Kastro Mansion — Hotel in Municipality of Thira

This property is located in the heart of Pyrgos Kallisti up a labrynth of white washed stone alleyways. You don't feel like a tourist but a local who lives in Pyrgos. I am glad that Irene showed us where it was because it would be easy to miss if you were looking for it on your own. If you rent a car like we did, ask to meet Irene at the airport, as it was a bit tough to meet Irene in Pyrgos. We got lost in the village because of all the beautiful but winding walkways. Asked a random lady and she helped up find Irene (walked with us until we found her - she knew Irene and called her on her phone). I can't believe how nice the people of Pyrgos were. We went about two months after Greece re-opened so it was very quiet and not many tourists were around. It was easy to get to restaurants and we never had to wait for tables. The small shops in the village have some great items and the shopkeepers are very nice and personable. ||||The property was very roomy. We had the two bedroom unit with the kitchenette. The unit had two AC's which kept the room very cool at night and the morning. It was unusually warm this summer so I was very thankful for that. The room was clean and the beds were very comfy. It had a small living room and a dining room which made it easy for the two of us to stay in without feeling claustrophobic. It has a coffee maker and tea kettle. They stock the mini-fridge with water every day. Our room came with daily breakfast from Penelope's. That was a big breakfast and it was very appreciated. Penelope's is a great restaurant to go to for lunch as well. The hot tub is very big and so relaxing (it takes about 1 whole day to get hot so keep that in mind). The people in the village are so nice. We stayed for several days and even ran into an elderly woman who I would see every morning and would always say Kalimera (good morning). ||||Irene is very nice and helpful. Our shower head came off and she got someone to fix it on the same day. Her assistant even lugged our two large suitcases up the stairs to the unit. The unit is about 1/4 mile up a lot of stairs, so keep that in mind if you have mobility issues. ||||Pyrgos is about 10 minutes from Fira by car. There is decent parking in Pyrgos and driving in Santorini was easy (I didn't think they drove crazy at all - but I am from Texas and drivers in Texas don't follow any traffic rules, so I might be an exception). Oia is a bit confusing to drive around and finding parking there was bit more of a challenge than Fira. There are only a handful of major roads and the signage is really good. It is hard to get truly lost in Santorini. Really close to Kastro is the Santo Winery which is very nice. Also Cava Alta, Penelopes, and Rosemary are great restaurants in Pyrgos which were not very expensive either. Great food at fair prices all over the village. ||||I would definitely recommend the...

The room location is great. Couple of restaurants very close at the top of the hill and great little streets to wander. Also neat and tidy and well laid out. ||However, the property manager and the host like to play loose with the truth when asked about amenities listed on the travel sites, and are disingenuous about what there actually is on offer at the property. ||This is NOT a hotel - it is 3 ‘AirBNB’ apartments - and very few of the ‘facilities’ are on-site - the host and property manager simply tell you where on Santorini you can get things done. (“Oh, you thought the hotel had a spa? No, but there are facilities nearby you can use”)||Amenities including:||Spa: Facial treatments, waxing services, makeup services etc||Or ||Dry Cleaning, Manicure, Body Treatments, Laundry, Canoeing, Room Service||Or ||Fishing, Canoeing, Hiking, Diving, Horseback Riding ||are indeed available on SANTORINI - but NOT amenities of the apartment. “Oh, no, these are not at the property, but we can organise any of these features if you would like”||Also, questions answered by the hotel say:||There is a sunset view from the Premium Room. There is most definitely not. None of the photos of the sunset are from the Premium Room. The photo from the Premium Room is a carefully crafted photo showing a tiny bit of sea in the distance (south facing and not west for the sunset)through the courtyard entry door - which when closed (all the time one is in the property) has zero view at all. ||A Private Beach 7km away is mentioned as available to guests. This “Private Beach” is not Private with a capital P - it is a PUBLIC beach - it simply is secluded and some privacy (with a little p) can be found. ||We asked for laundry and we’re pointed to a laundromat in Kamari.||Again, the room and location is very nice. But the way it is pitched is...

This would of made it to a 5 star review but unfortunately our checkout was pretty terrible. It was almost a 3 star but everything else was pretty much perfect so I've gotta give them a 4. We got upgraded to a premium suite on check-in and Irene was super helpful on with advice on the area. On our exit unfortunately, things didn't go so smoothly. We had message Irene 2 days before that we wanted to check out early at 9.45 am to make our flight. The donkey was arranged and a shuttle to take us to the airport that day. When it came to the time of check out, luggage donkey was a no show, so we had to take the luggage down ourselves, wasn't entirely pleasant. When we got to the area to meet the shuttle, we couldn't find anyone who was taking us to the airport. We asked everyone of them, and they were not the cab that was requested for us. So we quickly had the cafe nearby to call for a cab, and made the airport on time. Just a message to kastro mansion in the future, errors like this can cost your clients money, and reading the reviews, we're not the only ones who have had a bad experience on check out. It can really sour a positive review, and a note to Irene, we really do appreciate your help on check in and generally over the stay, but you need to work on your customer experience on check out. You told us the shuttle was waiting at the bus area, we went down to exactly where we met you the first time and asked every shuttle and taxi there, and nothing. Other than that, our holiday was fantastic,...