Where to Stay in Rhodes — Old Town, Beaches & Lindos
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated August 2026
Rhodes gives you a complete medieval city and a proper beach holiday on the same island, and the only real decision is which one you want to wake up in. The Old Town is a walled, car-free UNESCO site of cobbled lanes and knights’ houses — wonderful to stay inside, and hard going underfoot. The New Town is flat, modern and ten minutes’ walk from the walls, with lifts, taxi ranks and the town beach. The west-coast strip at Ixia and Ialysos holds the big international resorts and catches the summer breeze; the sheltered east coast at Kallithea and Faliraki has calmer water. And Lindos, an hour south, is the prettiest village on the island and entirely stepped. Below are our picks by style, each with an honest note and a Book Me link straight to Trip.com.
Good to know before you book
Four practical things that decide where an older traveller should sleep on Rhodes.
Old Town cobbles and no cars
The medieval city is closed to vehicles on almost every lane, and the surfaces are worn cobble and pebble mosaic, often sloping and slippery when wet. Taxis can only drop you at a gate, and hotels move luggage the rest of the way by hand cart. Wear closed shoes with grip. If walking is difficult, stay in the New Town instead — it is flat and lift-served, with the walls ten minutes away.
Lindos is beautiful, and it is all steps
Lindos village is entirely pedestrian: you are dropped above it and walk down and back up stepped, whitewashed alleys, and the acropolis is reached by a steep stepped path that is punishing in midday heat. Donkeys carry visitors part of the way but not to the summit, and many travellers now decline them on welfare grounds. If steps are a problem, admire the acropolis from the beach or from St Paul’s Bay, base yourself at Vlicha Bay just north, and visit the village early in the morning.
Which coast, and why it matters
Ixia and Ialysos face west and catch the summer meltemi, so the sea there is often lively and the beaches are pebbly — splendid for a breeze, less so for swimming. Kallithea, Faliraki and Lindos on the east coast are sheltered and noticeably calmer, which matters if you actually want to get in the water. Both sides are twenty to thirty minutes from the Old Town by taxi or bus.
Fly rather than sail, and go in the shoulder season
Athens to Rhodes takes about an hour with many daily departures; the ferry from Piraeus takes eleven to fifteen hours, usually overnight, which is a long haul with luggage. May, early June, September and the first half of October give warm sea, temperatures in the seventies and eighties, thinner crowds and materially lower rates. Many resorts close for the winter and run roughly April or May to October.
Luxury
One in town with lifts and level ground, one hand-built above the sea at Lindos.
Rodos Park Suites & Spa
A seventy-five-room five-star set in gardens on the quiet edge of the New Town, a five-minute level stroll from the Old Town walls, with a heated pool, a full spa and a rooftop bar. It is polished rather than showy, and — the part that matters here — there are lifts throughout, level ground at the door and taxis able to pull right up. Best for travellers who want proper five-star comfort and city sightseeing without a resort’s isolation or a climb home.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Melenos Art Boutique Hotel
Twelve hand-crafted suites above St Paul’s Bay, built in traditional Lindian and Moorish style with pebble-mosaic terraces, carved wood and a garden restaurant looking straight at the acropolis. It is a genuine one-off — museum-quality decoration, an à la carte breakfast, and staff who have run the place for years. Be clear-eyed about access: Lindos is car-free and the hotel is reached on foot up stepped whitewashed lanes, though an electric buggy runs from the village car park for a small daily charge.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Boutique
Inside the walls, in buildings six and seven hundred years old. Both are reached across cobbles.
S. Nikolis Historic Boutique Hotel
A fourteenth-century stone house — parts of it standing on the ancient agora — run as a hotel by the same family since 1980, with beamed rooms, a bar built around an eight-hundred-year-old fireplace and a roof garden over the rooftops. It is warm, personal and blessedly quiet at night, the sort of place where the staff remember your name by the second day. The approach is a sloping cobbled lane closed to cars, so pack light or accept help with the bags.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Kókkini Porta Rossa
Six individually designed suites inside a knight’s residence beside the Red Door gate, with courtyards, a plunge pool, a serious multi-course breakfast and owners who host rather than merely check you in. It holds a Michelin Key and a rare perfect score across hundreds of guest reviews, and complimentary airport transfers spare you the taxi negotiation. The Old Town setting means a few hundred yards of worn, uneven cobbles from the gate to the door, so it suits sure-footed travellers; small pets are accepted by arrangement.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Budget & Value
Both are genuinely inexpensive and genuinely well liked. The first is flat; the second is inside the walls.
Hotel Anastasia
A restored 1930s Italian-era mansion with high ceilings, tiled floors and a shady garden where breakfast is served among the resident cats and a tortoise. Rooms are simple and airy rather than luxurious, but the place is spotless and rated very highly by well over a thousand guests. It is flat, level walking to both Elli beach and the Old Town gates, which makes it a sensible base for anyone who would rather not climb anything on holiday.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Evdokia Hotel
A small, family-run hotel tucked into a residential corner of the medieval city, best known for the owner cooking Greek omelettes at an organic homemade breakfast. Rooms are modest and comfortable with air conditioning and a fridge; the value lies in the hospitality and the address rather than in the fittings. One of the friendliest inexpensive beds inside the walls — but the approach is cobbled and car-free, so ask the hotel to meet you at the nearest gate with a luggage cart.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Family-friendly
Rhodes does the big all-inclusive family resort very well, and Faliraki is where most of them are.
Amada Colossos Resort
A large five-star ultra-all-inclusive resort on a quarter-mile of Blue Flag beach, with a five-slide waterpark, a very long pool, family zones and a wellness spa for the grown-ups. It is designed so that three generations can holiday together without anyone having to organise anything — meals, drinks and entertainment are all included, and the grounds are flat with lifts. Ideal when grandparents want a shaded lounger and a proper coffee while the children exhaust themselves fifty yards away.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Esperides Beach Family Resort
A large four-star all-inclusive on its own sandy-shingle beach, with three water slides, a mini club, a playground, a baby pool and a daytime activities team. It is unpretentious and genuinely family-geared, and is consistently praised for how clean it is kept. One honest caveat: some rooms are dated and several guests mention firm or tired mattresses, so it is worth paying up for a renovated room if your back is particular.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Adults-only
Both sit just outside Lindos, on the calm east coast. Both are terraced down a slope — ask for a lift-served level when you book.
Lindos Blu Luxury Hotel & Suites — Adults Only
A five-star adults-only hotel terraced above Vlicha Bay with three pools including an indoor one, a spa, two restaurants and a private beach served by a buggy. It is quiet by design — no children, no organised entertainment, just the sea and long lunches — and it is consistently ranked the best hotel in the Lindos area. The hillside setting means levels, but there are lifts and the beach buggy; ask for a room on a lift-served floor, and use taxis for the short hop into the village.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Aquagrand Artistic Luxury Beach Resort — Adults Only
A five-star adults-only resort set directly on the seafront at Navarone Bay, with a spa, several bars and a good number of suites that have their own private pool. It was renamed in recent seasons, so book under the current name and expect to see older listings under the previous one. The resort steps down a slope to the water — handsome to look at, more effort to walk — so request a room near the lifts or on an upper, road-level tier.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Pet-friendly
Two hotels that genuinely welcome small dogs. Both have weight limits, so confirm yours with the hotel before you travel.
In Camera Art Boutique Hotel
A tiny photography-themed boutique hotel in a medieval stone house, with arches, beamed ceilings, excellent beds, an outdoor hot tub and a generous included breakfast. It is one of the highest-rated addresses in Rhodes Town, and small dogs are welcomed under the published policy. It sits inside the car-free walls, so the last stretch is cobbled and uneven — fine for a small dog on a lead, harder with wheeled suitcases.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Bellevue On The Beach Suites
Thirteen luxury suites — one of them a converted windmill — on the New Town seafront, with an outdoor pool, a heated indoor rooftop pool, a restaurant and breakfast included. Small dogs up to about seven kilos are welcomed with their own amenities, and the setting is flat, paved and easy: the beach is across the road and the Old Town gates are a level walk away. It suits couples who want quiet comfort, a lift, and the dog under the table at breakfast.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Beachfront
One on the breezy west coast, one on the sheltered east — the difference in the swimming is considerable.
Sheraton Rhodes Resort
A recently refreshed four-hundred-room Marriott resort on the Ixia strip with its own beach, three outdoor pools, an indoor pool in the spa, and six places to eat and drink. For American travellers it is the reassuring choice — familiar standards, English spoken everywhere, lifts and level paths throughout, and the Old Town just a few miles away by taxi or bus. Do note that Ixia faces west and catches the summer breeze, so the sea can be lively and the beach is pebbly rather than powder-soft.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Elysium Resort & Spa
A five-star resort with direct access to a quarter-mile Blue Flag beach on the sheltered east coast, plus two lagoon-style pools and a large spa. The east-coast position means noticeably calmer swimming than the Ixia side, which matters a great deal if you actually intend to get in the water. It takes families but is not a waterpark resort, so the tone stays restful — a good middle ground for older couples travelling with grown-up children.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Spa & Pool
Two large, flat, lift-served resorts where the pools and the treatment rooms are the main event.
Atrium Platinum Luxury Resort Hotel & Spa
A three-hundred-room five-star on Ixia Bay with a full spa and steam room, several large pools with drinks ordered to your lounger, four à la carte restaurants and direct beach access. It has an unusually consistent record for a resort of this size, sitting at or near the top of the island’s rankings across thousands of reviews. All-inclusive plans are available and the grounds are flat and lift-served, though extras beyond the package are priced firmly.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Kresten Royal Euphoria Resort
A resort of some two hundred and fifty rooms above its own pebble beach at Kallithea, with a full-service spa — massages, wraps, facials, sound baths — a saltwater pool, an upper pool and some rooms with a private pool. There is no children’s club, so the atmosphere leans to couples and quiet rather than boisterous. Book under the current name, since older brochures still use the previous one, and pack water shoes: the beach is shale and shelves quickly.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Rhodes Hotels — common questions
Should I stay in Rhodes Old Town or the New Town?
The Old Town is a walled medieval city and staying inside it is a real pleasure — but it is closed to cars, the lanes are worn cobble and pebble mosaic, often sloping and slippery when wet, and hotels move luggage by hand cart from the nearest gate. The New Town is flat, modern and lift-served, with taxi ranks, the town beach and a ten-minute level walk to the walls. If walking is at all difficult, choose the New Town and visit the Old Town on foot during the day.
How hard is Lindos to get around?
Harder than the photographs suggest. The village is entirely pedestrian: you are dropped above it and walk down and back up stepped, whitewashed alleys, and the acropolis is reached by a steep stepped path that is punishing in the midday heat. Donkeys carry visitors part of the way but not to the summit, and many travellers now decline them on welfare grounds. If steps are a problem, view the acropolis from the beach or from St Paul’s Bay, stay at Vlicha Bay just north of the village, and go early in the morning before the heat and the coaches.
Which side of Rhodes has the better beaches?
It depends what you want. The west coast at Ixia and Ialysos faces the summer meltemi wind, so it is breezy and the sea is often lively, with pebbly beaches — splendid if you want a cooling wind, less so if you want to swim. The east coast at Kallithea, Faliraki and Lindos is sheltered and noticeably calmer, and the sand is better. Both coasts are twenty to thirty minutes from the Old Town by taxi or bus, so you are not cut off either way.
Should I fly or take the ferry from Athens to Rhodes?
Fly. Athens to Rhodes takes about an hour and there are many daily departures. The ferry from Piraeus runs most days but takes eleven to fifteen hours, usually as an overnight crossing, which is a long haul with luggage unless you book a cabin. Rhodes airport is on the west coast, twenty to thirty minutes from Rhodes Town and Ixia, and about an hour from Lindos.
Were the Rhodes wildfires a problem, and is the island recovered?
The 2023 wildfires affected parts of the southern and eastern interior around Kiotari, Gennadi, Lardos and Laerma. Lindos was evacuated as a precaution but was not burned. The main resort areas, including Lindos, Kiotari and Lardos, have been operating normally since, and none of the hotels on this page sits in the affected area. As always, check current conditions before you travel in high summer.
When is the best time to visit Rhodes?
May, early June, September and the first half of October give warm sea, temperatures in the seventies and eighties Fahrenheit, thinner crowds and materially lower room rates. August brings heat above ninety, peak prices and the busiest beaches, and it is also the height of the meltemi wind, which makes the west coast breezy and choppy while the east coast stays calmer. Note that many resorts close for the winter and run roughly from April or May to October.
Don’t see your perfect fit?
Browse every hotel with live prices and availability on Trip.com. Booking through our links supports Destinations Guild at no extra cost to you.
The Greece Guide ›
The whole country in one chapter — Athens, the Cyclades, Crete, the Dodecanese and the mainland.
Best Time to Visit Greece ›
Month by month on weather, crowds, prices and which islands are open when.
Where to Stay in Athens ›
Which neighbourhood suits which traveller, and how to reach the city from the airport.