Sandy Villas

We have been holidaying to the Greek Islands for many years as it is one of our favourite destinations. Santorini was lovely but unfortunately SandyVillas is the worst accomodation I have ever stayed in. Upon arriving we were told what room we were in and that we would get the key to the room once she had personally greeted us all. After at least 1/2 hr she got round to our room, during which we could not leave as there was no key to secure it. The personal greeting was infact a list of orders (e.g. you are not allowed to open the windows in a hot stuffy room as there are no hooks and the glass will break which you will have to pay for ) and a hard sell for a fan, a safe and some water (which is more expensive that the nearby supermarket). A further three times during the holiday she knocked on the door, told us to stop what we were doing and listen and procceded to try and sell us overpriced tickets to her BBQ The first room we received had a broken shower, chairs with the middle missing, the springs in the bed meant you could only lie in one position and we were disgusted to see live wires hanging from the light above the bed. The metal shutters had no hooks on meaning that you had to keep them shut or risk a gust of wind causing them the bang loudly - a sound which echoed arounf the hotel at night. When we were finally moved (after a week) the second room was much better decorated but unfortunately was connected to the garage. Any wind (and Santorini is a windy island) caused the garage to bang, echoing a terrible sound through the room and preventing any chance of any sleep. Our complaints about this were met with comments such as what do you expect from cheap Greek holiday accomadation and that we were too sensitive to noise so should get drunk to sleep through it (a solution that we tried but made no difference at all!) and that her room was close to where we were and she did not hear anything (her room was not connected to the garage). After 4 days of asking for something to be done it came to a head one night when the banging meant that it got to 5 in the morning with no sleep and we were due up the next day for a tour. We had to go and ring the bell of Sandy's house, getting her out of bed, and then, after a few heated words got her to open the garage door, therefore preventing it from banging. She did not close it again. We always stay in basic, self catering accomadation in Greece and know what basic is. In this accomadation the rooms and the service we recieved were dispecable so we highly reccommend you stay somewhere else so you can enjoy your holiday! We have also never come across someone as rude, aggressive, unhelpful and generally unpleasant as Sandy. The rest of the holiday was great. Santorini is a lovely island. Perissa is well located for getting to places whilst still being on the sea front. There are some great walks up the steep hill-side to ancient Thira - a sight definatley worth seeing, and a boat around to the next resort, Kamari, which is just a busier version of perissa. The air-conditioned buses are great, both regular and cheap, taking you into the center of the capital Thira, from where you can get to any of the other places of interest on Island. The rep gave us a map of walks and their relative time and one I would recommend is to Vlachad, a small port with lovely boats and a great beech. Perissa itself is just right for a resort. There are a number of nice resturants and cafes along the seafront but the ones on the road parrallel to this seemed slightly better, having to rely on reputation rather than location. Atlas bar, opposite the youth hostel, was great for both meals and drinks and Sirocco served fantastic food, both Greek and stone baked pizzas. Yazz bar on the front had a great atmosphere, especially when there was live muic. The staff at all these places were friendly and helpful and everyone seemed to know everyone else, with many going back year after year to work there. Tours were easy to book and while some seemed a bit rushed at least they gave you ideas of where to get back to on the great bus system. Take a camera with you every where, each place will have at least one place that looks amazing and most have enough to easily fill up your camera! We will probably be going back, and if we do will definatley stay in Perissa. But we will not be staying in Sandy Villas ever again.

Upon arrival we were allocated Room 16, fortunately not a dungeon room. Sandy visits you upon arrival & it's almost as if you won't get your room key unless you pay up for the hire of a fan & the safety deposit box. You are also conned into a six pack of water...grand total of 58 euros. We then went to the supermarket where as well as buying essentials like milk etc. we bought a bottle of "Cif" to clean the bathroom & kitchen sinks & also the washing up bowl, all of which were very greasy. We bought bleach to put down the shower outlet as that smelt of sewage and insulating tape to repair the lead on the cooker. We used the same tape to repair one of the lights behind the bed which was hanging off the wall. The following morning when we came to use the shower the button which controls the switchover from shower to tap pulled right out of the assembly so the shower couldn't be used. There were 2 plastic chairs on the balcony one of which had a big hole in the bottom of it. The fan which we were given only operated on one speed & didn't oscillate. We told the Olympic rep, Louise, about the shower, the fan, the chair & the light at the welcome meeting that morning & when we got back from the beach that night we had a new chair, fan & a new shower assembly but the light was never repaired up to the day we left. After the first night it was obvious that the mattresses were well past their best & after a week we made another complaint to Louise & they were changed. The plates were all plastic & badly scratched & the cutlery & kitchen equipment inadequate. Water had to be boiled in a pan as there wasn't a kettle (even the most basic Greek accommodation these days has a kettle) & no toaster, it was therefore impossible to self cater ....possibly Sandys way of "persuading" you to frequent the pool bar which we never did. The " clean" towels were invariably stained when you first got them. The hand towels weren't hand towels at all but actually white (ish) bath mats. Once you get to the seafront there are some reasonable restaurants & bars. The best restaurant we found was "Veggera" and "Visanto Bar" had some excellent snacks. We got the local bus into Fira & Oia both of which are spectacular. In conclusion my wife and I have stayed in self catering accommodation in Greece for over 25 years & this was without doubt the WORST !!!!

My husband and I stayed at Sandy Villas for 2 weeks in August 2009. We had one week on our own and then friends joined us in another studio for the 2nd week. We had Room 7 which was a semi dungeon room (although we had asked for a top floor room when booking). Sandy comes to your room and tries to sell you the fan and safe. We asked to change room and she told us we would need to see the Olympic Rep but that the rooms were all full. As the room was almost below ground we knew we would not be able to have the windows open at night and therefore had to agree to pay 35 Euros for the fan and safe for 2 weeks. Felt cross about that! Spoke to the Olympic rep who said she would see what she could do and we never heard another word from her for the whole time we were there. The pool area is small, although the pool is lovely and it was a kind of hot bed system where someone leaves their sunbed and if its in the spot you want to be in - you jump in it fast. Consequently we hired a scooter and spent the whole 2 weeks at the beach and only slept in our dungeon. The balcony doors open to see 4 or 5 steps going up to the balcony - which when you are sitting on you can only see the whitewashed wall :( Not very pretty. No view at all, other than the wall!! There were no plates in the apartment, luckily we had taken picnic plates for the beach and ate off those for breakfast. There were rusty knives and forks (not many) and one cereal bowl. There were 2 cups and saucers and a couple of cooking utensils. That was it. Our friends brought out some cutlery for us!! The bathroom was typically Greek and basic. Clean enough but could be much better with a sweep behind the door now and again. Yes the towels were like sandpaper and the sheets had seen better days. The worst thing for me was not having any balcony view and being below ground level. Peoples feet were going past one of our little windows and I was afraid cats would get in. We did not let any of this spoil our holiday and just made it our business not to give Sandy any of our business! Santorini is lovely and Oia is stunning. There are lots of restaurants to choose from and The Volcano, Gods Garden, Lava are well worth a visit. Sandy is working hard to make her business work but this really is not 2 star accommodation. Our friends when the arrived for our 2nd week stayed in Room 4 which was a top floor room. They of course did not need to pay her for the fan as they could leave their windows open. Although their balcony was much smaller than ours, they could at least see the pool area from it and not a wall which we had to look at. All in all we had a great time but it was certainly no thanks to Sandy, Sandy Villas or the Olympic Rep who didn't even have the decency to tell us we could not change rooms.

went to santorini for the first time stayed at sandy villas perissa, first impressions of santorini were what have we done, resort is a little scruffy, airport was a breeze in and out we were the only plane landing so we were on the coach with 20 mins i reckon. perrissa is a bit of a dump no foot paths on main road or beach road so not so good for young kids, cant fault food at any restaurant we visited, Gods Garden is supposed to be excellent but was always full when we passed table a bit crammed in so not much room but plenty of others to visit with more space and less people, Fira is amazing walk down to harbour 589 steps and get the donkey back 5euros each donkeys have a mind of their own very entertaining, as for Sandy Villas rooms were clean enough i suppose my our shower tray stank had no grill on it you had to be carefull were you stood or you fell down it, pillow cases had yellow stains and sheet also stained although these were changed, Sandy the owner has to hand you the keys personnally during which time she give a shpeil about safety all nonsense just a ploy to get you to buy fans and room safe cost was 2 fans and room safe 50 euros 1 week, if you said no she gets the hump and walks off she never spoke to some people all week, food and drink expensive at hotel 3 euros for a glass of orange most of which was ice coffee 2 euros mythos lager 2 .5 euros 500ml less 25mm of froth we had 2 toated sandwich 2 slices of toast 2 orange 2 coffe came to 17 euros that £17 nearly you can get full english including coffee and orange juice for 4.5 euro each in town fans i dont think are really neccessary as the island is always windy and keeps you cool although rooms do get hot i didnt think it was that bad at night gets a bit cool outside you can leave the windows open at night to as there are no mosquitos on the island as it has no natural fresh water spring atall, all water is salty the pool and the shower. i will go back i think but not to Sandy Villas oh nearly forgot Sandy uses a young girl of about 13 to do all the fetching and carrying around the pool all day everyday she looked miserable, while Sandy gave out her orders from her chair and collected her money

GOOD POINTS: Very clean Friendly staff Lovely pool and spacious area for sunbeds and umbrellas Good bar service Off the beaten track (quiet) BAD POINTS: Very hot and stuffy rooms - no air conditioning and would you believe it - we were charged extra for a fan! Not enough kitchen utensils even to boil a few eggs! We were charged to use the safe to put our passports and jewellery in after being advised to do so to avoid 'losing' anything! CONCLUSION: Sandy and her family are charming and work hard to keep the place clean and attractive....but....Because of the bad points I would not go back there or recommend to anyone else. As I live in Greece I know when the tourists are being overcharged and taken for a ride!

We stayed in room 7 also for 1 week in August 2009. On arrival we were greeted by Sandy who told about half the guests that had just arrived their rooms were not ready! - they were not happy. We were then shown to our room (room 7) which despite requesting a high floor (having previously read reviews on here about the "dungeon rooms", we were actually on the ground floor, in a small room with no storage space, and a bathroom you could not swing a cat in. The shower was a hand held version with no wall mount so this made using it quite difficult. The balcony was a step up from the room onto it, which was directly onto the road behind the hotel. This meant we could not sleep at night with the door open. The rooms were extremely hot, and were not air conditioned or supplied with a fan. A room safe was fitted, and Sandy wanted 35 Euros a week for a fan and a room safe. We had previously read the reviews on here and took a cheep argos fan with us, which we left on departure with another family who were staying for another week, with the instruction to pass it onto the next guests coming in. So, if you are reading this review and are going to Sandy's Villa's then please let me know if you do get our fan! :) The actual location of the hotel was fairly good, and was only a 5 minute walk into the main town, and a further 5 minutes to the beach where the main restaurants were located. We tried Gods Garden, but found it did not live up to expectations. Thoroughly recommended eateries are "Yazz", located at the far end of the beach towards Old Thira, and "Grandma's Recipies" located directly opposite the road leading from Sandy's to the main strip. These were both excellent food at very reasonable prices. The sign at the entrance saying "Sandy" had been vandalised by previous guests and now says "Sandy's Prison Camp" (see photo's i've uploaded). Read into this what you will! The pool was lovely, however do not believe the signs saying you cannot bring your own food or drink, as we did all week and got away with it. Sandy's was overpriced on everything compared to other bar's in the resort. Venturing further afield, Thira and Oia (pronounced Ear) are both worth a visit. If you are planning to do any trips, then I would suggest that you go into Perissa and organise them yourself (the one opposite the road leading from Sandy's was very reasonable), as they are much cheaper than through the holiday rep (i.e. the same trip from the rep was 35 euros each, and we got it in town for 20 euros each). Make sure though if you do this that you arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the earliest arrival time they give you - the return coach from Oia we were told would leave at 9:15pm so to be on board by 9:05pm, actually leave at 8:55pm! luckily we were on it. I would not recommend hiring a motorbike or quad, as there have been some nasty accidents in the area - we were unfortunate to come across one on the way back from Oia and it was not pretty. Much better to hire a car which we did through Europcar (contracts with Europcar are in English!) and were able to visit all the sights we wanted to in one day easily. The Beach is nice, but a little windy. However if you intend to go in the sea, then please make sure you take some appropriate footwear, as being a volcanic island, it is very smooth,slippery rock for the first 10 metres or so getting in, and the waves are quite rough, so you are likely to slip over getting in (I did several times). The beach is suitable for adults, but not really with young children because of this, and the fact that the gradient drops off really quickly (you can go from waist deep to out of your depth in about 2 metres). Overall, the resort of Perissa was very good, the Island excellent, the weather superb. The let down for us was the rip off prices for food and drinks (6 euros for a chocolate pancake for example!), and the lack of fans / AC in the rooms as standard, as it was clearly needed. I would recommend Perissa / Santorini to anyone, but NOT Sandy Villa's.

We stayed at sandy villas for a week in June 2009. We booked 6 weeks before and could not fault the price for last minute get away. I was concerned about the potential of getting a 'dungeon room' as previously reviewed on other sites. however we had room 11 and were pleasantly suprised - it was spacious, clean and the lower level room meant it didnt get too hot. from speaking to others there it was clear the standard of rooms does vary and i think this is because sandy has developed extra annexes over the years. We knew sandy may try to hard sell to us and we managed to avoid being pestered for the bbq. we hired a fan at 3.50 euros a day - which we felt was reasonable, but didnt hire the safe. the kitchen is minimal - may benefit from taking small amount of cultery as theirs is not the cleanest, also my boyfriend didnt like the rather crunchy towels! Santorini is small and easy to get around, we went to oia and thira on the bus and also hired a quad bike for just $15 euros which we used to get to a more remote restaurant in the evening and to explore the bottom end of the island. we liked gods garden restuarant for greek value food and we went to kyprida in oia for a more expensive greek-cypriot meal.

My wife & I stayed at sandy villas for 2 weeks in room 7 we would NOT recommend this as it was very small with a tiny single wardrobe for hanging space. Now for the good bits. Pool area has plenty of space & sunbeds friendly atmosphere with everyone. Places to visit **** Santo winery (1 euro 40 on bus) has stunning views**** Fira is well worth a visit lots of shops & places to eat **** Amazing sunset at Oia ***** Perrissa (places to eat) Gods Garden, Acropolis, Volcano, Finkas & Cylades to name but a few are all worth a visit. Grandmas do great pittas for a quick & easy meal. You may want to consider taking a small electric fan to save on hire charge !!! Sandy likes to push her barbeque evening 15 euros each, but we opted out. The Wilsons from Middlesbrough.

Booked this holiday as a last minute treat to myself..FANASTIC!! How pleasantly suprised I was to find myself staying at one of the cleanest and prettiest appartment accommodation I have stayed yet (and at such a reasonable price). Any information I had researched regarding Sandy's villa'sbefore my stay, certainly did not do the place justice! The pool area is amazing..Sandy has the biggest pool that I came upon on my entire visit, the area is perfectly landscaped and is a suntrap all day long! Sandy herself could not provide better service and is ever ready to help with any query or personal requirement you may have. The appartment in which I stayed was beautiful, it had a spiral staircase leading to the bedroom and the kitchen provided every utensil needed. The pretty living area lead onto a balcony with table and chairs again providing delightful sunlight dinning throughout the day. Such a homely and restful enviroment with cleanliness of the highest standards. I THOROUGHLY RECCOMMEND Sandy's place for anyone who truly wishes to chill out and enjoy the infamous Greek Hospilality. MY THANKS TO SANDY FOR A PERFECT STAY IN HER LITTLE GREEK HEAVEN XXX

A lovely, warm welcoming self catering type apartment bloc. Could'nt have wished for better service, lady who runs the place is amazing!! There to greet you on arrival, coos all the dishes for the theme night herself and leaves bar open for the late night stragglers when she goes to bed with an honesty box for payment. The apartments pool is the best you'll find at the resort. Apartments are basic but comfortable and you might have to borrow equipment from others if you're self catering, but they are exceptionally clean as are the pool and grounds. If you're looking for nightlife Perissa/Perivolos is,nt really that great, with the exception of the sunshine bar, everything seems to shut at about 11pm. However, if you are looking for nightlife, Santorini is very small and has an excellent and cheap bus service that will take you into Thira, where all the clubs are in less than 20 minutes. Overall, an exceptional place to stay for anyone who likes to be close to the beach and here you can enjoy a tranquil friendly family holiday or enjoy lazy days near the best beaches Santorini has to offer whilst still in easy reach of top class nightlife, without the extortionate expense of actually staying in Ia or Thira, where the beaches are a bit rubbish anyway. There are many places to visit on the Island, I recommend Red beach,Ia for the sunset, Akrotiri an archaeological site and of course the spectacular capital Thira and its live volcano. All of these places are within easy reach by bus or you could hire a quad bike. It only takes about an hour to travel across the whole of Santorini on a quad.