Kokkini Porta Rossa

Kokkini Porta Rossa

Walk through St John's Gate into Rhodes' Medieval Town and the first building you meet, 120 metres in, is a red door beneath a white roofed balcony: Kokkini Porta Rossa. The house dates to 1340, once home to the knight who commanded the Gate's garrison, later shared by Greek, Jewish and Turkish families before decades of ruin and a careful restoration. Six rooms across two floors make for the quiet stay the property promises rather than a hotel with a crowded lobby; the smallest room is a straightforward double or twin, the largest a 624-square-foot Grand Suite with its own sofa bed. One suite keeps a working fireplace, and several others add soundproofing and blackout blinds, details that matter more in a stone medieval building than in a modern one. The hotel is adults only and smoke-free throughout, which suits couples and solo travellers over families with young children. Cars cannot enter the walled town, so arrival means a licensed taxi or electric buggy to the doorstep, a small inconvenience that also keeps the street outside quiet. Staff speak English, Italian and German, and there is a doctor on call, a diving club, a chapel, a library and a picnic area for guests who want more than a courtyard. Pets travel too, for a deposit and a small per-stay fee. What no other hotel in this stretch of the Old Town can claim is the building itself: a 14th-century knight's residence still standing at the Gate, restored rather than rebuilt. Evenings settle around the bar and restaurant, coffee comes with a view over the city, and the walk to the Archaeological Museum and Street of Knights starts at the door. A restored 1340 knight's house at St John's Gate in Rhodes Old Town, adults only and smoke-free, with just six rooms and no cars allowed inside the walls. It suits couples and solo travellers chasing quiet and history over families and modern amenities.