Cliffside hotels and resorts in the picturesque village of Oia on Santorini
Category: Santorini (page 12 of 12)
The swimming pool terrace at Hotel Tagoo on Mykonos offers this view of Tinos island, a short ferry ride from the tip of Mykonos (right)
On a clear day, we could see the whitewashed clifftop buildings of the renowned Santorini village of Oia from our balcony at Hermes Hotel on Ios
Our terrace at Halara Studios in Plaka, on Milos, gave us this sweeping view of the Gulf of Milos and mountains on the western half of the island.
Three islands, three hotels, three superb views: Last month, our 2011 Greek Island holiday took us back to a favourite hotel on an island we have visited more times than any other place in the world; a different hotel on an island we visited back in 2007; and a hotel on an island we had previously seen only from a ferry. All three gave us superb views.
On Mykonos, we stayed at Hotel Tagoo for the third time in as many visits. We’ve been to Mykonos so often I can practically picture the views with my eyes closed, and I also never forget the scenery from the balconies and public areas at Hotel Tagoo. (If you’ve been following my posts about Greek Islands hotel views, you’ve already seen numerous pictures showing the wonderful views from Hotel Tagoo.) No matter how often I visit, I never get bored of looking at the sea and nearby islands, or the mountains, beaches and coastline of Mykonos itself. For this trip, I requested the same room we stayed in our first time at Hotel Tagoo — the cozy and semi-secluded #19, on the east side of the property — and I was glad it was available for our stay. Although #19 has only a partial sea view, rather than a full-on panoramic sea and island view like many of the rooms positioned at the front of the hotel, I like it because I always sleep exceptionally well in that room. I don’t know why, but I always wake up feeling more refreshed after a night in that particular room than in any other. What’s more, the afternoon sun doesn’t seem as hot or intense on room 19’s terrace, like it does on other balconies, so I can spend more time sitting there without feeling like I’m going to melt.
After several days on Mykonos we travelled to Ios for the first time. We had “seen” Ios several times before — through the windows of the FlyingCat 4 ferry en route to Santorini — but we had never set foot on it. We stayed at Hermes Hotel in Agios Ioannis, a hillside area high above beautiful Mylopotas beach, and just a short walk from the island’s main town, Chora. Although views from our hotel room balcony were partially obscured by a building in front of us, we could still gaze across the Aegean Sea and, if the skies were clear, see the whitewashed buildings in the village of Oia on Santorini. When we wanted completely unobscured views of Ios scenery, all we had to do was walk up one flight of stairs to the hotel’s breakfast room & bar, which had a comfy outdoor sitting area, or down several flights to the huge sea- and valley-view swimming pool terrace. (The pool was just being cleaned and filled during our visit, so we couldn’t take a swim, but we did enjoy the terrace for suntanning, taking in the scenery, and watching the hotel’s herd of goats in the field below.)
Our third island stop was Milos, which we had visited once before in September 2007. Last time we stayed at a hotel on the edge of the port town of Adamas; this holiday we wanted a complete change of location and scenery, so we stayed at Halara Studios, which is literally on the edge of the mountaintop village of Plaka, the capital of Milos. Being high up and on the edge meant we had outstanding views of farm fields, the Gulf of Milos, and the mountainous western half of Milos. If our visit had been just a few months later in the summer, we would have enjoyed incredible sunset views from the Halara Studios terrace, too. Nevertheless, we won’t soon forget the scenery because on our last full day in Milos the island got thrashed by a vicious thunderstorm, and our terrace provided an excellent front-row seat for watching lightning strikes and the dramatic, dark stormclouds swirling over western Milos.
Below are photos of our views from Hotel Tagoo on Mykonos, Hermes Hotel on Ios, and Halara Studios on Milos.
Enjoying a glass of wine on the terrace for Room 19 at Hotel Tagoo Mykonos
The cozy terrace for Room 19 sits on the east side of the Hotel Tagoo property
Part of the view from the terrace for Room 19 at Hotel Tagoo Mykonos
The terrace overlooks another nearby hotel and this old stone wall
It also overlooks the balcony for the room next door, but still feels fairly private
Our terrace at Hotel Tagoo gave us a partial view of the sparkling Aegean Sea …
… which is a gorgeous blue in the morning but takes on a molten silver hue under the blazing afternoon sun. Sunglasses are definitely required to enjoy this view — the sunlight reflection is so intense, it’s almost blinding!
A late afternoon view of the sea from one of Hotel Tagoo’s many levels
When I’m in the Greek Islands, I enjoy watching cruise ships and ferries come and go … this is a view from the Hotel Tagoo swimming pool terrace of a cruise ship approaching the nearby port of Tourlos (also known as the New Port)
The hotel’s pool terrace has a good view of ships docked at Tourlos
This is the view in the opposite direction, looking towards Mykonos Town
From the pool deck, my camera can zoom in on three of the famous Mykonos windmills and the Paraportiani Church (right) near Little Venice
Looking straight ahead, there’s a fabulous view of the sea and nearby islands
An early morning view from the Hotel Tagoo swimming pool deck
A late afternoon view from the Hotel Tagoo swimming pool deck
Enjoying one last look at the view before leaving Hotel Tagoo to travel to Ios
At Hermes Hotel on Ios, we could see the Aegean Sea and mountains near Mylopotas beach through our balcony doors
The balcony for our room (Room #2) gave us this view of the Aegean Sea and a graceful palm tree on the hotel grounds below
From our Room 2 balcony, our cameras could zoom in on Santorini island
We had this view of the valley when looking out the door to our room
Sitting areas outside the Hotel Hermes reception entrance offered excellent views of the sea and parts of Ios; this was a popular place for hotel guests and other people to enjoy the scenery while relaxing with breakfast or a drink
One of the features we loved most about Hotel Hermes was its sea-view outdoor café-bar terrace where we ate breakfast or had an afternoon coffee
Part of the amazing view from the hotel’s café-bar terrace
The café-bar deck was my favourite place to take in the views
The café-bar terrace overlooked the sea and nearby valley …
… had this view up the road to Chora, just 10 minutes away by foot …
… this view of the upper part of the valley near the hotel …
… and this view of the lower valley and the scenic Ios coastline
Another view of the coastline far below the Hotel Hermes
The café-bar terrace had this view of the mouth of Mylopotas Bay …
… and this view towards beautiful Mylopotas beach
Mylopotas beach is just a 15-minute walk down the hill from Hotel Hermes
Another view of Mylopotas beach from the café-bar deck at Hotel Hermes
A camera zoom view of our favourite seaside drinking and dining spot at the far end of Mylopotas beach, Drakos Taverna (right)
The swimming pool deck had views toward Santorini (visible under the clouds near the upper left corner of the photo) …
… and was a great spot to watch the goats roaming the hillside below the hotel
On Milos, the front window to our room at Halara Studios gave us this scenic view toward the western half of the island …
… while the window next to the kitchenette in our studio gave us this view
However, the long terrace outside our room had the best views of all
In the morning, we would enjoy the view with a cup of coffee and, in the evening, savour the scenery while drinking a bottle of wine
When we weren’t hiking around Milos, I spent my time admiring the views
This bucolic scene greeted us when we opened the door each morning
The hillside below us was lush and green, thanks to wet spring weather
Mount Profitis Elias rises 748 meters on the west side of the Gulf of Milos
The white building at left is a farmhouse; the other two buildings are churches that we visited during a morning hike to the seaside village of Klima
We snapped this photo of Halara Studios while hiking to the churches
Our studio was the one with the light blue-coloured window and door on the lower right-hand side, just above the MyGreeceTravelBlog.com logo
Our terrace view included this hillside house, to our upper left …
… and this house, just a few feet to the left below our balcony
This was the terrace view looking straight ahead across the Gulf of Milos
Right below us is a wide expanse of farm fields on the east side of the Gulf
Looking to the right, we could see the west coast of the Gulf of Milos all the way to Cape Vani, the point at the northwest tip of Milos
Some of the mountains along the west coast of the Gulf of Milos
A sailboat passes steep rocky cliffs on the west coast of the Gulf of Milos
I get a kick out of looking at Cape Vani on the northwest tip of Milos because I think it resembles a semi-submerged hippopotamus
Rays of sunlight stream through clouds above Milos one evening before sunset
A ship passes behind Cape Vani at sunset on May 24 2011
Another view of Cape Vani at sunset on May 24 2011
Dark stormclouds threaten western Milos, but we felt only a few drops of rain before the storm system cleared the region
The west coast of the Gulf of Milos at sunset on May 24 2011
A severe thunderstorm lashes western Milos on the afternoon of May 27 2011
Stormclouds above western Milos on Friday May 27 2011
The terrace view I hated to leave when we had to depart for Athens on May 28
I loved the views of Thirassia island (left) and Skaros Rock (right)…
… as well as the sunsets we could watch from our private balcony at Grotto Villas/Cliffside Suites in Firostefani village on Santorini
Musical rooms: I could describe our 2006 holiday as “Goldilocks goes to Greece,” because that was the vacation during which we kept switching hotel rooms — or even hotels, in one instance — to find one that felt just right.
On Mykonos, we stayed at the Petasos Beach Resort & Spa at Platis Gialos beach — the same area where we had stayed two years earlier. The Petasos sits on a peninsula between Platis Gialos Bay and Psarou Bay, so its property boasts a wide variety of views of two separate beaches and bays. Our first room at the Petasos had a small ground-level terrace facing Psarou Bay and the Aegean Sea, but we didn’t like the room itself. It was one of the hotel’s older units (the Petasos had been undergoing a major room renovation program, but had not yet overhauled the one we were in), and appeared comfortable enough, but felt very dark and depressing. We couldn’t determine exactly what we didn’t like, but since the room put both of us in a gloomy mood, we asked if we could move.
The hotel manager obligingly relocated us to a bright and cheery room on the second floor. Newly-renovated and upgraded, it looked and felt 100 times better than the first room, and had a much bigger terrace with twin sun loungers as well as a bistro table and two chairs. The trade-off was considerably less privacy and a much less impressive view. The balcony overlooked the back of several Petasos Resort buildings plus a row of terraces for all the other rooms on our floor, but also gave us views of Platis Gialos beach and bay, as well as other hotels and buildings on the surrounding hillside. It suited us just fine. And whenever we wanted a change of scenery, all we had to do was take a walk around the resort. The swimming pool bar and deck looked toward Nammos, the trendy upscale restaurant on posh Psarou beach; the dining room faced Psarou Bay and the Aegean Sea; and the hotel’s smaller second swimming pool overlooked Platis Gialos beach and bay.
On Naxos, we were supposed to spend a week at the top-ranked Hotel Kavos above Agios Prokopios beach, but stayed only three nights. The hotel had been getting consistent rave reviews on TripAdvisor.com, and still does to this day, but it wasn’t our cup of tea. The manager, Barbara, was terrific and so were the two young women who worked in the poolside restaurant and bar. And the views were good: the terrace outside our room faced Agios Prokopios Bay on the southwest coast of Naxos, and we could see similar views as well as nearby Paros island from the swimming pool deck. But many aspects of the room irked us, including the thick insect-infested vines above our terrace, and we didn’t enjoy the 30-minute one-way trek to a reasonably-priced breakfast spot at Agios Prokopios each morning (breakfast was not included in the room rate, and we thought Kavos’s menu prices were steep; I would have gone broke getting my daily caffeine fix at €3.50 per small cup of coffee).
While walking to breakfast one morning we passed the Lianos Village hotel, which we could see from our terrace at the Kavos, and stopped in to inquire about room rates. When the receptionist showed us a nice, bright sea-view room costing half as much as we were paying at the Kavos, and told us that the rate included a light buffet-style breakfast (with coffee), we decided to switch hotels. In a bid to convince us to stay at the Kavos, Barbara insisted on showing us some other rooms, including suites, that had better views and more space, but they were all significantly more expensive and, in one case, nearly twice the price. So we declined. Amazingly, Barbara insisted on driving us to Lianos Village, even though it was only a short walk down the hill (didn’t I say she was terrific?). It turned out the coffee at Lianos Village was dreadfully weak, but the breakfast spread was satisfying, the room was comfortable, the views were wonderful, and the price was excellent.
On Santorini, our final island-hopping destination that year, we stayed in the village of Firostefani at Grotto Villas, a caldera-view hotel that was in the process of changing its name to Cliff Side Suites. We were initially assigned Room 119, a windowless Flintstones- style cave room which initially struck us as novel and fun but soon became incredibly frustrating (not to mention a huge pain in the head for me). After two nights we had to change rooms, and totally lucked out by getting switched to Room 110, a small kitchenette-equipped studio boasting a private balcony with million-dollar views — including Santorini’s fabled sunsets. (For detailed descriptions of both rooms and the hotel in general, see my comments in post #3 of this July 2006 thread in the TripAdvisor.com Santorini forum.) Room 110 was wonderful, for a lot of reasons, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in it. I only wish I could say the same thing about our 2006 Santorini experience as a whole, but that’s a topic I’ll deal with some other time.
Below are photos of our various views at the Petasos Beach Resort, Hotel Kavos, Lianos Village and Grotto Villas/Cliff Side Suites.
Room P208, our first room at the Petasos Beach Resort & Spa on Mykonos, had a stone terrace with views of Psarou Bay and the Aegean Sea
Our terrace overlooked the landscaped hotel grounds as well an upscale residential area on the steep mountainside directly across Psarou Bay
To the left we could see part of Platis Gialos Bay and the rocky peninsula that juts into the Aegean Sea between Platis Gialos and Paraga Bay
The terrace for Room 183, our second room at the Petasos Beach Resort, overlooks Platis Gialos, one of the most popular beaches on Mykonos
If we didn’t feel like lounging beside one of the hotel’s two swimming pools, we could lay in the sun on our terrace instead
To the far left we could see another hotel across the street (actually, it’s the main road that links Platis Gialis to Mykonos Town) …
… as well as a semi-constructed resort building and more hotels lining the steep hillside above Platis Gialos…
…while straight ahead we looked onto Platis Gialos beach, another wing of the Petasos Beach Resort, and the Hotel Petinos Beach next door
To the right are terraces for the other hotel rooms on our floor
The main swimming pool terrace had views of Psarou beach and bay…
… including the trendy, private beach club-style Nammos restaurant and bar
The hotel’s poolside bar and dining room had similar views
Some of the breakfast tables sat on an open air dining terrace …
… with completely unobstructed views of the beautiful blue Aegean Sea
The Petasos has another (smaller) swimming pool …
… with great views of Platis Gialos beach and bay …
… plus the Platis Gialos pier where people can catch caiques — traditional Greek boats that shuttle passengers to popular beaches along the south coast of Mykonos
From our terrace outside Room 1 of the Hotel Kavos on Naxos …
… we could view the Aegean Sea off Agios Prokopios beach, a 15-minute walk away
To the left of our terrace were private homes and villas in the Stelida area of Naxos
The Hotel Kavos Naxos swimming pool had a view of the sea…
… while the pool terrace had views of the coastline on the southwest side of Naxos
From the pool deck, we could watch the sun set behind Paros island
The balcony for our room at the Lianos Village hotel offered a partial sea view toward the Agios Prokopios resort area of Naxos
The lovely swimming pool terrace at Lianos Village had views not just of Agios Prokopios beach, but also nearby Paros island, visible at the rear right of this photo
This was one of the pool terrace views of the Agios Prokopios area
This is a wider swimming pool view of the southwest coast of Naxos; the long, wide strip of sand in the foreground is Agios Prokopios beach
Here’s another view of the sea and Agios Prokopios beach
On Santorini, the shared public terrace outside Room 119 at Grotto Villas/Cliffside Suites had views of Thirassia island, Skaros Rock and Imerovigli village
We were happier when we moved to Room 110, which had a private balcony
The Room 110 balcony offered spectacular views. Visible in this photo are Nea Kameni (the Santorini volcano island, left) and Thirassia island
Here’s another view of the volcano island from our balcony
The view to our right included Skaros Rock (left) and Imerovigli village
This was our caldera view, looking to the left from our balcony
Our balcony overlooked the large swimming pool and breakfast terrace for the aptly named Kafieris Blue Apartments
We had a great view of cruise ships and ferry boats near the volcano island…
… and enjoyed watching the sun set in the distance, centered almost perfectly between Thirassia island and Skaros Rock
Most of the rooms and public areas at Grotto Villas had superb views. As an example, here’s a sitting area outside the hotel’s reception room
This is the view in the opposite direction from the same sitting area
This was the view for one of the larger Grotto Villas hotel rooms
This was the view for yet another Grotto Villas terrace
The swimming pool, situated on one of the lower levels of the hotel, had a great view towards Thirassia island
Breakfast was served on the swimming pool terrace. Some of the tables at the cliff side of the pool had wonderful views of the volcano island
Some of the hotel’s terraces overlooked the swimming pool for Dana Villas, a separate hotel situated even farther down the cliff face below Grotto Villas
And some of the terraces had this view of Skaros Rock (left), Imerovigli village (center rear) and Firostefani village (right)
On our very first morning in the Greek Islands back in 2004, we were awestruck by this view from our balcony at the Myconian Ambassador Hotel on Mykonos
Va-va-va-view: On our first-ever trip to Greece, we arrived at Mykonos after nightfall and didn’t have a clue what kind of view we would get from our balcony at the Myconian Ambassador Hotel. The hotel employee who showed us to our room opened the balcony doors and assured us we would have beautiful sightlines of the sea and Platis Gialos beach, but most of the area was pitch black and we couldn’t see much more than lights from nearby hotels and houses. It also was surprisingly quiet, though whenever the light breeze blew in our direction, we could faintly hear Greek music being played in the tavernas lining the beach a few hundred meters below us.
When we woke up the next morning and pulled open the balcony doors, our jaws dropped as we got our first glimpse of Platis Gialos in daylight. The view was absolutely gorgeous! Spread out below were dozens of the island’s signature white cube buildings, the golden-brown sandy beach, and the vivid deep blues and tempting turquoise waters of the legendary Aegean Sea.
On all of our Greek Island holidays since then, we’ve always tried to get a hotel room with a good sea view. If the room itself doesn’t offer one, we’re content if there is at least a decent sea view from a public area somewhere else on the hotel property — be it a breakfast room, swimming pool terrace, or other place where we can sit, relax and gaze at the scenery. At home, all we see from our windows and balcony are highrise glass, steel and concrete towers. When we travel on holidays, we cherish views of the sea. It’s even better if we can see some islands and mountains, too. Bonus points if we can watch a spectacular sunset. But a Greek holiday just wouldn’t feel the same if we couldn’t see the Aegean.
I posted additional photos of the views from the Myconian Ambassador Hotel in my June 3 2011 post. Below are photos showing the various different views we have had from some of the other hotels we stayed at during Greek Island holidays since. Some of the views are terrific, and others considerably less so, but with only one or two exceptions, we always got to see the sea without having to leave our hotels.
The view from our balcony at the Rodos Palladium at Kallithea beach on Rhodes
Evening view from our balcony at the Rodos Palladium in 2004
Our Rodos Palladium balcony view of a full moon above Kallithea Bay in 2004
The balcony to our room at the Candia Maris Resort & Spa in Amoudara, Crete gave us this view of sea and mountains in 2004…
… as well as this view of the resort’s indoor swimming pool…
… plus this view of other balconies on our side of this particular hotel building
That’s me on our sea-view terrace at the Santorini Palace Hotel on Santorini in 2004. This isn’t the breathtaking caldera view for which Santorini is renowned (this is the less scenic east side of the island), but it looked great to us. And if we did want to see the spectacular caldera view, all we had to do was exit the hotel’s main entrance and walk 100 meters up a short slope — and there it was.
We couldn’t see a famous Santorini sunset from our terrace at the Santorini Palace Hotel, but we could see the sunset glowing on clouds above Imerovigli village
A view of Elia Bay on Mykonos from the Myconian Imperial Resort & Villas in 2005
Part of the sea view from our balcony at the Myconian Imperial Resort & Villas
More of the sea view from our balcony at the Myconian Imperial Resort & Villas
Houses and rental accommodation on the steep hillside rising to the left of our balcony at the Myconian Imperial Resort & Villas
Our bathroom window gave us a view of more hotel rooms higher up the hillside
In 2005, we enjoyed views of Naxos Town and Agios Georgios Bay from the Naxos Beach II hotel in the Stelida district of Naxos
Another view toward Naxos Town from the Naxos Beach II hotel
Our bedroom at Naxos Beach II had doors that opened onto a stone-paved terrace offering this view toward Naxos Town
Another view from the terrace outside our bedroom at the Naxos Beach II
At the Yria Hotel on Paros in 2005, our room had a large ground-level terrace
This was the view if we looked to the left while sitting on the terrace…
…while, unfortunately, this was the view to the right — overlooking an unattractive overflow parking area
We could catch a slight glimpse of the sea from the Yria’s swimming pool terrace…
…and also see a small section of Paraspora beach, which was just a five-minute walk down the road…
… but the Yria Hotel’s main attraction was its enormous swimming pool. It looked fantastic, but the chilly water was murky from suntan oil
In 2005, we loved this marvellous caldera view from our private terrace at the Phenix Hotel in the cliffside village of Imerovigli on Santorini
We didn’t even have to leave our hotel room to enjoy the amazing view…
…but we preferred to savour the stunning scenery from our sun-bathed terrace
Looking to the left, we had this view of other hotels perched perilously on the steep cliffside high above the sea in Imerovigli
Looking down, we could see the caldera and cruise ships below the town of Fira
And from an upper level of the hotel, we enjoyed this view of the volcano island (Nea Kameni) and the gorgeous swimming pool at the Honeymoon Petra Villas, a beautiful multi-level hotel clinging to the cliffside next door to the Phenix
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