Potam · Himarë · Albania
Over the grove, the town, the bay
Koks’ Guesthouse stands in a working olive grove above Potam, on the hill side of the coast road. The grove fills the whole foreground from a balcony here, and Himarë reads off in bands beyond it — the road, the roofs, the bay, and the ridge behind the town.
Where it puts you
Potam is the southern quarter of Himarë, and the house is about 1.4 kilometres from the centre of town in a straight line — nearer two by road, along Rruga Vangjel Zoto, which is the coast road here. Potami Beach is downhill through the olives and across that road, about 350 metres away in a straight line, with Prinos and Maraçi the next two coves along the same shore.
The house has no street number and no sign on it. What it has instead is a plus code, 3QV5+FJ, which drops a pin on a square roughly 14 metres by 11 — the building and its parking, and not much else. How to use it.
The approach
Off the road, under the trees, up the stair
You turn off the coast road onto a dirt apron shaded by old olives, park under them, and come up past a flagstone wall planted with geraniums. The ground-floor rooms open straight onto their own screened terraces at that level; the rest are reached by the outside stair at the back of the block.
The balconies
A table, a rail, and the whole bay
Four of the seven types open onto a private balcony with a table and chairs on it. Two of those are sold with the sea in the view; the outlooks named for the others are the garden, the inner courtyard and the mountains behind the town, and two of the seven are sold with no view named at all.
The rooms
Seven types, and two near-twins
The doubles were built in 2022; the triples and the quadruple were renovated in 2019. They run from eighteen square metres up to twenty-five, plain inside — white or warm grey walls, tiled floors — all with air conditioning, a private bathroom and a flat-screen television.
- 20 m²Deluxe Double Room with Balcony and Sea View1 large double bed · Sleeps 2
- 20 m²Deluxe Room1 large double bed · Sleeps 2
- 20 m²Deluxe Triple Room with Sea View1 double bed and 1 single bed · Sleeps 3
- 20 m²Triple Room with Balcony1 large double bed and 1 single bed · Sleeps 3
- 20 m²Standard Triple Room1 large double bed and 1 single bed · Sleeps 3
- 25 m²Quadruple Room1 double bed and 2 single beds · Sleeps 4
- 18 m²Deluxe Queen Room1 large double bed · Sleeps 1
Before you come
Two things are worth knowing in advance: the house takes cash and not cards, and breakfast is served but charged apart from the room.
It is run by Theodora Kokavesi, and answered in Albanian, Greek, English and German.
- Check-in
- From 14:00 to 00:00
- Check-out
- From 08:00 until 11:00
- Payment
- Cash only — the house does not take cards
- Breakfast
- Continental or vegetarian, charged separately
- Quiet hours
- 14:00 to 17:00
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Smoking
- Not allowed indoors
- Languages
- Albanian, Greek, English, German
9.5
out of 10 on Booking.com — “Exceptional”
Guests score the staff highest of anything here. Read the reviews on Booking.com.
Questions
Where is Koks’ Guesthouse?
It is at Potam, the southern quarter of Himarë on the Albanian Riviera, on Rruga Vangjel Zoto — which is the coast road here — about 1.4 kilometres from the centre of Himarë in a straight line and about two by road. The house stands in an olive grove above the road, and the town and the bay are the view from its balconies.
How far is it from the beach?
Potami Beach is the nearest, about 350 metres from the house in a straight line, downhill through the olives and across the coast road. Prinos is the next cove along the same shore at about half a kilometre, and Maraçi the one after that, just under a kilometre.
Is there a sea view from the rooms?
From some of them. Two of the seven room types are sold with a sea view — the Deluxe Double with Balcony and Sea View, and the Deluxe Triple with Sea View. The outlooks named for the others are the garden, the inner courtyard and the mountains behind the town, and two of the seven are sold with no view named at all.
Does the room rate include breakfast?
No. Breakfast is served and is charged separately from the room, in continental and vegetarian versions. Rates for both the room and the breakfast are live on Booking.com.
Can I pay by card?
No. Koks’ Guesthouse takes cash only, so bring lek or euro for the stay itself. Reservations made through Booking.com are still made online in the usual way; it is the payment at the house that is cash.
What time is check-in and check-out?
Check-in runs from 14:00 until midnight, and check-out is from 08:00 until 11:00. Check-in and check-out can both be done privately or express, and luggage can be left at the house on either side of a stay.
Is there parking?
Yes, free and private, on the olive-shaded apron in front of the house, and no reservation is needed for it.
What languages do the hosts speak?
Albanian, Greek, English and German. The house is run by Theodora Kokavesi. The number to call it on is a Greek mobile, +30 697 437 6174, which is the right one to dial from anywhere — Himarë has a long-standing Greek-speaking community.