Kavalari Hotel — Hotel in Municipality of Thira

This is the number of steps between the hotel entrance and our room. Roughly the climb one would find in a five-story building, except you go down to your room instead of up. Since this is not mentioned on the hotel website I wanted to put it up front. |The staff on-site were very helpful and friendly and the service was very good. Breakfast overlooking the caldera was beautiful. Our room was tended every day, but the light fixtures in the room all gave rather cold light, which gave the room a bit of a cheap, youth hostel feeling at night.|The room options we were given by Bedsonline included "Twin Standard" which was what we reserved. When we got to the room, however, we found we had been given a double room. The hotel had no interest in correcting this mistake, either by re-making our bed or changing our room. We were told that the rooms are listed as "Twin or Double Standard", with option to be as determined by the hotel. This was not the choice that was presented to us.|Although the staff were friendly, as I said, the hotel management was not. After first making our reservation I learned about all the stairs thru on-line forums. Since we are about 70 years old and have knee problems I requested a room with fewer stairs, even if we had to pay more. Our travel agent was told this could be accommodated, but when we arrived it had not been done. We were given a double room, not a twin, at the bottom of the stairs. Hotel response was, "Sorry, but we are fully booked." When my agent called the manager about this the manager chose to insult her rather than admit a mistake by the hotel.|Bottom line: Beautiful location, good service, unresponsive management, facilities...

We were arriving very early morning to Santorini and I booked an extra night so we had a hotel room when we got there to rest and unwind after a long trip from America . We messaged the hotel in advance to be sure it would not be a problem. When I got to the hotel no one was there. We waited, and around 7.40 am hotel staff arrived, and let us know we had wait until 8 when front desk will open. We were there , they were there but still we had to wait. We booked and PAID long time ago for a “caldera view room“ and we got a bottom floor room without any balcony or no terrace, no window with view at all the the ocean, No even stepping out of the door to the comunal terrace filled with not very well treated plans. We went to front desk and the smiling, open the window and said “here is the view.” I just responded, “yes and it is not my room“ she was trying to save the situation and it felt like a joke. Then she told me she could not do anything, there was no supervisor on the property, and the only thing to do would be for me (not her) to send an email to the property. This is totally unacceptable and really bad customer service. After that, nothing else mattered. Breakfast was very good, but every day was exactly the same - last day we just had coffee and went out for breakfast. My recommendation, spend a little of more money, and stay in place where they really value as a customer and show they care about you . Situations like this can ruin...

Management: Invest in WiFi, paint for the bathrooms, and FIX THE STAIRS.

Verdict: Stay here if you are looking for a great view, want a good breakfast, do not care about room decor, have no mobility/balance issues, and do not need WiFi. We did and had a great visit.

Pros: The view. Spectacular! The breakfast is robust, but fixed; to the point the server said he could not even change one type of bread for another. Very rigid. The hostesses (Alexandria and Christina) and the cleaning ladies were good. The price: €75 in early May before the peak season. The location is near central Fira. The beds were soft and the extra blankets and pillows were nice. The breakfast server could have been friendlier, but his work ethic and speed were appreciated.

Cons: The stairs down to breakfast are DANGEROUS! If you walk on them when they are wet, it is dark, you have had drinks, or you have mobility issues, you could fall and seriously hurt yourself. Cannot drink the water from the tap. (Good news: nearby City Market had 6 1-liter bottles for €2.5) The bathroom (for at least #30) was dated and dingy (looked like a Third World prison bathroom), but the bedroom was nice and has one of the better private views. No WiFi in our room. It said there was, but we were never able to connect to it. Many rooms have 2 twin-beds pushed together, vice a double or queen bed, which is very strange for an...