Santo Miramare Resort

We have just returned from a fortnight in Santorini at the Santo Mirmare Hotel, and have mixed views about our vacation. The hotel itself is good by the standards of the Greek Islands, clean, peaceful, decent food (although one salad did have the added surprise of a dead fly swimming in the olive oil) and reasonable prices. The staff are helpful, but there does seem to be a breakdown in the requirements given by UK tour operators and the hotel - we requested (and paid for) a sea-view room, only to find ourselves under the stairs looking at a stone wall, in soemthing of a hobbit hole (apparently all Junior Suites are on the gound floor, with a limited sea view). We pointed this out to the hotel, who moved us 24 hours later to a far better room, although arguably still not a sea view. Rooms are very clean - we saw the same cleaner every day over the fortnight, who must be due a day off soon! Bar staff very helpful and friendly. A word of warning - the hotel do not exchange currency, and the nearest exchange is a 15 minute walk away, which is OK provided you keep on top of the bar tab and do not leave settling it until the last minute, unless of course you are paying by credit card! The let down for the hotel is the location. Most of the nearby beachfront bars shut down after sunset (around 7.30 in September) whilst many were closing totally for the winter. The walk to the majority of open bars/restautants is around 30 minutes along a poorly lit beach road, which the locals use as a sort of home straight on a race track. The alternative walk along the main road is scary, to say the least. Good restaurants - Sunset Lounge (right out of the beach side of the hotel) is good food, but expensive for the resort (110 Euros for a meal for two with wine). Head left for good cheaper food. Greek Night on Mondays at Meteorona is good, but expect to wait until after the party for your bill, which could be 90 minutes after you have eaten. Gods Garden is Perissa is good value (30 Euros maximum for two course meal with wine); infact if you can manage the 30 minute walk the retaurants in Perissa are much better value than those in Perivolos (where the hotel is based). Santorini itself is very quiet. There are one or two trips worth doing, you must visit Thera and Oia and view at least one sunset - we could watch that everyday and not be bored. Both these resorts are however full of tourists arriving off the massive crusie liners which appear outside Thera on a day-by-day basis.The ruins at Akrotiri are apparently shut (and have been for two years), even though all the resort information says they are one of the things you must visit. There is nothing there for young children, unless they are prepared to spend every day in the hotels (excellent but freezing) swimming pools. It is really a place to go for a week to totally chill out and do nothing but lay in the sun. If you are looking for a more stimulating holiday, but want to visit Santorini, I would suggest you add it to a tour of the Greek Islands.

In search of a good hotel to stay in for our honeymoon we went to a local internet cafe and asked the attendant where we should stay. She recommended Santo Miramare, and we called to see if there were any vacancies. At the time we were staying at Hotel Rena and couldn't bare to stay there another night. By God's grace there was one vacancy and the hotel manager stated we could check in within the hour. When we arrived at the hotel I was so elated I could scream. We were able to enjoy all of it's amenities, able to explore parts of the island and were within walking distance of local restaurants to experience Greek culture. The food was excellent and the staff was very friendly. I will say the beaches are topless so fair warning. My husband and I decided if we were to ever go back to Santorini for our anniversary hands down we would stay at Santo Miramare.

We read the reviews after we booked the resort, so we were a bit wary as some of the reviews were more than a bit negative. I am happy to say that we had nothing to worry about. The staff were friendly and helpful (especially the bar staff!!!) The rooms were not four star in the traditional sense, but were comfortable and adequate. The only thing that let it down was the restaurant, but there are enough restaurants close by to compensate (we would recomend the meteora). The pool area is clean and very spacious so you never feel crowded, and there is always the private beach just across the road. If you prefer a more active holiday, a bit further down you have beach football, beach volley ball, and a whole variety of water sports so there really is something for everyone. From what I saw of the other resots, the Santo miramare was the best and this was commented on by others not staying at this resort. To round it up I would say it was a wonderful holiday made better by a wonderful resort.

we were there from july 16 to the 20th, and we had a great time...before leaving, we read some bad reviews but at our arrival, we soon realize that the reviews were wrong...the hotel is just has you see it on the internet..very nice ,big with 5 pools, and a bar at the pool where you can eat lunch...the beach, a black sandy beach is across the street with private chair and beach service. the room were nice , clean and big... the staff were out of this world...they would help us and suggest us what or where to go.. The manager at the hotel call Sotiris was very helpful and suggewsting us great restaurant in Thira...whenever we needed a taxi, he would call it for us even before we would tell him. very nice family resort for families with children as they can enjoy the beach , pool and eat at the resort without going out overall, we had a fun time thanks Sotiris

Having read some negative reports of this hotel before we went to Santorini on our honeymoon - we were very nervous. However, I can say that we found the hotel, amenities and in particular the staff excellent. We were there for 2 weeks and had a wonderful time. The hotel has a large pool area and lots of beds, you really need to get up early though to get a spot with shade. The breakfast was a buffet with a lot of choice, both continental and 'english' catered for. The beach is very close and there is a bar service from the beach. The hotel is situauted on the beach road, this is lined with tavernas and bars. In 2 weeks you coudl easily eat somewhere different every night. It is about 20minute walk to Perissa which is slightly cheaper. The road is very busy with mopeds/scooters etc so watch out. There are some very trendy bars as well as more traditional ones. The hotel has a bus service outside to Fira, this is a beautiful town and the island capital. If you walk to Perissa, (it is a flat road, very easy walk) you can get a taxi boat to Kamari, it is a more established tourist resort. I would thoroughly reccommend this hotel and resort. In Greece, you generally do not get hotels of this standard, OK it's not what you'd get in the UK for 4 stars but all the reps and other tourists who had been to Santorini before we spoke to said this was the best big hotel on the island. There are villas which I am sure are more exclusive, however for pools, sunbathing and lots to do on your doorstep - this is just ace!

Hotel is well located on seafront at Perivolos. The staff were excellent, hardworking, keen to help, and very friendly. (Resident in-house young lad called 'Boris' was friendly with all the children, especially when ice creams were available!) The rooms were very well cleaned every day. Have seen other reviews about issues with reception and would agree at times that it what not what it could have been. (However, very little of your holiday is spent in reception!). Restaurants are generally better and have more choice in Perissa than Perivolos. (However, ate lunch and dinner daily in either Perissa, Perivolos, Kamari or Thira and only had one poor meal in whole two weeks. Worth the 20 to 30 minute walk from hotel to Atlantis restaurant; definitely the best all round for service, food quality and price. Most traffic on road to Perissa moved slowly and safely. Beach at Perivolos is black sand which is much better than the shingle types to be found at Kamari, and incredibly hot on the feet! If hotel beds are full, try the beds to the right; they do charge, but only 5 Euro's per bed for the whole day and they are much more comfortable. Well worth hiring a car. I got an upgraded car (from the basic) for £90 for 3 days with only a 30 Euro excess to consider. (Avis). Small but very nice and friendly water park at Perissa. Less than £20 for the day for a family of four.....good food.....although they did run out of mustard! Thira has stunning view of island and cruise liners well worth at least one visit. Thomas Cook rep was excellent; although she could do nothing about size of meals in-flight.......if you want to see what you are eating.....pack a powerful microscope! Had a great time.........would go again!

Have recently returned from the Santo Miramare Resort, an attractive complex in a neopolitan ice cream sort of way. The front desk manager is blunt and to the point and enjoys a bit of banter with colleagues in the back office - a bell would be useful. The large reception area is smart with nice lighting, furnishings and a bar which is permanantly closed! The grounds are beautiful & spacious and the pools are welcome under the sun but the main pool was released daily to local infants for swimming lessons. We booked a junior suite but these rooms are lower than ground level and minus a sea view, the beds were comfortable and the air conditioning gauranteed a good nights sleep. The restaurant & pool bar staff are friendly but tend to turn the music up at pool side a little too loud on occasion. The unsung heroes are the girls who clean the rooms - they deserve a good tip. Good idea to wear a 'high-viz' vest whilst walking along the sea front in the evening, this road is primarily for quad bikes, motor bikes and cars with large bass units that compete with the high volume club music pumped out by a multitude of Taverners along the strip - it's the nearest to having your dinner along side a speed way circuit so sit further in the restaurants to avoid the noise and carbon monoxide!

We stayed at the Santo Miramare resort in the second week of May, which was also the second week of the season. Just before leaving I read a couple of bad reviews but found them to be completely in contrast to the hotel and the service offered by their staff. The hotel itself looks just like it does in the brochures, which is a first! It is designed beautifully and you are not sat on top of other holiday makers when in the bar, restaurant or round the pool. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. There was only a small staff working as it was quite quiet when we stayed but each person said hello when you passed and offered assistance whenever you needed it. It really did make the holiday more enjoyable. The only small downside was that most of the bars and restaurants were only just opening when we stayed so dont expect too much action in May. The beach walk up to Perissa, where many tavernas and bars are located, is a 30-40 minute walk which was a little dissapointing. Having said that the hotel staff were on hand to order taxis whenever we needed and several bar owners provided lifts back to the hotel! In all the hotel was wonderful and the resorts and island as a whole were lovely. We had a very nice, quiet week and i would recomend it to anyone who wants to relax in the sun with no worries.

Ok I travel all over the world with my job, I wanted a short haul trip this time and booked Santorini. Sitting on the coach I was a little worried when they announced we were approaching the hotel. Once I got inside it was lovely, not a true 4 star but certainly lovely. The staff were really helpful and the place is very clean. The rooms a small but totally fine for what you need, the maid leaves the floor wet but CLEAN... Food is fine for breakfast and snacks, drinks are branded and the place is quite charming. Make sure you turn right along the beach and walk past Popeyes (wasnt good for me) keep going towards the Lounge, really trendy restraunt the food is first class! Also turn left along the beach and try Atlantis, a cheaper but quite nice restraunt, a fair walk I agree but work off the food :). Thira the town centre is very nice and the sunsets are lovely. Ideal if you decide to pop the question when there but take £8k for a ring, these shops are for the American cruise ships that line the port..Will definetly return, thumbs up.

We have just returned from the Santa Miramare, the hotel was lovely, the room was clean and spacious, the staff were friendly and helpful. Breakfast was good but if you are looking for authentic Greek cuisine we suggest you try the Tavernas rather than the restaurant. Yes it is a bit of a walk into the resort, but there are bars and taverna's lining the route. However if you are looking for relaxation and peace and quiet ...........this is the spot.