Given below are our reviews for the hotels we stayed in during this trip. All the names are clickable links which take you directly to the website of the establishment.
ATHENS
Since we were going to be in Athens all told for 24 hours, we decided on a quasi-budget, central place, and this one lived up to its name. Its right in the heart of Plaka, a few minutes walk towards the shopping areas of Ermou and Monastiraki, about a 10 minute walk to Syntagma Square, and 10 minutes to the Acropolis Hill. So locationally, fantastic.
The rooms are just about adequate, the corridors are a little run down, the carpet desparately needs a change. The loo is tiny, seriously, but has all the accoutrements that you could ask for. Service is good, they will help with directions, calling cabs, leaving luggage. Breakfast is a decent spread, and although it starts at whatever time in the morning, a lot of it is normally laid out beforehand, so if you have an early morning start, can't hurt to take a look, instead of assuming that nothing will be available. For the price and convenience, and if you just want a decent, well located no-frills place, recommended.
RHODES - RHODES TOWN
It was not an easy choice - to stay within the old city walls, or outside. Our initial idea was to do the former, but then we read some not great reviews in terms of mod cons, as well as nothing much going for most places other than the fact that they were indeed within the old town. What looked interesting was also priced as such.
Having had the experience of living in walled towns before, we decide to forego our initial plan and settle for something suitable outside, but near the old town, to facilitate easy meandering to and fro. The Rodos Park Suites fulfilled all these criteria.
First off, the busy season was clearly over which meant that the hotel was quiet, just what we wanted. Its quite luxurious, with a pool and spa on site. The room is quite large, and well decorated in a contemporary fashion, and has a balcony overlooking the pool. Its clean, fresh and comfortable. Service is timely and attentive. Breakfast is pretty good and you can eat it by the pool.
Location wise they are a 5 minute walk to the old town walls, which is pretty perfect, and just a few steps away is the wonderful Wonder restaurant.
Overall, highly recommended.
CRETE - IRAKLIO
We chanced on this hotel quite accidentally after what we had considered to be our first choice - The Lato Boutique Hotel, had no vacancies for the nights in question. This hotel was rated No. 1 on Trip Advisor and we decided to take a chance on it, and it paid off very well.
The hotel is a little away from the port area, about a 20 minute walk, and this is probably the only disadvantage I can think of. Other than that, its great. Modern, very well done ( I believe the owner is an architect and he recently renovated the place to exacting standards). The rooms are nice, the bathrooms are great, the overall look and feel of the place is very nice.
What I liked best of all though is the attitude of the staff. They really seem to want you to have a nice stay, and right from the concierge to reception to room service, they really do aim to please. We ordered twice in the room and the meals were very good. Breakfast was great, and what really impressed us is when we checked out a previous evening for an early start the next morning, they arranged for the kitchen to prepare breakfast boxes for us to take along, because, as the gentleman at reception said "you should not have to miss our wonderful breakfast just because you have to leave early". Full marks.
CRETE - CHANIA
Everything about Casa Delfino spells character. Its location in the heart of Chania's harbour area, the winding streets leading up to the door, the ambience of the property, and even the rooms themselves, speak of a decadent charm. We were there for just the one night, and we enjoyed the look on their faces when we said we had no luggage !
The rooms tend to be a little old fashioned looking and tend to be a bit dark, but not in a bad way or anything. There are strict building codes for all these heritage houses and they have to maintain the properties in complete adherence to them. Its a bit of quirky fun to spend all days "downstairs" and walk "upstairs" to sleep. the bathroom is small, as expected, but not lacking in any way.
Breakfast is good, and the magnificent sights of Chania are mere seconds away.
NAXOS ISLAND
What an absolutely great find this was for us. We trolled the web for information on hotels in Naxos, and settled on this one purely on gut instinct and it paid off big time. First off, they upgraded us to one of their nicest suites, always a great way to start. The room was huge, and beautifully done up in a contemporary style with enough space to have a yoga workshop in there. The bathroom was commensurately large and very luxurious as well. The balcony overlooked the beach area, and it was nice spot to relax and people watch.
The hotel is at one end of the St. George Beach in Naxos, by no means the finest, but quite popular nevertheless. Its about a 5-10 minute walk to town, slightly more to the Portara. But its a very nice walk along the sea front promenade and the tavernas and bars.
The restaurant on site served up a great meal, with friendly staff. Breakfast was good and was served either indoors or by the beach. There is a pool, and within the breakfast area is a little nook with computers to check emails, as well as a collection of books that you can borrow to read.
Service was very good at all times, and the overall ambience of the property is wonderful. We loved our stay here, and as a result, loved Naxos as an island a lot. Very highly recommended.
PAROS ISLAND - NAOUSSA
This hotel was also an impromptu find by us through trolling the web. At first, the dilemma was whether to stay in the main port town of Parikia, or opt for the more atmospheric fishing village of Naoussa. We decided on the latter. In all fairness, by the time we got there, the town was already pretty much on the last days of the tourist season, with lots of shops and tavernas already closed down. At its height, it would be an even better sight. Then again, we visited Parikia as well, and being a port town, it tends to stay active much more than Naoussa, but we decided finally that we liked Naoussa's small town feel a lot more.
The hotel is a bit away from the centre of the village, which means a good 15 minute walk downhill to get into town, and yes, the same schlep back uphill to return, not the best recipe after a nice lazy dinner. The hotel itself is a very nice property, with a pool. We were upgraded again into a large suite, actually, were given the option of choosing between their two largest suites. The room was clean, and large with a seating area, as well as an outside patio area overlooking the street and the ocean in the distance.
Breakfast was upstairs by the pool, and was very decent. Pick up and drop off was efficient, and service was good too.
On the whole, this is a very nice option for Paros, provided you are willing to walk up and down to the village. But if you are looking for some R&R, its a great laid back choice. This is probably where we had the most downtime on our trip, and for that alone, it was worth it.
MYKONOS
When we came across the Cavo Tagoo in our search for the perfect place to stay in Mykonos, we new our search had ended. It completely personifies the hip and happening image of this wonderful island. Everything is contemporary, the decor, the furniture, even the staff. Everyone is young, and beautiful, and they know it. It certainly has a very buzzing vibe.
While one is almost wary of this trendy feel, in that it may simply all just be superficial, the Cavo Tagoo dispels any such notion firmly. Beauty is not just skin deep here, it actually functions very well as a top notch hotel. The pick up and drop off was impeccable, check in was a breeze. The room was delightful in its decor, very clean and modern. The bathroom was huge with a shower cubicle, a jacuzzi and two basins. Toiletries are from Apivita, and so good, we went looking for them and bought a few bottles to take back with us. Luckily, we have found them here in HK. The piece de resistance, of course, was the private infinity pool that was on the terrace outside our room. It is quite deep and one can actually swim in it. There are day beds to lounge on and gaze at the unending views.
Breakfast is in the restaurant on the same level as the trendy common pool, which has ingeniously located daybeds floating over the water. The fare is good, as is the food at the restaurant, which although a bit pricey, is certainly not short on flavour. There is a small shop on site for swimwear and the like.
Possibly the one drawback to the hotel is its location, which is about a 5 minute drive from the centre of Mykonos Town, or a 15 minute walk along the main highway with no shoulders to walk on anyways. The hotel has tried to mitigate this by offering a free shuttle service to and from town, which means that while you might have to wait a few minutes, you can certainly get a ride into town. On the way back, we preferred to pay the 3 Euro cab fare rather than waste roaming charges on calling for a pick up.
Overall, the Cavo Tagoo is a great place to pamper yourself while in Mykonos, and we highly recommend it.
SANTORINI - OIA
For some reason, the website of Perivolas does not seem to do it justice at all, which is why I have included as many pictures as possible. As most people would, we spent a lot of time trying to decide between different properties so as to zero in on the one that would truly realise our dreams of being in Santorini. We first decided upon the location of Oia, as against Fira or Imerovigli, and I can truly say this was absolutely the right decision.
Once we knew it was going to be Oia, we started eliminating different options. The Aspaki Suites were fabulous, but did not have a pool. Katikies had 3 pools, but all quite small, and it tended to get quite crowded. Mystique looked great, but one has to apparently navigate nearly 100 steps to get around the property. Ambrosia Suites had a couple of not worth it reviews.
We found Perivolas to meet most of the criteria that we had. Their cave rooms are the real deal, its a little away from town, but thats a very nice walk along the cliffside, taking max 7-8 minutes. Its a 5 minute walk to the bus stop. Their infinity pool is world famous, and they also have a hot water jacuzzi, which is for common use, but again, we had it to ourselves. They have a gym and spa on site, we did not use them, but they looked nice. The service is very good as well, very attentive to detail. The first night, we felt the air conditioning was not working properly. When we told them the next morning, they got it fixed pronto, and sent up a bottle of very good wine to apologise. The pick up and drop off service was punctual and friendly.
We were upgraded to a Junior Suite. The room is quite large, very clean and very comfortable. Even though the decor looks a bit spartan to begin with, its very adequate, and the simplicity actually grows on you. Don't expect 5 star ambience, this place is the authentic, cultural deal. There is a kitchenette in the room to fix meals if you like, complete with fridge and sink. The room opens onto a lovely terrace with a gorgeous view over the caldera, as well as the village in the distance. The bathroom is like a white cocoon, with a chimney like opening in the ceiling functioning as a skylight, which gives it a very magical feel. Toiletries are by L"Occitane. As is frequently the norm in Greece, the shower area has no enclosure, which means a little skill is required to have a bath without getting the entire bathroom wet.
Breakfast is served in the restaurant area overlooking the pool, and is quite bountiful, although some more variety would make it excellent. We had one meal at the restaurant, and it was very good. The reception cave has internet access, as well as books to borrow.
Overall, full marks to the Perivolas. We absolutely loved our time there, and felt that our choice was absolutely right.
