My wife and I are planning a trip to Greece and want to know where to stay in Mykonos, Santorini and Crete. We want something pretty nice but not over the top, obviously a pool, bar, nice rooms, views, etc. Any recommendations??

Hi

The big issue is what is your budget (in euros) and when are you going? Are you happy to stay in a town or do you want to stay on the beach. For eg. in Santorini the caldera views are awesome but you won't be on the beach.

Ummm, Crete's a big island. Where do you want to be?

On Crete, I prefer staying in Chania, if I want to be in a town and other places if I want a lower key experience. On Santorini, it depends on the time of year where I want to stay as some villages are too busy at some times of the year and others are too slow at other times of the year, same with Mykonos.

So I'll echo the others and say that to help you, and we want to!, we need more information. What do you mean by "pretty nice but not over the top"? Is a pool an absolute requirement for the hotel in all three locations? Is a view? And like worldinabag already asked what is the most you want to spend a night for a hotel? What time of year will you be in Greece?

Let us know and we'll help you the best we can!

I am back from Santorini and while neither hotel had a bar we stayed 2 places in Oia. The first was the Museum horte (Best western) that we got for 100 euros as a walk in (we were staying at the other side of the Island and wanted to treat ourselves to Oia. The places was lovely and clean and had a spa and great small pool in the back. I think some of the rooms have themes. A front room is apt style and could be busy with the noise from across the road but I slept like a baby. http://www.greekhotel.com/cyclades/s...to-gallery.htm

The secon and my favourite was Caldera Villas apartments on the cliff side and had a small pool. By far the most fun place I have stayed in. Pool was lovely but a tough walk back up to the main street. This was 150 euro for 1 night http://www.blueaegean.com/ACCOMMODAT...OTELID=CALDERA

hello ngoradia

I am happy to help you with Mykonos hotels but as others say heer, I need to know when you come and your budget for each night at hotel.

Also, please let me know if you want hotel in Mykonos town or at beach.

thanos

To all, with regards to mykonos, we'd like to stay as close to the beach if not on the beach. We want the views of the caldera in santorini either oia or fira most likely. we don't know too much about where we want to be in crete as we just added that to our itinerary yesterday. we are hoping to spend about 200-300 euros per night on average. Additionally, we are thinking 2 nights in mykonos, 2 nights in crete, 3 nights in santorini and 2 nights in athens flying out from there.

Hi there -

We still don't know when you are planning to travel to Greece?

Looking at your itinerary, have you decided at mode of travel to/from each of those islands? Assuming you are flying in/out of Athens, you may want to consider flying to Crete.

We are staying at Esperas Villas which falls into your budget. Take a look on TripAdvisor and Meredith's trip report - Esperas is highly recommended.

Good luck in your trip planning.

I just returned from Mykonos and Santorini on Sunday. For this trip, I stayed at Iliovasilema Villas in Santorini (Imerovigli) and at Porto Mykonos (just outside Mykonos Town). Both were great and would be in your range, though Imerovigli is, in my opinion, a little too far from Fira. I'd recommend you look at hotels in Firostefani, which is a nice walk from Fira but not too far, and would allow you to avoid the crowds there but still pop in quickly for dinner. I find Ia too isolated, but the best meal I've ever had in Greece was at 1800 there.

Hana, we will be there the second and third week of September of this year.

If you are as open as that, then I do suggest Chania for your Crete leg, but, IMHO, the best hotels are pool free. Are you up for that?

Hi again

Yes I agree with Doug. We stayed at Firostefani and the location and views were perfect.

Thanks everyone...last question, is it safe to rely on the hotels to book transfers? I want to leave the travel agents out of it but part of me believes they could make life a bit easier for us when it comes to transfers from island to island.

You might want to look at this web site, looks pretty cool, you can pick your islands and they'll make the hotel and transport reservations.
http://www.tourvacationstogo.com/greece_tours.cfm

Just copy in the address section

Neither place has a pool, but we really enjoyed Casa Delfino in Chania and Lava Oia in Santorini. Casa Delfino is in the perfect location and offers a wonderful breakfast. They have rooms in many sizes & price categories. Our cave house at Lava Oia was simple but the view was SPECTACULAR!

What hotels in Firostephani would you recommend to 3 couples on an under $200 a night budget for late April? Thanks!

Hi seeksocean

Try Villa Ilias - http://www.villailias.gr. The Exclusive room Caldera view is bang on budget and would be my pick. Private balcony with pool and caldera views. Be there at sunset with bubbly

Bookmarking thanks

Esperas Traditional Houses in Oia, Santorini...stayed there last summer. The staff was helpful, the rooms interesting (built into the caves), fabulous views of the sunset, pool where you could look out at the great view...walking distance to the restaurants/shopping at Oia but need to take a cab to get to the Fira shopping/restaurants. If you are looking for a beautiful place to relax, this is a great choice! We did not stay near the beach in Mykonos...so can't help you there...but if you want to stay closer to town, the Kouros Hotel is lovely and also with a pool...

Thanks so much! The group of us is flying into Athens and then we were thinking that since we are already at the airport to fly to Crete, do our island siteseeing and then fly to Athens for the last 5 days. Is that a good idea? What's the best airline? We get into Athens at 4:20pm on a Tuesday. Thank you so very much Fodorites!!