At the waterfront promenade, five minutes' stroll from the casino, this hotel is one km from the port and 16 km north of the airport. This is one of the in-town leaders and a major force in helping to inject some style and substance into this once squalid seaside neighborhood. The larger, more commercial Grand Hotel Rhodes is another successful example in this much improved, exceptionally popular tourist enclave.
Built in the early 1960s, this hotel is the northernmost operation on the island, and it boasts beautiful panoramas of the Aegean and of Turkey from its streetside cafe and front-room balconies. The spry-looking five-story chrome and jade-color glass building is a welcome beacon of style to many of those arriving by ferry at the nearby port.
The compact open-air lobby brings to mind South Beach, Miami, with its retro furnishings, lively piped-in hip-hop and dance music. The refurbished lobby impresses with its polished marble floor, comfortable seating and slick chrome-trimmed bar that opens out onto the street in high season and stays open late.
The sleek rattan- and chrome-furnished cafe dominates the sidewalk throughout the day, continuing to draw an in-crowd, often seen sipping Nes-frappes. It also serves salads, pasta and snacks. The enlarged dinner-only restaurant features traditional Greek and light international dishes. Hearty breakfast buffets are served up here each morning.
Sumptuous 
sapphire-blue sofas and jade-green wicker armchairs fill a trio of lounges, which provide more than ample space for relaxing indoors. One offers a built-in cherry bookcase filled with read-and-trade paperbacks, magazines and current periodicals, while another hosts a nightly pianist. Emerald-green tiles embellish a pair of structural pillars that rise from the bottom of the small but stylish pool. Tennis is nearby, and the beach across the road is public. Meeting space can accommodate up to 200, and parking is a self-service affair (good luck!).
The snappy contemporary digs offer average proportions but supply superior appointments and amenities: solid cherry furniture with blue and brown accents, plump armchairs or love seats, plush carpeting, marble-topped desks, brass swivel lamps and glass-top coffee tables, tiled floors, phones with voice mail, large TVs with movies, minibars, and good-sized tiled baths with hair dryers, magnifying mirrors, phone extensions and limited toiletries. Safes are lacking. Half of the rooms enjoy sea views, but all have nicely furnished balconies. Room service stops at 2 am at this year-round hotel.
Deep pockets are helping to turn this street back into the showplace it once was. The diligent, international, English-speaking staff is rightly proud of this fine middle-grade operation.
