Milos has decided it’s done being the shy Cycladic cousin and has gone full main-character mode. Suddenly it’s everywhere: on your Instagram feed, in your friend’s “I’m thinking of going to Greece” WhatsApp message, and splashed across glossy travel magazines that say things like “Milos is the island of the moment” in the same tone they once used for açai bowls and Aperol spritz.
Honestly, the hype is well-deserved. Milos is what happens when someone takes Santorini, removes the cruise ship crowds, adds beaches that actually look like beaches and sprinkles in volcanic cliffs and lunar landscapes. It’s cinematic yet somehow still chilled; an island that feels both discovered and delightfully unbothered.
Which brings me to Golden Milos Beach House, a hotel happily surfing the island’s new cool-kid status without trying to reinvent the wheel. No gimmicks, no €30 cocktails. Just a genuinely good-looking, freshly polished hotel that knows its real selling points: a knockout location and a beach so golden it seems like someone went wild with the saturation slider.
Where?
Provatas Beach might just be the island’s most immediately “wow” setting and Golden Milos Beach House sits right on it. Bonus points for the fact that, unlike many Greek beaches, there are no dramatic cliffs to descend or awkward scrambles down dusty paths. It’s also blissfully close to civilisation: the port of Adamas is a breezy 15-minute drive away, and the airport is even closer. You get that “edge of the world” serenity without an actual odyssey to reach it, which my legs and suitcase both appreciated.
The hotel is slightly remote, though, so a car or quad is non-negotiable if you want to see more than your sunbed. And you should, because Firiplaka and Tsigrado, two of Milos’s superstar beaches, are within easy reach. Not that we rushed. On day one we made big, ambitious plans to explore. By day two those plans were sitting in the glove compartment while we rotated lazily between sea and pool like well-hydrated seals.
Facilities
For a relatively small hotel, Golden Milos Beach House is impressively stacked. There are three pools — one main pool with a wooden deck and loungers, an upper pool that feels like a retreat within a retreat, and a smaller plunge-style option that’s perfect when you just need to reset your core temperature before another iced coffee.
And then there’s the beach. The Salty Goat Beach Club manages the organised section, with neat rows of sunbeds and umbrellas and service right to your lounger. I became deeply committed to this lifestyle: iced coffees in the morning, spritzes in the afternoon, fresh fruit when I remembered I should probably eat something that wasn’t liquid.
There’s also a Wellness Garden where they do yoga at sunrise and sunset, plus massages and treatments in billowy cabanas that look like they were designed specifically for Instagram. On certain nights they do silent-disco parties on the beach and open-air cinema screenings. True to Milos form, there are no malls, no designer boutiques and no thumping nightclubs. Thank God.
Extracurricular
.jpeg)
You can spend your entire time rotating between bed, pool and beach and I fully support that lifestyle choice but Milos rewards a bit of exploration. From Provatas, you’re close to some of the island’s most theatrical beaches: Firiplaka with its red-and-white cliffs, Tsigrado with its slightly chaotic rope-and-ladder descent and the old sulphur mines for a dose of weird lunar history. And then, of course, there’s Sarakiniko, the island’s iconic moon beach. It is, quite frankly, unlike any beach I’ve ever been to — a chalk-white, otherworldly landscape that looks more like a movie set than the real world.
Day trips by boat around the island are practically mandatory, if only to see Kleftiko, a stunning beach that is only accessible by boat. But heed my strong recommendation and rent a self-drive boat instead of joining a tour. For around £150, the privacy is unmatched, and the freedom to stop wherever you want, swim when you feel like it, and discover coves at your own pace is the kind of holiday luxury no organised excursion can touch.
If you can drag yourself out in the evening, the hilltop town of Plaka is gorgeous for sunset, with alleys, little bars, and churches doing their best to hog the view. We tried to explore as much of the island as possible, and quickly realised Milos is full of surprises when it comes to food. One of the most memorable stops was Sirocco Volcanic Restaurant on Paleochori Beach, where everything is cooked under the sand using the island’s natural volcanic heat. It’s quite something to watch: the chef wrapping fresh fish in foil, digging a shallow pit, and then quite literally burying your dinner in the warm, smoking sand. The result tastes even better than the spectacle.
Style
Let me be clear: this is not one of those aggressively “conceptual” Greek hotels where the chairs have names and the lighting has feelings. Golden Milos Beach House keeps things blissfully sane. The design leans into a sunny, relaxed Mediterranean minimalism, think: whitewashed walls, sandy woods, natural textures, soft linens, nothing overthought. It feels like someone who actually likes holidays designed it.
The hotel recently had a full glow-up and you can tell. It’s compact (29 rooms) but airy, clean, and grown-up in that chic-but-effortless way with just enough white-on-white to feel editorial, not medical. It’s stylish but not screaming for attention, making it a refreshing change from the island’s sudden influx of “artisan cave suites” and plunge pools that seem to exist purely for Instagram.
Rooms
.jpeg)
There is only one rule: get the sea view. My room was an “Authentic Milos Sea View,” which is essentially design-speak for “prepare to gasp when you open the curtains.” The balcony quickly became our unofficial living room. Morning coffee, post-beach drying sessions, impromptu golden-hour photo shoots, nighttime stargazing — it was all happening out there. The bed was also pretty good. I slept like I’d been tranquillised and woke up determined to hunt down the mattress brand. That’s the sign of a truly successful hotel stay: when you leave wanting to recreate the entire sleep setup at home.
Food & Drink
Milos as a whole has become unexpectedly gastronomic. You’ll find “deconstructed tomato salads” in villages that previously specialised in grilled fish and beer, and half of Pollonia now resembles the cool part of Shoreditch in August. It’s no surprise that Golden Milos Beach House, too, has levelled up with style.
The main restaurant, Milisio, operates on a “Raw & Fire” concept: pristine ingredients either served cool and bright or grilled over heat. At breakfast it’s breezy and abundant; at dinner it becomes something far more polished. Think: crudo-style fish, smoky charred vegetables, beautifully cooked seafood, tender meats, all presented elegantly but without that pretentious “you’re not allowed to touch this yet” energy.
.jpeg)
What really elevates it is the wine. There’s a curated list that leans heavily on Greek bottles — Cycladic whites that are delicious, reds from the mainland that are light enough for summer evenings but structured enough to make you feel sophisticated — and the staff actually want to talk you through it rather than just pointing to the most expensive label. One night we did an impromptu mini-pairing: crisp Assyrtiko with something raw and citrusy to start, then a rounder white with grilled fish, and finally a slightly chilled light red with whatever slow-cooked deliciousness we’d over-ordered. Divine.
For more casual bites, Salty Goat Beach Club keeps you going with light dishes, pizzas, snacks and all the beach-club classics, from club sandwiches to salads. Meanwhile just along the beach, perched slightly above the sand, sits Muses, which is one of those proper, slightly scruffy, utterly authentic Greek tavernas that burrow into your heart (and stomach). Fresh fish on display, paper tablecloths, cats making their case for socialism at your feet and views straight over Provatas Bay. We went once “just to try it” and then went again. And again.
Best for…
This is not a “see and be seen” hotel. It’s a beach-first, explore-the-island-at-your-own-pace hotel.
