lmavolio

Hi All - Thanks so much to those of you who responded to my post yesterday with feedback on Oia hotels! I heard back today from many of the places I had in mind and here are my options for 3 nights in June:

1) Esperas Traditional Superior House - 271E/nt (they also have a Traditional House - not superior - for 2 nights of my stay available for 246E)

2) 2 nights at Esperas and 1 night at Aspaki Romeo & Juliet suite - Aspaki is 300E/nt, Esperas is 271E/nt (I could also do the reverse of this and spend 2 nights at Aspaki & 1 night at Esperas)

3) Chelidonia Villas - either a villa for 180E/nt or 220E/nt

FYI - The price is important, but it's not the most important factor since I will likely not get back to Santorini again...So, I really want to enjoy my stay to the fullest!

My questions are:
- Which hotel has the best view?
- Which is the "nicest" hotel?
- All considered, which would you consider the best value?
- How important is a pool in Santorini? My opinion is, I'd like one, but it's not essential - I'm usually on the go anyway, so I will probably be doing a lot of walking around and sightseeing. Maybe hit the pool in the evening before dinner.

What do you think?? Thanks all. I am getting so excited for this trip! I wish I had longer in Santorini...Laura

brotherleelove2004

For only 3 nights pick one hotel and stay put.

The pools aren't heated so if it's hot it'll be fine.

Aspaki has the best caldera view but Esperas is a good choice for the view (sunset _and_ caldera) and the amenities, plus they have a restaurant on the premises which is rare in Oia.

The best villa at Chelidonia is the Apollon, it is an authentic cave house in an excellent private location.

samtraveler

We stayed at Esperas for three nights in June 2007. It was completely fabulous in every possible way. The views were to die for! You get the caldera and the sunset. We loved explore Oia, but seriously we loved the hotel so much that if all I did was plant my butt near the pool all day and watch the view that would have been just fine (which we actually did one day!). I'm not a big pool person when traveling to Europe, but I was so glad we had one on Santorini. After a day out exploring--and it was hot in June--a dip in the pool was nice. We also stayed in a superior house, which was great. I think they're all a tad different, but great. Remember that these places, although nice, are not like the Ritz. These kinds of places have a rather rustic, cave feel, but in my opinion this is what you want on Santorini. The restaurant at Esperas is fantastic. Food was great and comes with same fabulous views. Book a table just before sunset, bring your shades and a camera and you'll be in heaven. The poolside bar is also nice. Great casual snack/lunch items and nice selection of fruity drinks--and they even bring it all to your lounge chair if you're just too darn lazy to get up. Everything gets charged to your room, which is handy. The free breakfast served on the same pool patio was also a nice extra. The best breakfast view I'll probably ever have in my life. The staff was great, so nice and helpful. I would stay there again in a heartbeat! You're going to love Oia. We used the hotel shuttle service which worked well.

lmavolio

Thanks everyone! If I do decide to split my stay between Esperas & Aspaki, does anyone know how far they are from one another?

brennynp

You will not be disappointed with Esperas Traditional Houses. Beautiful.

brotherleelove2004

The village is small. They are about 10 minutes apart. Look at this map:

http://www.svali.ru/pic/pictures/27/...14f0ae959a.jpg

Esperas is in Section 2, second row up from the bottom. Aspaki is in Section 5, second row up from the bottom.

Oisa

Esperas sounds really nice. If they don't have accomodations available, I will recommend Fanari Villas near the windmill. Great view over the caldera, swimming pool, friendly owner, short walk into town and right above Ammoudi Beach with its fish tavernas. We had a two story accomodation with a kitchen and a balcony on both the ground floor and second floor which is the bedroom. We spent four days ... expensive (for us) but not over the top. Very cozy and nice with sea breezes and not too noisy. Have a great vacation.

wherenext

We also stayed at Fanari Villas which is directly above Esperas. Same view just higher. I think you will be very happy at Esperas. They have a bigger pool area than Fanari. It is very pleasant and less expensive than Fanari. You will have to walk up stairs to get anywhere from there but coming back is all down We loved everything about Fanari Villas and I am sre you will feel that way about Esperas.

lanejohann

we went in june in 2005..stayed five nights but couldve happily cut it down to four (but we are not into nightclubs nor restauranting)

we stayed in fira but walked to oia and had a chance to see the hotels along the way ( i was in half a mind to check out of our prebooked apartment in around fira and transfer for the remaining four days to a nicer place in oia )

i even went inside some places to check out the differences in standards
in the end we decided not to bother-
the views were lovely and i wouldve gladly paid the price had it been a honeymoon but we were on an adventure and the insides of a hotel room held little interest

had i known that i didnt have to book we wouldve just turned up having booked the first night and then had a good look around the caldera and taken a taxi to our new lodgings but we had already settled in, unpacked and wanted to unwind so we stayed put
the apartment was great but the area was dry and desolate and the ocean views promised were very very distant and veiled by marine haze anyway!there was a lovely pool but for us it was too cold in june to have a swim

later in july i think thered be more problems with bookings and id not chance it - id always have the hotel booked

back here in australia i try to go on 'reconnaissance' if at all possible and have a look at hotels etc before booking because it's pretty hard on the net - photos and all - it's still hard to visualise and when you get there especially if you have spent big money you dont want to be disappointed