Castelli Hotel-Adults Only

You get an adults-only base in Agios Sostis, the quieter part of Laganas, with the pool, bar and veranda arranged around the sort of easy rhythm that suits a diving holiday. Come back, shower, find a sunbed and decide whether the evening requires food first or a cocktail first. A difficult choice, but at least it is a pleasant one.

The hotel has 78 rooms and an English-speaking team, so you can deal with the practical details in English from the start. The atmosphere is built for adults rather than families, with a pool featuring hydromassage, complimentary sun loungers and umbrellas, and outdoor spaces for sitting without having to leave the property.

Couples will find the setting particularly straightforward: the beach is close, the pool bar is on hand, and the surrounding area gives you places to walk to when staying in feels too much like an admission of defeat.

The hotel sits in Agios Sostis, in Laganas, Greece, on the southern side of Zakynthos. The beach is roughly 0.03 miles away, so you can reach the golden sand on foot rather than organising your day around a transfer. Laganas Beach is about 0.2 miles away in the hotel description and stretches for 9 km, making it one of the longer sandy beaches in the Mediterranean.

Agios Sostis Beach is about 0.8 miles away, while Cameo Island Beach is around 0.7 miles away on foot. Koukla Beach is roughly 0.8 miles away by the practical driving distance provided. The nearby coastline is therefore useful for more than one post-dive stroll, although the distances do not all describe the same route.

For food and drinks outside the hotel, Oasis - Harbor House is about 0.2 miles away. Life's A Beach Zante and Sabotage & Aussies Zante are around 0.7 miles away on foot, while Blue Horizon is roughly 0.8 miles away by road. Keri Lake is about 2.9 miles away, and the Zakynthos International Airport is around 2.6 miles away by road.

The rooms are light in colour, with wooden furniture, air conditioning and a balcony or terrace. Depending on the room, you look towards olive groves and the hill, or across the pool towards the sea horizon. That gives you a useful choice: a more land-facing outlook for a quieter start, or a pool-and-sea view when the view matters as much as the bed.

For a couple, the Double Room is the simple choice, with a large king-size bed and the basics needed for a night between dives. If you need more room to spread out, the Deluxe Double Room adds a sofa bed and a little more breathing space. The Superior Swim Up Rooms are the ones to consider if stepping straight towards the pool matters more than having the largest room.

Each room has a private bathroom with a shower or bath, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer. A wardrobe, clothes rack, drying rack, electric kettle, tea and coffee facilities, minibar and flat-screen TV cover the practical end of the stay. Daily housekeeping keeps the room ready for the next return from the water, while free WiFi is available throughout the hotel.

The balcony or terrace is where the room earns its keep after the dive: somewhere to sit with a drink, let the day cool down and watch the light move over the garden, hill or pool. Upper floors are reached by stairs only, worth bearing in mind if knees and luggage are no longer on speaking terms.

The main restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in an air-conditioned indoor setting, with international dishes rather than a narrow single-cuisine menu. Half-board is the stated arrangement, which keeps the evening meal conveniently on site while leaving you free to explore Zakynthos at lunchtime.

Breakfast is a buffet served from 7:30 to 10:00. The choice covers continental, Full English/Irish, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, so early risers and people who regard breakfast as a serious meal should both find a workable starting point. Breakfast can also be taken in your room.

The Pool Bar sits beside the outdoor pool and handles cocktails and snacks. The daytime snack bar adds traditional Greek snacks and refreshing drinks, useful when the proper meal still feels too far away after a long morning. There is also a coffee house on site, and all-inclusive guests can receive a complimentary meal at the outdoor Eucalyptos restaurant when weather allows.

The outdoor pool is the obvious landing place for a non-diving afternoon. It is surrounded by sun loungers and umbrellas, includes hydromassage and has a bar in the pool area. Pool and beach towels are available, so you can move between water and shade without turning your room into a damp-towel archive.

If your muscles want more than a horizontal afternoon, the hotel offers fitness classes, aerobics, yoga classes and a personal trainer. Wellness facilities include a hot tub or Jacuzzi, a relaxation area, body treatments, facials, manicures, pedicures, hair treatments and massage. Massage carries an additional charge, while the other treatments give you several ways to spend an afternoon without putting on fins.

Evenings can stay on site with live music, entertainment, themed dinner nights, karaoke, darts or televised live sport. A cooking class and a class about local culture offer something more structured, while bicycle hire, cycling, hiking, horse riding, canoeing, fishing and snorkelling are available through activities listed for the wider area. The hotel can also help with tours through its tour desk.

Zakynthos International Airport is about 2.6 miles away by road, making the arrival relatively short. An airport shuttle is available, and a separate shuttle service can be arranged. Car hire is also available if you want to reach beaches and places beyond Laganas without waiting for someone else's timetable.

Check-in runs from 15:00 to midnight, and check-out from 08:00 to 11:00. The front desk operates around the clock, with private and express check-in and check-out, luggage storage, concierge support, currency exchange and a tour desk. That combination is useful when your flight and your room timetable refuse to cooperate.

Private parking is available on site without reservation, and WiFi is free throughout the hotel. The property accepts cash payments. The hotel is adults-only: guests must be at least 18 to check in, and children are not accommodated. Non-smoking rooms, air conditioning, heating, a safety deposit box and wake-up service cover the less glamorous but genuinely useful details.