I am looking around for my 2006 holiday - honestly!! (I like to plan ahead and grab any free kids places available) I really fancy staying at Mythos Apartments. Unfortunately I cannot find which tour operators use Mythos Apartments.I'm sure someone can help me out?

Thanks Lynne & Paul,

I've just booked a 2 bedroom apartment for August 2006. Hope you have a good holiday in September

I'll start with the down side -  Thomas Cook Rep JODIE BALL, a complete and utter waste of time and effort, she is only interested in making commission on over priced excursions. (See my Thomas Cook Comments)

The Mythos Apartments are a well run family business, the owner his wife and the bar staff (Costa, Costa & Bill). These people are your main contacts for everything - especially the bar staff who offer help and advice on everything you will require whilst in Kos.

We stayed in a 2 bedroomed apartment, the rooms are adequate with the luxury of a bath and a shower curtain (frequent visitors to Greece will know what I mean), each room has a free safety box to keep your money, passports etc. Air conditioning is extra at 12Euro per day, I think it is cheaper for 1 bedroom apartments; we were there for the last 2 weeks in August and with temperatures in the 40C+ (45C one day) it was a relief to get out of the heat for a few hours.

The pool could get a little crowded, but nothing to unbearable (the new additional apartments being built may cause overcrowding in 2007), it is easy toescape to the beach which is only a 3 minute stroll away.

There is no family entertainment at all - except for pool tables at 1 euro a go, if like me you have a couple of teenagers in tow; you will get fed up of "I'm bored", "Can I have some Euro's for the pool table". We found no family entertainment in Tingaki at all - except for kareoke - but I did say family entertainment?? The evening barman Bill (Candian Greek) is an absolute star; who keeps everyone entertained. When I was half eaten by mosquitoes, he got cream and antibiotics for me, he would not take any money for this deed (TC Rep!!Jodie Ball's help, was to tell me where to find a chemist in Kos Town???)

To summarise, I would thoroughly recommend the Mythos Apartments  to families and couples, the staff make the complex and not Thomas Cook. My other advice is to hire a jeep and get out into the mountains or the secluded beaches; which are out there, you just have to take a chance down any dirt track - mind you there is a lot of military activity in the mountains, we found some of the roads ended at military zones, all part of the holiday experience!!

We stayed in Tingaki and hired a jeep for 9 days, therefore we visited Zia quite a few times; we also took the excursions for the sunset and the Greek Night (Fantastic Evenings Entertainment and plenty of food and drink). The Sunset at Zia can be very good; providing there is no haze, everybody congregates on the bend at the bottom of Zia to view the sunset. The restaurants on the bend offer the best views whilst having a meal, we found the food in these restaurants to be alright but nothing special - you pay for the exceptional view.

For authentic Greek food in Zia, I (like Ian Storey) recommend the Olympic Tavern; this Restaurant is at the top end of Zia on the back road up to the village houses. We ate here 3 times and had excellent meals along with a warm and friendly greeting/service from the owner. On the 3 occasions we ate here we were the only British family in the restaurant, the place was full of Greeks (which said it all), we tried Rabbit Stifado, Roast Goat (only served Saturday night & Sunday Lunch), Wild Boar & Doe all of which were excellent. The owner went out of his way to make us welcome and the memory of watching the Greek Families dancing during their Sunday Lunch is something we will always remember from our holiday. After every meal, the owner insists on giving you a free drink, this is where I discovered the delights of cinnamon cordial, not to everyone’s taste, but I brought a bottle home (3 euro).

Zia itself is one main street with another street going up to the church & water wheel. There are a lot of shops/stalls selling lace, pottery, rugs/mats, olive oil, honey, soaps etc. We bought local thyme honey and olive oil, all of which are extremely good quality; we bought local goods in plain bottles/jars without the fancy labels (some of the honey & oil on sale comes mass produced from Rhodes - in bottles/jars with fancy labels and designs). Generally, prices on the main street are slightly higher than the side street so shop around to get the best bargains.

If you don't do any other trips visited Zia for the authentic Greek experience.