Hi -

My husband and I just returned from a spectacular trip to Athens and Santorini. I will be posting a trip report, but just haven't had a chance yet. We stayed at Katikies on Santorini and loved it so much that we are already planning a trip back there next fall.

Europhile - We stayed in Room #14, a standard superior room that was directly above the honeymoon suite, #24. The suite looked so amazing (at least the balcony area, which was all we saw) that we are thinking of possibly trying to book that for our next trip. In my research on this site beforehand, I noticed that you had stayed in both of those rooms. The suite is obviously significantly more expensive and we did love Rm #14. We were just having a "the grass is greener directly below our balcony" feeling. I was hoping you could comment on the differences between the two rooms and whether you think the benefits of the suite are worth the huge difference in price.

Thank you!

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Hi Katie. Sorry it took me so long to see this message. I didn't realize it was out there. We stayed in Room 14 last summer, and we are going back this summer to stay in #24 again (at least for part of our stay). Really, only you can decide if it's worth the extra expense. For us, it has sentimental value since we stayed in this room on our honeymoon, and we have seen enough of the other rooms to know that this one is the best (in my opinion).

The room is obviously larger- it's two levels, with the living room, large walk-in closet, bar area and bathroom downstairs and the bedroom and another bathroom (with the jacuzzi tub) upstairs. But really, the extra space we valued most was the outdoor space. In June, the pool area is crowded and there are only 4 sets of lounge chairs by the pool. Suite #24 has it's own lounge chairs with the same view, and the pool staff will bring drinks, lunch, etc. to the balcony (without going through "room service&quot. So, we never had to worry about getting up early enough to snag a prime lounge chair, and we had all the privacy we wanted. Also, we loved the outdoor living room area, with the shaded sofas to nap on. To be honest, the room is more spacious than the superior room (14), but not so much nicer as to be worth double the price. The outdoor space is worth a lot more to us, and we are willing to pay more for that, even if we wouldn't do it for the difference in the actual rooms.

That said, we were happy in Room 14, too, but we didn't have the same "rock star" attention and privacy we had in the honeymoon suite. We did have to get out early enough to get lounge chairs (which wasn't hard, but often they were on the top sun deck and not by the pool). If you are going in the fall, this may not be an issue. It might not be as crowded as in summer, and you may not need the privacy that the suite affords. I think the suite is worth more in the busy season than in the quiet season (and of course it's more expensive then).

Another option is what we're doing this summer- we booked a lower category room for the first 3 nights, and suite #24 for the last 3 nights. That way, we save some money, but still get to splurge in our special room for part of the stay. And, who knows- they might just upgrade us if nobody else has booked the suite for the first 3 nights. You never know. Either way, we'll be at the hotel we love, on the island we love, and we'll either move rooms or not, but we won't mind much either way. I hope that helps.

Hi Europhile -

Thanks for your response. I just saw it today. You know, after posting my original question, we ended up doing the very same thing you're doing - we booked Room #14 for half the time and Room #24 for the other half!

I did have a question about one thing you mentioned - that the jacuzzi is in the upstairs bathroom. For some reason, I was under the impression that there was an outdoor jacuzzi in the lounge area. Is there not one there? (We only saw it from above, so maybe what we thought was a covered jacuzzi was actually the outdoor living room area that you mentioned . . .).

Thanks!

Actually, there are two jacuzzis- one upstairs, which is jacuzzi bathtub facing a small window, and one outside on the terrace, which is more like an outdoor spa and not a bathtub. The outdoor jacuzzi was not really heated when we stayed there, but actually this was fine with us because it was so hot outside. We used it more to cool off. But maybe it is supposed to be heated. We'll see when we go this June. When will you be there? We'll be at Katikies 6/19-6/25.

Oh good - I'm glad there is one oudoors too. Although if it's not heated, it might be too cool for us to use it. We'll be there from 9/28-10/5. I just can't wait to go back!!