Marianna Hotel

We have just returned from our holiday in Santorini. The Marianna is a lovely little hotel, very friendly with a beautiful clean swimming pool. The staff were really amicable and liked to have a bit of a joke with the guests. We were invited for mezes and wine by the pool when we arrived which was a nice personal touch and all the guests were able to get to know each other. The guy from the hotel also owned a beachfront taverna (Perissa Taverna) so we were entitled to free sunbeds on the beach there. There was no snack bar by the pool, but they offered to do a food delivery service from the beach restaurant. The food there was great and the staff hilarious. We went Self Catering so we weren't entitled to breakfast (which isn't clear in the brochure). Other gests told us the breakfast was nothing special but sufficient - just consisted of coffee, juice and lovely fresh bread. The self catering rooms are located on the ground floor and were right next to reception. It was very noisy in the morning with the cleaner and owner chatting at a very loud volume and people coming up and down stairs to breakfast. It may be worth requesting a higher level room if you are not self catering. But apart from that it was in a very peacefl setting. The rooms were spacious with a fridge, sink and cooking hob. It's not like an apartment, more like a big bedroom with kitchenette. Our only gripe was that they only changed our towels once and it was on a day we had been to the hot springs. You get a rusty iron film on your skin from the water at the hot springs and it doesn't all come off - so our towels got a bit mucky. We left them out for the cleaners and they took them away and wouldn't give us any more! They also didn't change the sheets all week. However, I understand that these things are quite normal in Greece, so it wasn't a major issue for us. The hotel is in a nice quiet part of Perissa, although the resort as a whole is not too busy anyway. If you want a great place to eat, try Taverna Laterna - fab Greek Cuisine and not too expensive. Prices are a third of what they are in Thira and Oia. If you want to go on any trips, do not book them thru the Tour Operator as you will pay double. Santos Travel on the main street do really good rates for trips and Car hire and they were very reliable. The sunset cruise was amazing. I wouldn't bother with the Volcano or hot springs. And if you hire a car you can drive to Thira and Oia to see the sunsets and it's only 20euros a day!!