Hotel Mathios — Hotel in Municipality of Thira

Overall evaluation: For short stays (1-2 nights) maybe acceptable, I do not recommend longer stays there.

We (two adults & baby) stayed at Mathios Village Hotel for 7 nights in July 2022. We were very disappointed. In fact, it was the worst vacation we both ever had. Below I am trying to note down some of our impressions which I would wish to know before booking this vacation. But please note, these are purely our subjective impressions:

Pros: • The hotel is very clean. Our room was cleaned every day and the staff is doing an amazing job to keep the area clean the whole day. • The staff is extremely friendly and nice to kids. Exception is the hotel manager, pls. compare below. • Our bathroom was recently refurbished. • The breakfast can be eaten downstairs at the pool. • There is a small supermarket and bus station just right next to the hotel. • There are no mosquitoes there at this time of the year.

Cons: Santorini: • The infrastructure is very poor: frequent power outages, sometimes water outages. • Tap water is not drinkable. • Whole Santorini is much more expensive than Mainland Greece or other Greek islands like Crete. • There are not that many nice beaches in Santorini.

Surroundings of the hotel: • The hotel is situated directly on a main road with intense and very loud traffic. There is no noise protection in the room, so even inside the noise level goes up to 70db until roughly midnight. Afterwards it gets a bit better. • There are no pavements or whatsoever around the hotel. You either commute by car which you park right at the hotel or you walk alongside the road, which is not really nice. • The nearest mini-beach is Caldera Beach ca. 0.75km and some 50 altitude meters away from the hotel. We considered it dirty and the water was full of grass. The access to the sea is full of large stones so it is rather something for skilled swimmers. When we were there, most of the people were just on the beach and did not go into the water. • There is not much going on in Akrotiri. The hotel & staff: • The breakfast is very poor (comparable to a two-star hotel in Germany) and does not vary at all • Breakfast area is small und not cozy • Hotel towels cannot be taken to the pool = sun loungers are being used without any covering • No gym or any other extras • Not children-friendly, not even a child-seat • Only cash at poolbar • Wifi slow and crashes down • Water pressure sometimes so low that you cannot take a shower • The shower gel and shampoo are not being refilled. • There was no soap on the public toilets (just hand disinfection). • The hotel is not wheelchair friendly. • Extra fee for baby cot of 250€ per week

The room: • The room was loud, small (ca. 12m2 + 3m2 bathroom) • Only two electricity plugs in the entire room • We had two single beds next to each other • My girlfriend did not like the mattresses • No tea/ coffee making facilities in the room (and also not in the common area of the hotel) • The fridge in the room was so loud that we had to turn it of in the night • There was a birds nest on our terrasse, so we had some bird excrements there • We got only one key...

When one starts planning for a summer holiday, the first question is obvious where to go but the next question has the same weight- where to stay? When we planned for Santorini, I started looking for a hotel at walking distance from the sea. That's why I chose this hotel in Akrotiri which was bit far from Fira but next to Caldera beach. I booked superior double room via Expedia and got a good deal. Hotel reached out to me for transport from Airport and made arrangements on confirmation. When we reached there a surprise was waiting for us, got a free upgrade to a suite with swimming pool view and balcony. Hotel Manager Mr. Konstantinos Papalexis is quite friendly and lively person. We asked for tours and plans and he suggested to rest for the day and arranged some wonderful trips for us as per our leisure. Now coming back to the hotel part, this one has a swimming pool, luxurious lobby, garden full of flowers and pool facing the restaurant and bar. What else you need on a sunny day. Enjoy pool with a fancy cocktail, have some greek food and relax on a sun bed. Our suite was kind of two floor room, living room on the ground floor and bed upstairs. Initially, we were not comfortable with this arrangement but gradually it grew upon us. you got a big sofa in the room so you can relax there while watching tv. We stayed there for four days and never had dinner outside. As we are vegetarians so initially we were a bit skeptical about veg options but after having food there first time on arrival day we never thought of trying other places. We even tried veg platter there and what an amazing experience it was. Breakfast is complimentary and you can enjoy that in the hall or at poolside. If you are into wines then you will love house wine…ahh :) This hotel is at walking distance from Caldera beach. It’s not much famous but a quiet and hidden beach with clear water. I did scuba there for first time and enjoyed sunset as beautiful as it was from Oia. Red beach is 30 mins walk from the hotel and you can also go to Akrotiri lighthouse easily. For other places you can contact reception as they run a travel agency as well. Something special happened on second day which I will remember for a long time. We went to Oia for sunset and got late eventually. We reached the hotel almost at 10 pm and the restaurant kitchen closing timing was 9:30 pm. We were hoping that we could get something there but was not sure. We asked waiter there and he said that kitchen is closed so can’t serve anything. We went back to our room and were thinking to go outside for dinner. At that time the manager called us and asked to come back for dinner. He told me that we can get veg pizza which we initially asked. I was surprised as it takes the trouble to reopen kitchen and heat up the oven. He told me that his father taught him this – never say no to a person if he is looking for food. A small thing in hotel business but it bonds your customer for a long time. I would highly recommend this place to my friends and family if they plan to visit Santorini...

I’ve waited to post our trip for one reason, how absolutely amazing it was from the time we landed until we departed yesterday I wanted to take every moment in and enjoy. Mathios Village Santorini, Mathios Luxury Homes Santorini owned and managed by Kostas Papalexis Santorini… who also has Akrotiri travel agency was absolutely fantastic. We were greeted at the airport in Santorini by our driver, taken to Kostos’s fabulous Mathios Village where he seen how exhausted from travel Amy Lappan and I were, he said go enjoy the pool and I’ll arrange everything. When he says everything he means everything! We took a day to rest and the first week we were pampered with wonderful meals, a glorious view, pool, and peace! He had our convertible car delivered, our sights mapped out and pointers on every place to go. He arranged the best catamaran trip with a full evening of food, drinks, and the most beautiful sunset imaginable, absolutely breathtaking scenery, and we swam at the volcanic Hot Springs, the red beach, black beach and more. He gave us VIP passes to the gorgeous Safran restaurant and beach to lounge in the sun and bed shades. He didn’t miss anything, his attention to his customers/vacationers is second to none. His restaurant as you’ll see in the photo is wonderful and I became addicted to Greek salad. You know when you see something online and it reads unbelievable and you think omg what a scam, this is to good to be true? Well, I actually being who I am said this to Kostos on Messenger… he immediately said would you like to video call? Surprise, he’s who he says and does as he promises. Our trip was very very last minute and he bent over backwards to accommodate Amy & I and my family for week 2 (Tanya & Kenzie (Kews lol)) Made us feel like special guests and I have never felt so confident about a service. You’ll see Santorini from start to finish of our two weeks posted highlighting some unbelievable surreal moments we experienced thanks to Kostos and his family ran Hotel, his wonderful children made me smile with their enthusiasm, pride and great service (at the bar 😉) What a fantastic experience and way to celebrate my fantastic daughter Amy and her new role and spend time creating memories with my great family. … a bit of advice don’t message in a panic because your flight details changed for the morning at 12:30am but if you need to Kostos will wake every transfer company up to help his guests make their flight on time! I’m forever grateful for every moment experienced in Santorini and at Mathios 🇬🇷💕☀️ I’ve never waited to post a holiday before but here I wanted to take everything in and absorb it all and wow… I’m still in awe and I can be a bit difficult as a guest as my expectations can be high🇬🇷 Thank you Kostas 🇬🇷 for everything and the memories we’ll always cherish,...