rjbriskin

Day 4

Still in Crete we went to Krista, a small village outside of Elounda.This village is known for their embrodery. We took a taxi and had the driver wait for us as it is so small a village we weren't sure if we would be able to get a taxi back. We then had the driver drop us off in Elounda for lunch and shopping. We ate at a small restaurnat on the water The Ferryman Restaurant. Very good fresh fish and a lovely owner. We actually went back to Elounda that night to eat dinner at another fish restaurnat on the water-The Olondi Restaurant. Also very good but I think Ferryman was better. After walking/shopping around after dinner we went to Restaurant Megaro for coffee and dessert. The owner ended up sitting with us and treating us to after dinner drinks ( Homemade Raki) and actually drove us back to the hotel instead of us taking a taxi home. He drove usd to a small town past our hotel, Plaka, and showed us the reataurant his brother owned there. Very cute town and walking distance from our hotel.

Day 5

We rented motor scooters, thet were delivered to our hotel, and drove thtough Plaka and up the mountain where we had some incredible views to the top. At the top were these huge windmills. They were amazing to see. For dinner we decided to walk to Palka and had a great meal on the water at Captain Nicolas. Our waiter Simon was great and the food was great too.

Day 6

We took the hi speed Flying Cat ferry from Crete to Santorini. We had the travel agent get us business class tickets. Very little difference in price and I think worth it. It took about 2 hours and it was not rough at all. We arranged with the hotel to have a driver waiting for us. We stayed at Esperas in Oia at the recommendation of many people on this site. Our travel agent wanted us to stay at Perivolas. I insisted he check out Esperas. Esperas was half the price apprently so we went with it. They are very nice there and have this guy who carries your bags literally on his back. We nicknamed him Hercules, he always had a smile on his face. I must say that we did go to Perovalis to check it out. It appeared to be alot nicer than Esperas although we could not get into a room. The only real issue I had with Esperas is that they were stingy with their towels. They say if you leave dirty towels on the floor they will replace them. On several occassions thst did not happen. I had to ask for towels several times. Also some rooms are not as good as others. Our rooms 113 and 115 were great but 110 you don't want as we had to walk through their terrace to get to our rooms. We ate dinner at Espearss that night. We were the only people eating there. So we literally had our own terrace restaurant to ourselves. The food and waiter were great, not to mention the incredible view of the sunset from Esperas.

Day 7

We had the hotel arrange for us to go on the catamaran to the Nea Kameni volcanoe, hot springs in Palea Kameni and then to Thirassia for lunch. My husband and I took donkeys up to this small village that appeared to be uninhabited, although it wasn't, on the top of the mountain before we walked back down to have lunch at one of the small places on the water. The village on top was amazing to check out. We had dinner in Oia at Ambrosia. It was a small romantic restaurant that was very nice.

Day 8

We arranged for a convertible renatl car through Esperas that was delivered at 10:00 in the morning. We drove to the black beach in Perissa and then to Ancient Thira just to check it out briefly. On the way from there in Megalochori we stumbled on the Akron Art Center. We purchased a few hand painted replica ceramic pieces that were very nice. They recommended we stop at the Santos Winery. It was very nice and again a beautiful view from their terrace. We then went to Kamari and checked out their pebble beach and walked around and shopped a bit. It was a real happening young persons town. We then found Art Space which was recommended on Matt Barrett's site. It is a combination winery and art gallery. The owner showed us around. It was truly amazing. Our friends bought a painting and we bought a sculpture. There were several artist's works represented there. On our way back to Esperas we stopped at the Sigalas Winery. Don't bother it was a waste of time.We did have a little problem with the car rental guy. After taking the additional insurance he indiated that there were small scratches on the side of the car. After a few words he agreed to not charge us. We never did see any scratches but were a little confused as we took the additional insurance in any case. As it turns out the car rental guy was new in the business and a friend of the owners of Esperas. We weren't thrilled with that episode. That night we drove into Thira and had our best dinner at Koukoumavios. It was truly amazing. After dinner we walked around the shops in Thira. We couldn't believe the action that was going on there compared to the village in Oia. I was very glad we made the decision to stay in Oia and not in Fira.

Day 9

On our last day in Santorini we decided to relax by the pool and have massages. We had an amazing masseuse who travels to the various hotels. Her name is Phenix and her number is 22860-714 74 / 6979077060. I highly recommend her. That night we ate at Karma, an Asian cuisine that is off the main road in Oia. It was very good. For dessert we went to MeAevio on the main road. Also very good. My friendd and I bought beautiful handmade jewelry at Annassa on the main road. He had beautiful things.

Day 10

We had to get picked up at 5:45 in the morning to catch our flight back to Athens.Hercules was there bright and early with a smile on to carry our bags up the long windy steps. Jordan was at the airport waiting for us in Athens to transfer us to our hotel and for a day of touring. We were a lilttle upset that we were scheduled to stay at the Grand Bretagne with an Acropolis view and dinner on their rooftop for a small fortune when I knew we were going to be out all day and just sleeping for a few hours before we had to head to the airport again. Jordan recommended a hotel called the Athens Imperial. It was close to the Grand Bretagne but was 1/3 the price( with an Acropolis view) and included breakfast which the Grand Bretagne did not. So luckily we were able to make the switch with no penalty. We had a VERY long day of touring to Palopenese with Jordan. We first stopped at the Corinthian Canal, then on to the Cornith, then to Nemea. Jordan knew of a winery near there that had great wines called Palivou Estates. We actually bought some to take home. After we went to Agememon's Tomb. For kunch Jordan took us to Mycenae to a fabulous fish place Savourina's Restaurant. After lunch we went to the Palamidi Castle. After we went to the ancient theater. Jordan took the scenic route back to Athens and stopped to show us how the canal lets boats through. We had an amazing day with Jourdan. We had a very quick/small dinner at the hotel and went to bed for our trip back home. Jordan arranged for a teansfer to the airport the next morning as it was cheaper than the hotel's transfer.

As you can see we had an amazing trip. If I left anything out or if you need further clarification let me know.

Happy travels and I hope this was as helpful to you as other trip reports were to me.

milliebz

I am disappointed that you were not thrilled with Esperas. It looks like they will accomodate a family of four where as Perivolas with not and at already twice the price.

butter924

Great report, thank you!

So if doing it again, would you have stayed at Perivolas over Esperas?

rjbriskin

To answer your question ,milliebz, I wasn't disappointed I just thought that Perovalas looked more upscale. The towel and rental car situations were annoying though.

rjbriskin

To answer your question butter924, I probably would try Perovals even though it is twice the price.

brotherleelove2004

Perivolas and Esperas are both excellent properties. The main differences are the level of exclusivity as well as the view. Esperas has a view of the sunset from the western end of Oia and a partially blocked view of the caldera. Perivolas has a view of the caldera, the other cliffside villages and a view west that may or may not offer a sunset view depending on the time of year. At times the sunset is blocked by the convolutions of the island itself or the small island of Therassia across the caldera. Perivolas has a more exclusive "feel" although it's not at all the sort of hotel I'd call "stuffy."

brotherleelove2004

By the way, there are _NO_ bad views of the caldera!

ssarw

We are leaving for Greece on Sunday 8/6 and plan a day trip from Athens with private driver...you said you hired "Jordan" do you recommend him, and if so how do I contact him?

HappyTrvlr

We also had trouble with the car rental arranged by Esperas. The man who brought us the car said he was Bulgarian and did not like Greece!

rjbriskin

To answer your inquiry,ssarw, I would HIGHLY recommend Jordan. I wrote more about him in the first part of my trip report. You can reach him via e-mail at [email protected].

rjbriskin

Happytrvlr, the guy who delivered our car was the car rental owner's brother(who happens to be a doctor!!!) who was helping out his brother. So, when we had the insurance conflict it was his word against his brother's word, which is why it became an uncomfortable situation.

rjbriskin

My 2 older sisters and I would like to go away together. We did a trip together 2 years ago and went to Rome and Florence for 1 week in February. We would like some ideas of where to go now. It should have great food and wine, great shopping and great sights to see. Croatia , Sweden and Switzerland have been recommended. Does any one have any thoughts/ideas????

Weadles

Our travel agent talked us into staying at Perivolas. We were there in early July, and really didn't think it was worth the money at all.

We paid a fortune for a suite for four people, and other than the amazing terrace with its outstanding views, were very unimpressed with our accomodations and the hotel facitilies.

I can usually sleep on just about anything, but it was almost a joke between the four of us about how bad the beds were. There were two double beds, and then one very thin mattress on top of a stone alcove in the living room. All the beds felt like they were made out of the rock of the volcano.

We befriended some other guests at the hotel, and they said that their entire family hadn't slept well during their whole stay.

On top of that, the rooms had a severely musty smell. We never did figure that out.

Also the staff seemed harassed every time we asked a question.

Breakfast was so-so- the usual few cheeses, salamis, rolls, and oj. Nothing special.

There was a lovely workout room with a gorgeous view, and the pool itself was quite nice, but we certainly wouldn't have spent this kind of money for such mediocre accomodations.

Maybe Perivolas is coasting on its views and old reputation as one of the best hotels in the world?

What a disappointment!

rjbriskin

I guess Esperas sounds just as nice with not quite the attitude because our beds in Esperas were just fine. The rooms smelled musty there too and on ocassion when I asked to have a reservation made on our behalf and then canceled I would get a little attitude too.

Weadles

rjbriskin,

It's interesting to hear about your experience at Esperades. At least you didn't spend as much $$ and you had decent beds!

Part of the problem for us with Perivolas was that we'd just come from Crete, where we stayed at a really lovely hotel for about a fraction of the price.

brotherleelove2004

The musty smell is from moisture wicking through the walls in the underground rooms. Mold can sometimes also be a problem in these rooms, and they almost always feel a little damp. A/C has changed this a bit but it's still a sneaky problem.

milliebz

Weadles, glad to hear that I should be just as pleased with Esperas. Would you please give me the name and location of the hotel you liked in Crete? Did it also accomdate four in one room. Thanks.

LoriS

I'm surprised that you noted that Sigalas was not worth the time. We visited in late May and had a wonderful visit. We emailed ahead to request an appointment time, indicate our level of wine knowledge, etc., and they suggested that we come late in the day after the tourists had left.

We had a wonderful tasting of their entire line-up. We sat in the garden and chatted to the two ladies there and tasted and compared the wines with some snacks. We had an informative discussion about the varietals, farming methods in Santorini, and even ancient Greek oenology.

We purchased some wines, but the one I really wanted was not yet labeled for resale--it had just been bottled. Yet, they made a special effort to procure a bottle for us to purchase.

The wines were excellent and we enjoyed meeting their staff and owner/winemaker.

I'm sorry you had a different experience, but I would highly recommend a visit to Sigalas.

Weadles

milliebz,

We stayed in Chania, Crete, at Palazzo di Pietro, a converted Venetian townhouse that dates from the 1200s. We booked two air conditoned suites, not realizing that one suite might have accomodated all 4 of us. ( I never did ask what the hotel policy was on this)

Each suite consited of a large bedroom with two twins or king bed, and a second room which had a day bed and mini-kitchen. The owner, "Ms Christine", had gone out of her way to stock the fridge with local wines, fresh fruits, and chocolate. She had also decorated our beds with fresh flowers from her rooftop garden!

"Ms. Christine" was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable about where to go and what to see in and around Chania. We enjoyed getting to know her family a little bit, and thought it was the best hotel experience of our nearly 3 weeks in Greece.

Each suite cost just under $300 per night, which seems like a bargain compared to Perivolas and Grecotel Blu in Mykonos.

The hotel is only a few steps away from the wonderful old harbor, in an area full of tiny lanes and very cheap, good restaurants.

We just loved it there!

milliebz

Weadles,
Thank you so much. I found the website and it says to contact them if you are a party of 3,4 or 5 which I will do. It looks wonderful and Chania is one of the places I had not found a place I was excited about staying. One of the reasons I love this forum.