Blue Palace Resort in Crete or Vedema in Santorini OR Santa Marina in Mykonos?
Mar 4th, 2006, 05:21 PM
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Blue Palace Resort in Crete or Vedema in Santorini OR Santa Marina in Mykonos?
Which one is the LEAST touristy? & Which one is the prettiest actual resort? Which has the best beaches & best view? Best food?
Thanks! We will be going for 1 week.
Thanks! We will be going for 1 week.
Mar 4th, 2006, 06:51 PM
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I wonder if you realize that the Vedema is in the middle of some agricultural land and has no cliffside caldera view. That's not to say it isn't a wonderful and exclusive hotel (Angelina Jolie stayed there), but many people assume it offers unlimited sea views when in actuality it doesn't.
Mar 4th, 2006, 07:30 PM
#3
I'm in the middle of planning a trip to Crete and Santorini and thought I had checked out all the hotel possiblities. When I saw your reference to Vedema I checked it out in Trip Advisor. Have you checked the reviews there?
Mar 4th, 2006, 08:27 PM
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I have stayed at the Vedema and at the Santa Maria.
The Vedema, as a previous poster explained, does not have a caldera view. However, it is a GORGEOUS hotel with outstanding service in a very tranquil setting. We would stay there again in a heartbeat! That being said, I think it's not that touristy because most tourists want a caldera views. We sort of felt like we had the place to ourselves in early July. They have free shuttles that will take you into Fira, and also to what they call their private, black sand beach. (although I really don't think it was private) The beach is beautiful, but it's not soft and sandy to walk on. There are lovely chaises and umbrellas and wonderful food service.
The Santa Marina is a really pretty hotel. We had a lovely time, there, but it really doesn't compare to the Vedema in terms of service or beauty. (The staff is actually quite rude!) Their private beach, however, (and it's definitely private) is very beautiful. There is food service and water sport activities. We LOVED lounging on that beach.
We took a taxi into the main town, and walked into little Ornos Bay. The view from our room and from the pool, beach and other areas was breathtaking.
Food in both places was wonderful!
More on the Santa Marina on this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2
Haven't been to Crete yet, but hope to on our next visit to Greece.
You must be a Starwood member?
If so, you might be curious to know that the Vedema treated us, as Starwood members, like royalty. The upgrade we got was amazing. We had booked a standard room and ended up in a three-level villa with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, patios, and more.
At the Santa Marina, they put us in a room whose front door was in the parking lot. It was really dark and dreary. When we asked to see another room they insitsed there were none available. Twenty minutes later, when the toilet overflowed and flooded the bathroom, and the doorknob on the patio door fell off the door when we tried to open it did they move us to a larger, brighter ocean view room. It was nice, with a separate living room, a patio and grassy area overlooking the ocean, but it still was NOTHING compared to the Vedema.
Really, we would not go back to the Santa Marina.
The Vedema, as a previous poster explained, does not have a caldera view. However, it is a GORGEOUS hotel with outstanding service in a very tranquil setting. We would stay there again in a heartbeat! That being said, I think it's not that touristy because most tourists want a caldera views. We sort of felt like we had the place to ourselves in early July. They have free shuttles that will take you into Fira, and also to what they call their private, black sand beach. (although I really don't think it was private) The beach is beautiful, but it's not soft and sandy to walk on. There are lovely chaises and umbrellas and wonderful food service.
The Santa Marina is a really pretty hotel. We had a lovely time, there, but it really doesn't compare to the Vedema in terms of service or beauty. (The staff is actually quite rude!) Their private beach, however, (and it's definitely private) is very beautiful. There is food service and water sport activities. We LOVED lounging on that beach.
We took a taxi into the main town, and walked into little Ornos Bay. The view from our room and from the pool, beach and other areas was breathtaking.
Food in both places was wonderful!
More on the Santa Marina on this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2
Haven't been to Crete yet, but hope to on our next visit to Greece.
You must be a Starwood member?
If so, you might be curious to know that the Vedema treated us, as Starwood members, like royalty. The upgrade we got was amazing. We had booked a standard room and ended up in a three-level villa with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, patios, and more.
At the Santa Marina, they put us in a room whose front door was in the parking lot. It was really dark and dreary. When we asked to see another room they insitsed there were none available. Twenty minutes later, when the toilet overflowed and flooded the bathroom, and the doorknob on the patio door fell off the door when we tried to open it did they move us to a larger, brighter ocean view room. It was nice, with a separate living room, a patio and grassy area overlooking the ocean, but it still was NOTHING compared to the Vedema.
Really, we would not go back to the Santa Marina.
Mar 4th, 2006, 09:14 PM
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go to reviews on www.tripadvisor.com, which are negative on the Santa Marina as the person above stated and because of that we decided not to stay there. We are staying at the Royal Myconian (an LHW property where we can also get upgraded). Only staying 2 nights so it doesn't matter that much and it is on a beach and does have shuttles to town.
We ruled out the Vedema since we wanted views in Santorini and opted for Esperas in Oia. Katikies had only costly suites left and I thought Perivolas overpriced.
the Blue Palace in Crete looks amazing, but we choose the Elounda Beach based on recommendations from several people I know well. I am sure they are both great. These are large, sprawling beach resorts with many restaurants and recreational activities and cannot compare to anyplace on Santorini. Its like apples and oranges, both fruit but very different. Those resorts on Crete are destinations themselves with many guests opting to never leave the property. So I would say the "prettiest actual resort" would be in Crete.
Best views - other hotels in Santorini, not the Vedema.
Best Beach - I would like to know that myself between Elounda beach in Crete and the various beaches on Mykonos.
We ruled out the Vedema since we wanted views in Santorini and opted for Esperas in Oia. Katikies had only costly suites left and I thought Perivolas overpriced.
the Blue Palace in Crete looks amazing, but we choose the Elounda Beach based on recommendations from several people I know well. I am sure they are both great. These are large, sprawling beach resorts with many restaurants and recreational activities and cannot compare to anyplace on Santorini. Its like apples and oranges, both fruit but very different. Those resorts on Crete are destinations themselves with many guests opting to never leave the property. So I would say the "prettiest actual resort" would be in Crete.
Best views - other hotels in Santorini, not the Vedema.
Best Beach - I would like to know that myself between Elounda beach in Crete and the various beaches on Mykonos.
Mar 12th, 2006, 07:03 PM
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We are no longer staying at the Royal Myconian. The area is too isolated, and the reviews on tripadvisor too negative.
We are still deciding on a luxury class hotel not too far on the bus from town, and not too isolated. We also like to be able to walk to things if we can since we won't have a car. I have been reading posts here going back to last summer to see what people have to say. Of course I see that people's expectations also are affected by the price they have paid. For example, Petasos Beach gets good reviews, but it is less costly than Santa Marina which gets very mixed reviews. And I think when the price goes up, so does the expectations. Someone who posted that they loved the Petasos beach had just stayed at a dive in Athens where they had cockroaches. So I guess Petasos seemed like a palace compared to that. I will be coming from the Grande Bretagne and I am trying to find something high quality on Mykonos. The Mykonos Grand gets high marks, but it is also isolated but not that far from the town and great views. So a trade off.
JOANIEDJD - let me know what you come up with.
We are still deciding on a luxury class hotel not too far on the bus from town, and not too isolated. We also like to be able to walk to things if we can since we won't have a car. I have been reading posts here going back to last summer to see what people have to say. Of course I see that people's expectations also are affected by the price they have paid. For example, Petasos Beach gets good reviews, but it is less costly than Santa Marina which gets very mixed reviews. And I think when the price goes up, so does the expectations. Someone who posted that they loved the Petasos beach had just stayed at a dive in Athens where they had cockroaches. So I guess Petasos seemed like a palace compared to that. I will be coming from the Grande Bretagne and I am trying to find something high quality on Mykonos. The Mykonos Grand gets high marks, but it is also isolated but not that far from the town and great views. So a trade off.
JOANIEDJD - let me know what you come up with.
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