Aelia Luxury Suites

"We were excited to stay here, as most reviews were quite positive and after looking at the website we felt confident that we were in for a luxurious stay. It is marketed as a luxury 5 star hotel. The staff are very helpful and polite. It is very clean throughout. However, I cannot describe it as luxury. We must of had the smallest room as it looked nothing like the size of the junior suites shown on the website. The balcony is about one metre wide and north facing, as are all the others. Which meant that they never had any sunshine. We only had four hangers for clothes, two of which were taken up by the robes provided. The only hook in the whole suite was loose and would not stay upright. The curtains had numerous holes in them. The WiFi signal on the whole complex was intermittent so the TV seldom worked . The chairs on the balcony were rotten and falling apart. Hand soap in the bathroom ran out after 3 days and was not replenished. They say on their website “our suites will make you feel like home”. Ours didn’t. Relaxing by the pools was nice to start off with, but the number of flies all over us proved too annoying. So we limited our time there. The music played all day by the pool was too much for me. There were several holes in the ground, near the hot tubs (only two out of four were actually hot) each had a rusty nail sticking up out of it. One of the hot tubs had two screws sticking out of the inner internal wall, where a plastic grill once was. The only hot tub that was hot, was cloudy and had horrible grey bubbles on the top of the water. We had breakfast and evening meals in our package. Breakfast was ok, but nothing special. It was not open at 7:30am, as they said. The chef didn’t arrive until around 8am most days. The chef is the man who makes the omelettes and scrambled eggs and cleans the pools. The dinner menu is bland with few traditional Greek dishes. They say on their website: “Experience our refined cuisine, superlative flavors touched by a hint of exoticism”. This is a grossly inaccurate statement. The food is ok but is certainly not as described above. We ate out for the majority of our week. It also says: “savor a gourmet meal on your balcony as you watch the sun dip below the horizon”. There is nothing “gourmet” or “exotic ” about the food and there is no chance of watching the sunset from your balcony. The chairs both inside and outside of the dining area are so heavy that guests had to scrape them over the hard floor to pull them in and out , making a horrendous noise. This ruined meal times. Some other guests had conflict with staff over their meal packages. The guest’s confirmation showed they had breakfast and evening meal but the hotel insisted that they were only entitled to breakfast and lunch, which was a more limited menu. Their website states that it is “made to meet the needs of the most demanding guest”. We are not particularly demanding guests. It didn’t meet our needs. This place did not meet our expectations. All of the problems we encountered and the grossly inaccurate and over exaggerated descriptions in the marketing have led to the conclusion that we would not stay here again."

"One of our favorite moments was enjoying coffee on the private terrace every morning before heading out. It was peaceful, comfortable, and the perfect place to slow down for a while. The entire property had a relaxing atmosphere that made it hard to leave."

"We stayed at this splendid hotel in Karterados and had a truly wonderful time. Our room was very beautiful, spacious, and had a pleasant view of the pool. The cleanliness was impeccable: every day the room was tidied and cleaned with great attention. The buffet breakfast was truly super, very varied and suitable for all tastes, with a wide selection of both sweet and savory products. A great way to start the day! The location is very convenient, just a few minutes from Fira, so it is also perfect for visiting the island and getting around easily. A special mention definitely goes to the staff, always very kind, helpful, and attentive to our needs. We felt welcomed and pampered throughout our stay. A truly positive experience and a hotel we absolutely recommend. If we were to return to Santorini, we would definitely stay here again!"