Santorini Kastelli Resort

Its interesting reading the reviews and experiences of other people who have stayed at the Kastelli, its a hotel that seems to divide opinon. Having just got back from a week at the Kastelli, I can only report on what my partner and I experienced in the time we were there, namely a superb hotel in an excellent location to a superb resort on an island that I would gladly visit again. Despite visiting many Greek islands over the years, this was the first time we had visited Santorini, only having heard great things from people who had been there, we were looking forward to our trip. Upon arrival from the hotel, we with our fellow new guests, were escorted to a side room where we filled in registration forms and given information on the hotel and taken on a tour of the facilities (of which there are many and worthwhile). We were then escorted en masse back to the room and told to wait before being taken to our rooms - upon which your luggage is bought up for you. The rooms I found were excellent, comfortable while the shower facilities were excellent (not quite sure why some people were having trouble - there isn't any as far as I could see), the beds wonderfully comfortable with sheets, towels and pilows changed every day - the walls (or our walls at least) seemed nice and thick. Poolside - you are provided with towels on loungers and we never had any trouble securing a spot around the side pool - while the main pool always seemed to be busy, the side ones weren't and we were able to have a sun lounger without getting up ridiculously early in the morning to secure one - even though we noted one morning that some people had already done just that. We stayed bed and breakfast and I can hearily recommend the breakfasts - with something for all, there was plenty of choice and it was always tasty and plentiful with attentive staff ready to fill your coffee cup without prompting. Being the first time for sometime that I'd stayed at a 4 star hotel in comparison to the usual 2 star hotels we normally stay at - one observation I would note is that at first, there was a sense of slightly inpersonal service. The staff are very attentive but at first there was a sense of an almost camp like atmosphere - its hard to put into words but usually I'm used to being dumped at the hotel door and then given a room key - being given a guided tour of the hotel and waiting for your luggage to be taken up was a new experience for us but it was one that at first led me to think it felt not quite a warm welcome - more a sense of greater efficiency and service than I was used to in previous hotels. This wasn't exactly enhanced on the first night when we deciced to get a quick drink in the hotel after we had been for a walk in Kamari - the hotel bar being at the back of the hotel had 2 very attentive, uniformed staff members waiting for guests to take to their seats before ordering drinks - truth be told I found it slightly intimidating. This is though a very small criticism of the hotel and purely comes from me not begin used to that level of service. One thing the hotel lacks and I think would benefit from, is a bar more in the centre of the hotel - the bar is located at the back of the hotel and while you can find it easily enough, its not conducive to act as a focal point for people to mingle, meet and get to know each other - something I've found works well in other hotels I've stayed in before. As a resot, Kamari is excellent - no more than a 5 min walk from the beach front and with a varied and excellent choice of bars and restaurants. Special mention must go to Skaramagas and El Greco - as restaurants they were excellent and worth going to alone - although all of them are good and looked good in the limted time we were there. For bars, Marias and Princes are worth visting, especially for the Strawberry Diaquiris and Margarettas. the views with the mountains behind are stunning and the area itself is wonderful and as good as we have experienced anywhere before across Greece - the island is a wonerful place to go for a week and I would recommend it to anyone.

Wonderful location, thoughtful staff, nice resort overall, BUT: The beds were without a doubt the LEAST comfortable beds I've ever slept in. My wife and I didn't get a good nights sleep for 3 nights, and the pillows were worse! I'm convinced it wasn't just my room. You should absolutely expect a better bed in a Red Roof Inn or Motel 6. They are that bad! The door to our room was very thin, and had NO noise insulation from the hallway, so you were woken up everytime that a felow guest walked down the hallway. There isn't even an insulation strip in the door jam to keep the door from bumping into the jam , so you hear wood hitting wood everytime that the hallway entrance door opens blowing wind into the hallway. We paid 220Euro, and while we loved the island, the location, and the resort for the most part, we would NOT reutrn to the Kastelli. Oh, our shower was constructed without a curtain or even a glass wall big enough to keep the whole bathroom from getting soaked (floor and counter) each time you use the shower. It just seemed like little thought went into small details on this property.

My daughter and I booked this holiday in order for both of us to have a relaxing break. We stayed in the Kastelli for one week in July in one of the twin rooms. The hotel was exactly as portrayed in the brochure and was in an ideal location. We opted for the B&B option due to the vast and excellent choice of restaurants along the beach front. The hotel was clean and the towels and bed linen changed daily. The only criticism, and this is very minor, is the bathrooms. There was no plug in the sink, but apparently this is quite common in Greece. A quick word with reception and a plug was placed in the room almost immediately. Also, the shower was a little small and not positioned at a convenient height so had to be held (although we later discovered that we had booked a 'shower room', in future would book with full bathroom). The pool was lovely and often we were able to swim alone with no one else in the pool, it was not at all crowded. There was none of the usual sun lounger battles in the morning and plenty of room and options for shade. Clean towels were also provided by the hotel for use on the sun loungers. We ate in the hotel restaurant one evening and although a little pricey the food and service was excellent, especially the matri' d who helped to recommend some dishes. The breakfast was also excellent, whilst the juices were a little syrupy, the choice was varied and provided everything from cereals, cheeses and meats, to bacon, sausages, eggs, pastries and the added luxury of champagne. The staff were only to happy to top up teas and coffees as soon as you had finished a cup, with no waiting. We would definitely stay here again and are considering booking for next year.

My partner and I stayed at the Kastelli Resort in the latter part of May 2007. We booked this hotel as we were looking to spend a bit more than we usually would on a decent hotel for a week and this looked particularly nice and fairly luxurious (as per travel company website photos and it being advertised as one of the small luxury hotel groups of the world). Sadly, this hotel did not meet our expectations and does not represent good value for money. There were various problems from the moment we arrived. We had to wait over an hour to be allocated our room (we were on an early flight but the hotel would have been aware of the time of our arrival). Our room was very small, with a tiny balcony - no where near as nice as the photos on the website- and also was overlooking the building opposite. The block smelt of paint as it had recently been refurbished (apparently). We had to keep leaving the key at front desk for the first few days for the cleaners as the master key had gone astray - very inconvenient. We were eventually moved mid way through the holiday because we had no hot water. The room we then had was far nicer although we were woken throughout the night by the baby in the room next to us - not the baby's fault but the walls were paper thin! Other small things such as the pillows in our first room were rock hard, the breakfast buffet was nice but they had only cordials available, odd that they wouldn't serve fresh orange juice although they give you a glass of this upon arrival? Although Santorini was a lovely island we were left disappointed with our hotel. I would not recommend it.

On arrival to the airport we were greeted by the news that the hotel didnt have a room for us, further to this the manager couldn't or wouldn't give an exact answer as to when our room would be available, ultimately ruining the first 2 days of a 7 day holiday! Whats more is that there were two other couples in exactly the same position on our arrival date and I know the same issue was being dealt with on the day we left for even more unhappy customers, it appears that they run a system of over booking. Once we got our room it was damp due to the air conditioning unit leaking into a bucket, not exactly what you expect from a member of the "Small Luxury Hotels Of The World" group. Santorini is a fantastic island dont ruin your holiday by booking the Kastelli Resort!

we went to santorini for our wedding and stayed the majority of ur time in the tamarix, which i can't fault. we decided however, to move to the kastelli after the wedding for a bit of peace from our guests and as we thought it would be a treat as it was a luxory hotel of the world. as it was our honeymoon we decided to push the boat out and so booked into an executive junior suite, the best they said they had, which we saw photos of and thought looked idillic. rooms had nice terraces with sunloungers and shared private pool with 2 other rooms, perfect we thought. imagine our disapointment when we were deposite outside a room that on entering we noted had no flooring other than skimmed concrete. we then looked for the beautiful terrace only to find a small square of concrete with a rusty table and round the corner a pool shared between 8 rooms with nowhere to lie. he manager was a great lengths to assure us it was just the same as what we booked, despite obvious differences but eventually agreed to move us to another room, still not what we booked and paid for, was upstairs, had access to no pool and a peach batroom that belonged in an 80s b&b. in the end we left. normally, i don't like to complain and you can't fault te public areas, but this was just a time when we were really looking for something special and were so let down. it is not a bad hotel but it is not luxory and it is just not worth it.

I chose this hotel because I wanted somewhere nice to stay whilst i was in Santorini getting married. The hotel is lovely and the service excellent. Rooms are small but well appointed. Bathrooms are far superior to some i have had before in Greece! The grounds are very pretty and there is a choice of 3 swimming pools. I also had a small jacuzzi out the back of my room that was shared by only 5 rooms in total. It was loveley because we were the only people that ever used it!!! (room 119). I would stay here again and I would reccomend it to others to stay.

Location - 2mins to sea front & restaurants ; Cleanliness - Excellent ; Staff - Helpful & Friendly ; Standard Room - Nice, clean, well maintained, great view of pool / restaurant area but this did cause some privacy issues ( had to close the curtains to get changed ) ; Restaurant -Breakfast menu identical every day but ok, didn't eat an evening meal because of the selection of very good restaurants available at alot cheaper prices very locally ( Beware of fresh fish charged by kilo, we paid 48 euros for bream for 1 ) ; Bar - Had 1 drink on first night, bar was empty I think because almost TWICE the price of locally, without the atmosphere ; Pools - Clean but heavily chlorinated and crowded Overall - Would we recommend it ? Yes but we would stay somewhere diiferent if we went back to santorini Tips for Santorini - Hire a car / moped etc and explore yourself, Go to Vlychada Beach for quiet days lounging on the sand, but expect nudists beyand the loungers, Have a meal in Taverna Alexis in Exo Gonia for great locals food at good prices If in doubt ask the locals they will gladly help

We booked this hotel using one of the biggest travel agencies in Switzerland. Quite impressed by the pictures in the www and on the official website of Small Luxury Hotels, we though that we got ourself the trip of dreams. At the same time we found it rather interesting that this 41/2 star hotel had a lot of rooms among the last-minute offers that we had booked…. As we were approaching Cycladic archipelagos surrounded by the clear blue sea, we have been looking forward to our long awaited holidays and the beauty of Santorini Island. Airport and the whole Greek way of welcoming guests together with the quest for the bus that will take us to the hotel and all of this in the killing summer heat started to play with our patience… Finally we were sitting in a bus starting a formula 1 ride through narrow Santorini streets to get us to our Resort. The bus left us with our luggage in an interesting neighbourhood, where we almost got scared of the idea that there may be “our resort to stay”. Luckily, a friendly receptionist came in a sec and picked us up with a cart. First impression was not so bad – everything looked much much smaller than on the pictures shown in the Internet. Our room was nice: bed integrated into a stone platform in the floor facing (quite hard!) with sleek furniture in turquoise contrasting the rest in white. A true baldachin was hanging from the sealing giving a sort of romantic touch. The room was facing a resort garden wall and the interesting neighbourhood of booming cheap architecture. We also had a big rooftop terrace, which featured one metal table and one chair (double room?!) and had a tiny view of the sea… But his was the beginning…. The resort had an Aegean/Roman touch with amphorae used as lamps in the garden. Not bad, but far away from stunning. As we ordered two juices at the Lydia restaurant by the pool, we were wondering where the beach was, since the resort appeared to be in the residential area and not on the beach. Our drinks arrived and give us a little shock, when we realized that these were a diluted product of syrup juices (in a 41/2 star small luxury hotel). The beach was 2 minutes by foot through the beach side hotel line. There was no beach club that belonged to our hotel, meaning you had to rent your own sunshade and deckchair, every day… The “surprise” continued at the dinner – we had booked a half-board to get away from restaurant hunting and to get as much rest as possible out of the holiday. At the Lydia restaurant by the pool a waiter welcomed us throwing a spoon of a cement-like mass to our plate and wishing us good evening (the paste was a local food specialty ?!). There were no real napkins (Internet!), just a thin paper ones resembling cheapest toilet paper. Wine glasses were so small, as if they’d come from a kindergarten. We tried to order wine, but nobody could tell us what to take (it’s a Greek wine!). After having looked at the menu, we realized that it was the same one from the lunch featuring 4 dishes per course (total of 12 dishes, and we were supposed to eat there for 14 days). The salads that we had were definitively worst ever. The meat and the fish that followed made us return them after we had a bite – it was not eatable. The taste was indescribable, because there was actually no taste. We stood up and went searching for a restaurant in the restaurant mile along the beach side. It is unthinkable that a sea side hotel which is situated in the middle of Aegean sea is not capable of offering fresh and tasty seafood that we have had since that day in several beach restaurants. Simple, grilled, fresh and tasty – superb! But for Kastelli Resort this seemed to be a problem. The breakfast made all of our illusions disappear and made our frustration and anger bigger and bigger every day. As mentioned previously, there were no fresh fruit juices, just syrup-based and diluted ones, lowest quality pressed ham (that we wouldn’t give a dog!), stone hard bread and toast (that you had to compete for to get!), scrambled eggs that swam in some sort of liquid (bacteria!), cement-like yogurt and honey, no boiled eggs, no marmalade… The coffee cans were not allowed to be put on the table – every single time you had to chase a waiter to get more. To be able to eat, you had to fight a whole herd of Italians and Brits that were devastating the buffet within minutes every morning… Just from the appearance and the manners of other guests, we had an impression that this hotel was sold much cheaper in other countries as in Switzerland… To fight the frustration with food at Kastelli’s we often went to Oia (1 hour trip!) on the other side of the island and ate at the Fanari Villas restaurant (beautiful sunset!). Marvellous food and Greek wines, but not cheap! Proving that Greeks can cook and that food actually can be tasty! What does one have to do for good food! We cancelled our half-board on the third day of our stay and were eating either at our restaurant mile or in Oia. We got back angry as hell and eventually got only a half-board refund from our agency. They were surprised with our critique, telling us that they have had a beautiful time while testing the hotel… For this purpose Kastelli might have even invested in real food and a true cook! So, if you want to spend 2000 Euro for 14 days/person on this sort of hotel go to Kastelli. Otherwise, stay away as far as you can!!

I chose this hotel from the SLH brochure. To be honest, the photos in the booklet were awe inspiring and I based my choice on them and on previous stays at SLH. You cannot blame an establishment for publishing its best pictures and although I was more than happy with our choice, the pictures are misleading. Having said that, I travelled with two teenage girls, we had booked a junior suite which was not available upon our arrival which meant us being put into seperate rooms on our first night. Not the worst scenario especially when given an executive junior suite the following day with semi private pool! I have read the other critics and have to agree with some negative aspects, but the staff are fantastic, helpful and very kind. It all also depends on how you treat them and I witnessed more than one irate guest which will not get you the desired result. Be equally understanding and patient - this hotel is/was totally booked and you would never have felt that, they treated all your requests with patience, understanding and a smile. We found the atmosphere extremely relaxing compared to the luxury is offers. The food is nothing to write home about but there are plenty of tavernas within a very short walking distance to compensate for that. We will return - the two ladies at reception, Angela and Vassa, could not have been nicer and more helpful. Sheila Steel Heidrick & Struggles ssteel@heidrick.com