Day 29: Kos Town Hotel Move

Sunday 17th July 2022

Heading Back to Hotel Sonia

My girlfriend was due to arrive from the UK later today. Ahead of that, I was moving from Hotel Astron just down the road to my favourite Kos Town hotel, Hotel Sonia, so that we’d have a nicer place to stay during her week here.

Check-out of my current hotel was 11 am, so I had a fairly early breakfast and then headed to the pool for a spot of sunbathing – the only downside to Hotel Sonia is its lack of pool, so I wanted to make the most of having one.

I hadn’t unpacked much since arriving Friday morning, so it didn’t take long to get everything back in my case and rucksack. I left the hotel just before 11 having paid my room bill – unfortunately, I was charged full price for all 4 nights despite missing the first two due to being delayed on Astypalea. It was a bit frustrating, but I couldn’t blame them as it wasn’t their fault my ferry was delayed, it’s just the downside of pre-booking accommodation when island-hopping!

Over at Hotel Sonia, I was greeted warmly by Afedoulis who apologised again for the mixup with my booking. I told him not to worry and that I was just glad he managed to find space for us. He gave me the key to a twin room on the first floor and I took my luggage straight up to get settled in. It wasn’t a huge room and not as nice as some of their others, but again I was just glad to have something and neither of us is picky when it comes to fancy rooms.

Lunch and Beach

With the hotel move sorted, I decided to head to the beach at Sunburnt Arms, stopping at a sandwich shop called ‘Active the Baguette’ (it’s a weird name) on the way for some cheaper food. I ordered a club sandwich which was tasty, plus a Coke Zero.

I spent a few hours down at the beach sunbathing, with the occasional dip in the sea to cool off when it got too warm. I felt a bit bad not spending any money at Sunburnt Arms, so I went up to the restaurant area and ordered a waffle with ice cream for an afternoon snack. The food wasn’t great, though – just a pre-made thin waffle which had barely been heated. For €5, I won’t be ordering it again!

After returning to the hotel and having a quick shower to rinse off the sand and salt water, I popped out to a mini market to get some water and snacks to keep in the room. My girlfriend’s flight was delayed by nearly an hour, so she wouldn’t be landing until close to midnight.

Dinner, Hire Car and Airport Pickup

For dinner, I stayed close to the hotel and tried another Chinese restaurant just around the corner from Hotel Sonia. It’s called Far East and I hadn’t been before as it seemed to have mixed reviews online, but I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised: I ordered chicken satay with egg fried rice and a glass of white wine. It wasn’t quite as good as Twin Dragon in my opinion, but definitely worth visiting for a bit of variety.

I’d arranged to pick up the hire car from Stamatis at 8 pm, which also happened to be near Hotel Sonia, just off Dolphin Roundabout. I arrived a few minutes early and the car wasn’t there, but the lady I spoke to made a phone call and told me it would be there in 15-20 minutes. To pass the time I decided to shop around for some Pringles in case my girlfriend was hungry when she got out of the airport. I visited a few places to see which was the cheapest and managed to find some for €2.30 while the most expensive was €2.99.

Back at the rental shop, the car arrived shortly after I returned. I signed the necessary paperwork and then drove the car – a decent little Fiat Panda – around the one-way system back to Hotel Sonia and parked it just across the road.

The drive to the airport takes about 30 minutes, but I allowed a bit extra to stop for petrol. Tracking my girlfriend’s flight online, she was due to land at 11:30 pm so I set off in the car just before 11, figuring it would take her a few minutes to get through the airport even if she was only carrying hand luggage.

I stopped for fuel on the main road out of Kos Town after passing the first few stations to get a feel for prices. The drive to the airport was fairly quiet and I arrived before 11:30 pm, just a few minutes before she landed. I parked up and walked across to the arrivals area and met her as she came through the gate. On the drive back, we chatted and snacked on the Pringles, arriving back at the hotel just after midnight.