My wife and I stayed at the Brother's Hotel in mid-June 2008 as part of a four week European trip... I had been to Ios about 8 years earlier (during the height of summer) but in the second week of June things are still relatively serene on the island.

Anyway, after an arduous overnight ferry from Athens (unsolicited advice: don't EVER do an overnight ferry... just book a hotel and take a hydrofoil or cat the next morning) Nicky - the owner - personally picked us up at the port at 5 in the morning -- even though the hotel is technically within walking distance of the port. He let us right into our room so we could crash... no paperwork, or mucking about, which was much appreciated. Although the rooms are spartan, they are absolutely spotless. Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool (which was just put in last year and is one of the nicest on the island). The A/C worked great, the beds were no worse than any others in Greece and the room was quite spacious. I was shocked when Nicky told me that the hotel had been built more than two decades ago! (Obviously it has been updated since then, and as far as I can tell all the rooms are just as good as ours was).

The best part about the hotel is the family that runs it, and within a few hours of waking up and hanging out by the pool and chatting with some other visitors and Mrs. Nicky, we decided to change our plans and stay an extra day. (Mind you, this is before my wife had even seen any of the island or visited the main town!). Brother's would be a great vacation spot even if you just hung out by the pool or strolled to the (tiny) nearby beach or the few restaurants by the port.

The only caveat is that this place is located down near the port, so you will need to take the bus (there's only one bus line, and three bus stops on the island, so it isn't hard to find) into town at night -- I do not suggest you walk, as it's dark and dangerous going up the only road on the island! But you can get a cab back to the hotel after a night of debauchery in town for only 5 euro, and then you're away from the mayhem when you're trying to sleep.

We have stayed in probably 40-50 hotels over the last few years and this is by far the friendliest. It might not be the best choice if you are 19 and looking for love in Ios during the August crush, but if you're a little older and wiser (but still want to have a comfortable place to crash as the sun comes up) this is the best place in all of Greece, much less Ios. We will be going back next year if we can find the time and money, and we'll try and get our friends to go... and since this place is away from the mayhem you could bring along young children -- it's a safe area for kids to hang out, since on an island of 1500 people (in the off-season at least), where are they gonna go? Very highly recommended.