This post has been a long time in the making. In my brain that is. I’ve never posted about places I’ve visited or hotels I’ve stayed in because frankly, I don’t know how to go about them, but it was always something I wanted to do since starting my blog. So stepping out of my comfort zone, here goes my first hotel review! Back at the end of August me and my other half went away for week to lovely Rhodes and stayed in a hotel called Casa Cook.
It’s a bohemian style hotel which is what drew me to it in the first place. It’s all very white, chilled, minimalistic and has a very effortless vibe to it. But the thing I loved about it the most, and the thing that made me actually book into this hotel was the fact that every room had its very own access to the pool. There’s a shared pool surrounding each and every room and let me tell you, waking up, opening the curtains and seeing the pool right there was absolute bliss.
The hotel is situated in Kolymbia which is a very quite place with not much going on. You’re surrounded by massive rocks and small local restaurants but you will definitely need a car if you want to see more of the island.
We got to the hotel in the evening and were greeted by a lovely man at reception who told us all there was to know about the hotel and how to get to places. After completing the check-in process, we got taken to our room in a buggy. This was something I was so excited about! Before then I had never even been in one. We booked into a double standard room with a veranda and sharing pool. It was quite small but very welcoming, it had the most laid back feel. The room was equipped with a TV, free wi-fi, mini bar, towels, safe, hairdryer, dressing gowns and slippers. The wardrobe was really spacious, and just opposite there was the toilet and the shower. They had Korres shower products available which I was so excited about as I love Korres as a brand. Of course we couldn’t wait to see the pool, so we opened the doors and saw the pool being lit up by all these bright colours. Seriously gorgeous stuff. Our veranda had two sun beds, a table and a couple of chairs, perfect place to chill out in the afternoon. The bigger rooms also had little straw stools and hammocks.
After using the shower a couple of times I must say that they didn’t really think that one through. The water always used to seep through the sliding door into the room and into the toilet, which was quite annoying as we would have to lay down all the towels to soak it up. So that was a bummer. Another down side was the fact that there were always ants in the room. I don’t mean one or two, I mean like 100!! The man at reception did tell us there could be a possibility of this happening, but I wasn’t expecting so many of them. If you’re someone who’s scared of ants, this could be a turn off. Personally I didn’t mind them, it just wasn’t the nicest thing to step on before going to bed. I just wished they mentioned this on the website so people could be aware of the situation before booking, but I guess it was down to the very hot climate. We also had an issue with the wardrobe door, it somehow always used to become misplaced while we were sliding it, so we would often spend some time trying to put it back in its place. So yes, we did have a couple of hiccups, but other than that the place was an absolute dream.
It’s an adult only hotel and I can’t tell you how amazing it was! I never knew how much of a difference it made until I experienced it. There is also a gym and a yoga room for anyone who wants to get a workout in during their stay. Like I mentioned before, there is a sharing pool running along every room. The sun only hit our room from around 10am to 2pm, so usually after that we would head out to the beach and then come back later to the main pool and hang out by the bar area.
Breakfast at Casa Cook was different to any other hotel we had ever stayed in. It was all so healthy. No english breakfast in sight! I was secretly gutted about that because I do fancy myself some baked beans. It mainly consisted of a huge table filled with loads of cereals, goji berries, dried apricots, dried figs, nuts, cheese, fruit, cucumbers, a wide variety of breads and spreads. There was always a chef on sight making food to order. So we would queue and request if we wanted pancakes, omelettes - these were very popular, boiled or fried eggs and there was also bacon. There was always cold or natural drinks on hand; water, orange or carrot juice, and of course, hot drinks. We would always go for iced coffees. These were available at the lounge bar, but the waiters would always get them for us. Sitting outside was usually too much to bear as it was already boiling early in the morning, but if you can handle the heat it makes for a lovely start to the morning. We only had dinner at the hotel once and I must say that the food was delicious. It was slightly overpriced for what it was and the quantity, but the quality was definitely insane. I’ve never raved about chips so much in my life. I mean after all, they’re just chips, but these were on another level!
Despite the water and ant issue, I loved this hotel. I would absolutely love to go back and stay in one of their bigger rooms. They look beyond dreamy!
Lots of love, SFS.