go on forever raving about our experience at Ios Palace - we thought we were getting exceptional service for some strange reason - but everyone we met and spoke to at the hotel all had a similar experience. It was great. A wise man once told me that whenever you go somewhere, you will forget where you went, you will forget when you went, and you will soon forget most of everything you did. But the one thing you won't forget is "how they made you feel". They made us feel like a king and a queen on a private vacation in an unbeleiveable setting. Thank You Ios Palace. We can't wait to return! Jim & Mary

This hotel was the worst part of our Greece trip...my husband and I booked a superior suite with a private pool and when we got there we were very unpleased to find that the room represented on the hotels website was not the same room as we were given after my husband repeatedly confirmed with the hotel that we would be getting the room on the website...when we walked into the room my mouth dropped it was horribly dirty and there were millions of bugs crawling around and the floor was filthy,,,I called reception and told them about the room and she said that the picture on the web was of the "vip superior suite" and even if we wanted to change it was booked...I would never go back to this hotel or send anyone I know there...I was literally counting down the minutes until we left the island....If you are used to five star or even four star quality hotels do not stay here!! this hotel is sub-par for its four star rating...

This hotel is so perfect and amazing... I did not want to leave. It is absolutely the perfect location if you are a beach-goer, which I am. My stepbrother and I hopped around a few of the islands and this was by far the best place we stayed. It overlooks the main beach, with the pool directly overlooking the sea and has a really cool, contemporary-ish feel to the couches and lounge areas surrounding the pool. Plus, has a bar and restaurant if you don't want to venture to the beach, which is just a few steps away. There are a ton of restaurants and bars right along the sand, and to get to the main town for the nightlife is about a 3 minute, 5 euro taxi ride. I suggest this route because staying in the main town would be great for stumbling home after partying in the crazy bar scene, but not great at all during the day. I really can't say enough about how pleased I am with this place. I feel it is the #1 place to stay on the island. Really. My ONLY complaint: the beds are a bit firmer than what I am used to. Suggestions you MUST MUST MUST check out: Go to Karma - an amazingly cool bar/restaurant off the sand there at the beach. Has hammocks and overstuffed pillows and big couches and beds to lounge around on while you watch the scene and have an espresso or daquiri or some bruschetta. They also have some cool games to play if you get bored (old school wooden checkers etc) while you sit on the floor of an individual (VIP esque) raised up, almost deck-like thing with pillows surrounding you. The whole vibe is perfect and exactly what you should have on a true vacation - kind of mediterranean, hip, but mellow and relaxing, with good music. Amazing view of the beach, cold drinks, comfortable... Second suggestion you MUST check out as well: Have dinner at "Agosta" in town. Right next to the ios bakery. It had opened only 4 days prior to our arrival and we ended up eating there every single night. AMAZING food. Better than home, better than anywhere in Greece - and we had a ton of really amazing dinners. This is an italian restaurant and one of the best chefs created an amazing menu. If you love risotto - have the mushroom risotto, start with a bruschetta or salad. Have the cheesecake or the chocolate thing for dessert. I love food and embarrasingly, eating at that restaurant almost brought me to tears it was so good. Cool vibe too - outdoor or indoor seating and a bar up top. Very reasonable prices too. The risotto was 12 euro and was a very healthy portion. I was almost too full to move after the second night there. Delicious. OVERALL, Ios Palace is the ideal place to stay - book early if you are going during peak season b/c I'm sure it would fill quickly. Our room had two twin beds, a living room area with a couch/bed, t.v., etc. and closet, bathroom, balcony, etc. View is unbeatable, staff is amazing and friendly and helpful and honest (with recommendations, etc). I think that's all I can gush about ... it was truly an amazing place to stay. Perfect location, perfect view, elevators make it easy ...

We've just stayed for two nights at the Ios Palace hotel. Firstly as the other reviewers have said it is in a great location right on the beach with a wealth of bars and restaurants nearby. You can either catch the bus into town from pretty much outside the hotel or pay 5 euros for a cab each way. Alternatively you could walk - we reckoned it would take about 20 mins but uphill and possibly not what you'd want to do in the midday heat. So that's location. What about the hotel. We booked a junior suite and it was very nicely furnished - simple and elegant but not really any mod cons. The bathroom could have done with a little updating but otherwise fine. The pool area by the bar was again lovely and the food was good and cheap. The drinks are however expensive and you'd do better off down the road at one of the local bars. Our favourite was Delphini right next door that served good cocktails and Thai food that you could consume whilst watching the sun go down over the sea. Our main problem is that we discovered on our second day that a wedding was taking place in the hotel that night. We were not told in advance about this but found out through a piece of paper stuck to the wall in reception. This meant that the pool area was stripped of all loungers and chairs by midday and all food service (including room service!) stopped at 3pm. This wasn't a major problem as there is an abundance of places to eat and we just went to the beach for the day. However, when we came back after dinner wanting to go to bed the wedding was in full swing and there was very loud music pumping out by the pool clearly heard iin our room. We asked at reception how long the wedding was going on for. The receptionist asked why we wanted to know (!! It's a hotel - obviously we wanted to know if we were going to get any sleep!!) and then told us "it depends on the clients and how long they want to drink and dance". There was no offer of changing rooms and no suggestion of what could be done. We were told that all the other guests had been informed prior to arrival about the wedding and the likely noise but we had been missed off the list. We were understandably upset by this response and went fuming to our room. To give the hotel its due, the manager then rang our room to apologise and explained that we would not be charged for the room for that night. Good thing too as the music didn't stop until 5am. The next morning the staff again were very apologetic and the manager explained that they only have weddings once or twice a year. It's such a shame as I'd love to give this hotel a better rating as otherwise it was great.

I am scared to write this because we don't want anyone else to find out about Ios Palace. My (now) fiance and I spent two nights at Ios Palace and had a great time! The hotel was very clean, although not ultra modern. We enjoyed having the decks and pools mostly to ourselves since we were there in late September. The beach is gorgeous and you can't beat the cheap beers at the stand next to the hotel. Skip the bar at the hotel because the drinks are expensive and not great. Head into town on the bus instead. We are a 27 yr old couple from NYC and we plan to return!