Santorini Part 1: Some reviews

Santorini...what do I say about thee? I had such high hopes for you after all the traveler reviews, pictures of your blue-domed and white-washed buildings, your famed caldera. We enjoyed your sunsets, your hikes, and your shopping but, alas, we didn't think you were the little bit of heaven on earth that others have called you. But no fear, we still had a good time.

OK, reviews first...

Car Rental: So I know this isn't the most interesting review to start with, but I'm just writing this up more or less in the order that I took pictures in because that's the path of least resistance :) After checking out prices at a few places we passed around town, we ended up renting from the shop right around the corner from our hotel, Sunbird. Artemis was really sweet and totally took care of us. We loved our little Hyundai and it took us all over the island. While the ATV on Naxos was fun for a day, we knew we didn't want to ride around exposed to the elements for four days. And A/C s a gooood thing :) Oh, and a good thing to know about returning rentals on Santorini: most rental agencies will let you take the car to the airport and leave it in the lot there with the keys. They pick it up later with their spare key and save you a taxi ride. Originally somewhat at Sunbird was going to drive us to the airport but in the end we left it at the airport instead.

Hotel: I had a really hard time finding a hotel in Santorini for some reason. Nothing on Trip Advisor jumped out at me so I went with the suggestion that my travel agent Aegean Thesaurus suggested. Unfortunately, I moved too slowly to take that first suggestion because there wasn't any availability left by the time she went to book it for me. So I went with her second suggestion, which was the Sunny Villas Hotel. Not a great decision. My pictures are kinder than I think the room probably deserves.

First, upon check in, we were given a room at a different facility. Because of the way many of the hotels are built into the cliffside, they all kind of flow into each other and we didn't even realize at first that we weren't in a Sunny Villas room but rather was in neighboring Heliades. We were only told about it later when Willy went back to reception to ask about something else. We had to move into our actual room the next day, which apparently had something that needed fixing. So that's Strike #1.


Strike #2 were a couple of room setup details. Remember when I said my raving over the shower in Naxos was important in contrast to the shower in Satorini? Well I wish I'd taken a pic of the actual shower here, but basically the handheld shower head was mounted maybe three feet up from the floor with no way to stand under a stream of water. I think it's a pretty common occurrence in Santorini, but it was one I had tried to avoid and it made showering a chore instead of a comforting luxury. There wasn't much space to move around in the shower either and the lack of a door left us splashing water everywhere.

The other room setup issue was the fact that the bed was pushed up against the wall on one side. The first night, Willy bumped his knee more than once and we had to pad the wall with extra towels the rest of the stay.

Strike #3: The pool was tiny. I'm talking, 5'1" me pullng maybe two strokes and I'm at the other end of the pool. Santorini isn't known for its beaches so a nice pool would have been a good way to cool off after a long, sweaty hike. I think we were spoiled by the nice pool in Naxos. I normally don't think of myself as a pool person, but was really disappointed by this aspect of the hotel.

Strike #4: We shared a balcony space with a neighboring room, which was fine except that to actually get to our room we actually had to walk across their balcony section to get to our front door. Kind of weird, but generally OK. The thing that really bugged me was that they got adjustable chaises on their balcony whereas we just got a table and two chairs. Which was nice for breakfast on the balcony (which was actually quite a nice breakfast), but for relaxing it would have been nice to have a reclining chair. even the chairs at the pool didn't fully recline!


Overall, the room was just a disappointment. It felt like a budget place for a mid-range price. If we ever went back (which I don't think we will), we'd have to splurge for a nicer facility.

But, OK, the view was really nice :)


Lots more to write still, but I think I'll do this in installments. Let's end this one with a pic of us on the night of our actual 5th wedding anniversary, celebrating (of course) over a yummy meal at Restaurant 1800.