Greece and Thanos

Greece | Jul 2 - Jul 13, 2023

Lovely hotel walking distance from all of the things we wanted to do in Athens. Felt like a little gem.

Pool area was amazing. Room was amazing. But street was not very accessible so bus for one adventure could not pick us up. That required us to walk on a narrow not so safe street for 15 minutes to the pick up point. Staff was nice but inflexible to get us food or coffee 15 minutes before cafe open officially even though they were all working and kitchen was open. Cafe hours 8:30-12 which mages no sense for travelers who have activities early. The next day they got us a box breakfast and it literally was inedible - cold bread with a slice of cheese and Turkey, hard boiled egg so overbooked that we couldn’t eat it, sour plum, apple. No juice. No water.

Hotel is absolutely beautiful overlooking the sea and all the white buildings on the hill. Like a dream. Very close to main walkway to walk to shops and restaurants with amazing views. The manager Christina was a doll. She worked very hard to get us set up with massages and pool time for the same day so they would be at same location. She organized a sailing and snorkeling tour for us for the next day. Only issue was that the link in hotel bio asked pictures of a pool, yet no pool. So r we are very disappointed no pool on premise. The sister hotel 15 minutes away had the most gorgeous pool with amazing view and drinks/food at pool. We were given transportation there, but were charged 10 Euros each way.

Area of hotel covered in graffiti and felt unsafe. Ad for “adult shop” on building across from entrance. No staff to greet us when we arrived at 5pm since they leave at 3pm. Keys in lockbox. Lobby had junk on side as you entered; rest of lobby was very cute with great Italian vibe. Railing to our room accessible from lobby was broken (ie dangerous). Room was very basic. Bathroom seemed recently remodeled. No blow dryer as advertised. Breakfast in morning was excellent and staff at breakfast was nice. Door to lobby opened during breakfast. Because directly at street, it was noisy and could smell car fumes. Two minute walk away was an amazing neighborhood. We decided to venture out even though we were very nervous about location as we needed dinner. Loved that area but from the looks of the hotel, you would have no idea it was so close.

Incredible hotel and room. Lobby 5-star elegant. Apparently we were in the nicest room (#7) as every staff member commented “oh you are in our best room”…for good reason. The room was beautiful. Balcony overlooking the port and breathtaking views. Staff incredibly nice. Hotel in the middle of everything so it was so easy to go to anything we wanted. Such a wonderful neighborhood.

Stavroula was waiting for us in the lobby 30 minutes early. She was very sweet and fine with waiting for us to get ready. We had a lovely couple of hours walking up to the acropolis and learned so much. She constantly offered to take our picture. Great tour!

No rating. The trip was canceled. Not only at last minute, but after pick up time. We were waiting and waiting, and finally called Thanos as we had tried calling the number provided, but no one picked up. Eventually, Thanos was able to get through to someone and they said they canceled the tour due to unsafe winds for sailing. It was that windy the night before, so we really should have been given a heads up that there was a chance that it would need to be canceled. We should not have been left waiting for 30 minutes with no information and when we called, someone should have picked up.

This was an out of world amazing experience. We rode on bikes, made of wood by the owner of the company. We rode all over the island and CD got to see so much. He stopped at a church, and since it was Sunday, we got to walk in and see a little bit of a baptism. We learned about wine making on this island and it included a stop at a restaurant with wine and food tasting. It was all perfect. Our guide is their only employee, Adonis. He taught us all about Santorini island, wine, making, foods, architecture, religion. We even talked about spirituality. He is simply an authentic amazing person, and I would recommend this tour to everyone.. The only issue was that the electric bikes don’t have a mode for no paddling. The electric isn’t really strong enough to get someone up a hill who has bad knees.

Wow wow! The boat ride and views were amazing. The hike to the top of Gramvousa Island was strenuous, but well worth the challenge. The views at the top were outstanding. Someone with bad knees could do just the beginning portion, and still get amazing views. After Gramvousa, we went to Balos lagoon, and that was just lovely. Warm water. The most incredible green ever.