It seems that people either love or hate this hotel. Myself, I loved it! True, it is situated a bit outside the town but that simply means it is away from traffic (not that there's a great deal of that, and retains much of its charm.
The hotel appears to have been recently enlarged with new rooms being built at the side. We were fortunate to stay in one of these new rooms. They were very nice with a balcony and fantastic views across Petra bay. The only downside to the room was the small bathroom with only primitive shower facilities, which was not 5 star luxury but, then, you will not find that anywhere on the island.
The hotel is still family run and the family are all very friendly and welcoming. The food is good, perhaps a little too 'english' for my tastes (I prefer to sample local food when abroad) and drinks, though more expensive than in town, are still cheap.
The pool is great, one of the biggest pools I've seen in a small hotel.
Linen is only changed twice a week. Again, not luxury but acceptable.
The hotel is built into the side of a hill and is down a dirt track some fifteen minutes walk from the town centre but only a couple of minutes from the quiet beach and the small harbour. The hillside location offers lovely views across the bay. It is not certain how long the track will remain unkempt as there is new building going on along the side of it. The walk up to your room is quite an exercise, possibly not ideal for the disabled.
The grounds of the hotel are well kept and look lovely with all the flowers in bloom. For a quiet, friendly hotel with great views .. you cannot beat it!

I KNOW the Panorama is really popular with 'regulars' but I think I should just say that not everyone finds it quite so perfect.

We went there for the first (and last) time last September. We'd stayed in Petra several times before. We love this part of Lesvos. In June we'd even walked up to the north of the village one day to see what the Panorama was like. It looked great, the girl working behind the bar was really nice - although she warned us she wouldn't be there in September, people seemed to be enjoying themselves and we looked forward to our stay.

I'm sure the Panorama is a great place if you like hotels. We don't and went there self-catering. If you like and use all their facilities it is probably a much better experience too; they seem to treat their guests well. The impression we got though was that because we were self-catering, didn't use their dining room once in the whole two weeks and didn't spend our days drinking round the pool... we weren't 'real' guests. I know it was the end of the season and people get tired but several times staff came across as downright rude.

I cannot comment on the food but heard no complaints. We don't go self-catering to save money. The only reason we never ate there was that we are vegetarians and normal Greek food is pefect for us. We also know a dozen places down the road in the village we know and like to eat dinner. We do like breakfasts though and it was annoying to have to go and buy a frying pan because there wasn't one.

When a young mum found a large scorpion in her room I was quite shocked about how blase they were about it. Yes, the ones on Lesvos are not going to kill you but the sting is very painful and I have no idea how serious it could have been if it had stung her baby. Another couple were plonked in a nasty room with a view of a wall and they refused to move them. Customer-service is a bit difficult when the management think they are always right and the customer is always wrong. Perhaps it is less hassle not to complain about ANYTHING.

Last year the self-catered rooms were at the very top of the 'complex'. (I got the impression they might not be this year though.) Beautiful views (and they are) don't make up for everything though. The icing on the cake was the earth-moving equipment that rolled in during the second week and started to level the ground for a new part of the hotel. Now perhaps that was the only time the builders were available... or perhaps the owners simply didn't care. What do I know? What I do know is that it ruined things for a few people who turned up in our second week and had come out one week of peace and quiet.

We selected this hotel as it had good reviews and Petra seemed to match our requirement for a typical Greek resort.
The location of this hotel is not great, slightly out of town down a dusty dirt road off the busy main Petra to Molyvos road.

The entrance, reception, pool, bar and restaurant are on the ground floor and rooms spread up the steep hillside.
A very nice setting when you first arrive.

Sadly our experience of this hotel was not the same as others. We arrived with a number of other guests on our transfer coach from the airport, the rep droped us off and left.

The hotel is family run, Mum, Dad and two adult sons from what I could tell.
One of the sons made a welcome announcement and issued keys to guests.
We had booked a Twin room with balcony, this is a very important part of our holiday as we like to spend time siting on the balcony before going out.
When we reached our room we had been given a dark Double beded room facing the noisy and smelly kitchen extractor fans, the rubbish bins and back wall of the kitchen and to add to the heat of the day the room was carpeted in a dirty thick cream (we think) shag pile carpet.
Having felt there had been a mistake we went back to reception to ask for a different room.

Again one of the sons was at reception, he was extremly rude and dismissive saying the hotel was fully booked and he could do nothing. We showed him our booking details confirming our room type which we booked 7 months in advance but he did not want to know.
At this point we were not prepared to argue so we called the tour operators help line and explained the situation, they said they would send a rep to sort out our problem.
When I told reception that the rep was coming he produced a key for the room type that we had booked. He made comments in Greek to his Mother and father which we knew were about us by the the distasteful looks and tutting they gave us. For this reason we felt very unwelcome and never went to breakfast or the pool area for the whole of our holiday.
When the rep arrived he explained that First Choice holidays had not contracted the lower double bedded rooms and they should not be allocated to their guests.
Our second room was very nice, clean with a very basic shower room, TV, air conditioning which we paid extra and a balcony with lovely views of Petra.
It was however situated at the top row of rooms high up the steep hillside. As the days went by in the hot sun this hill got more and more tiring to climb. We are both able bodied people so if you have any walking difficulties however small DO NOT stay here.

The immediate area of the hotel is quiet until the Hi-De-Hi announcements start on the public address speakers within the hotel. This gave us a laugh for the first days but soon wore thin.

Be careful on the walk into town, at the top of the hotels dirt road you cross the main Petra to Molyvos road, it is very busy and you cross on a bend. When we were there we saw 2 accidents were a car and a motorbike did not slow down and hit the wooden speed barriers which protect pedestrians on the pavement.

The beach at this point was mainly used by locals however it was clean and close to the hotel if you can stand the road noise.

Its a bland 15-20 minute walk into Petra where there is plenty of Tavernas along the beach road and within the old town. Food was good and authentic and prices similar to other islands.

We hired a car and explored the island, well worth doing as the island contrasts considerbly, Molyvos at night is beautiful however do not leave it too late to eat, plenty of seafood restaurants around the harbour too.

All in all we enjoyed our trip to Lesbos however we would not stay or recomend the Hotel Panorama, there are better locations and friendlier establishments to stay in.

My partner and I stayed at the Panorama Hotel for two weeks in September. We were in a self-catering apartment - there's only one, and please note that it is located at the top of a steep hill - and enjoyed terrific views over a bay and watched beautiful sunsets almost every night.

The hotel is owned by a family and therefore is relaxed and friendly. The pool area is nice, though I found it particularly quiet.

The cleanliness of this hotel is second to none and the maid service is exceptional.

The area of Petra is typically Greek - friendly, laid back locals who, on more than one occasion, displayed superb friendliness.

The Panorma Hotel is, without doubt, good value for money, and is probably the best hotel in Petra. There were many repeat guests, which says it all.

My only criticism, is that the hill on which the apartments are located, is steep, and so elderly or disabled guests found this a daily difficulty ,and, in particular, arriving and leaving with suitcases proved hard. That said, no hill equals no view, and so, provided that you are aware of this, then it's ok.

My advice is take a travel kettle, your favourite tea bags (although coffee is plentiful and reasonably priced in the local supermarket) and a corkscrew.

I have travelled to five other Greek Islands and this was the best, especially because restaurants are plentiful and extremely cheap, the resort of Molyvos is a delight, and car hire was very cheap. We paid just 100 euros (about £67) for four days and fuel is a third cheaper than the UK. DO NOT book car hire through your rep - a fellow guest paid 55 euros for one day, under the impression (told to him by the rep) that it was cheap and secure. Go to Antony's, just before the main Petra Square. He was friendly, the price was the cheapest on the island, and the car was fantastic.

Oh, and for smokers, it is a haven, at just 2.60 euros for a packet of twenty. You may bring back 3,200 duty paid.

We had a fabulous 2 weeks and would return sometime in the future. This is a wonderful resort for those wanting to experience Greek culture, affordably priced and with an appetite for good food. The resort of Erossos is worth the drive, as it's a real chill out resort.

In one word - beautiful.

Jayne