Lilium Hotel Santorini — Hotel in Municipality of Thira

Not 5 Star as Advertised - Be Warned and Stay Elsewhere!

Starting badly the day before arrival, we booked and paid via a third party only for the hotel to contact me rudely to advise I should call my bank as their SECOND attempt to take payment wouldn’t go through. Of course it would we had PAID!

Greeted on arrival by Maria who was friendly, helpful and excited we had booked their best room, we were beginning to be a bit more optimistic about our stay but that very quickly changed.

We were shown where the bar/restaurant is for our welcoming drink which was Non Alcoholic, not what you’d expect from checking in at 5 star establishment.

We proceeded to order some food from the quick bites menu - most people could make nicer sandwiches at home and at that point opted not to stay at the hotel for our evening meals during our stay.

We were advised to fill out a form for what we wanted for breakfast, before we went out for the evening, with 4 options of breakfasts and no changes - A 5 Star hotel with 4 fixed breakfast choices? See images and you’ll understand how disappointing this breakfast could be. COMPLETELY INEDIBLE.

Following breakfast on day 1 and having paid a lot of money for a private pool we didn’t want to have to leave the hotel in search of food so we ordered sandwiches and salads to the room. Again a big mistake! The trays of food were not collected for several hours and even after our request to collect we were shocked that 4 hours later we had to take the trays up to the restaurant ourselves in order to stop an insect invasion!

On day 2, knowing we were leaving the next day we requested to extend our check out by 1h45m only to be told to call back in the morning (fair enough). We did call back the next day to be rudely told we must vacate at 11am as the room was booked even though it was clearly available to be booked for at least the next 7 days via several hotel booking sites. When questioned the story very quickly changed to “it may be booked today” ... really in the next 2 hours? Before they finally agreed to a small 45 minute extension.. very nice of them, NOT!

Their offer of using a communal shower by the pool was also something that then put us on high alert- have they not heard of Covid-19? With several different nationalities staying in the hotel my concerns started about how seriously they have taken cleanliness throughout our whole stay. Clearly they hadn’t!

Other things to bare in mind- The hotel manager brings her dog to work.. did I mentioned it supposedly 5 star? Their shuttle to Fira is driven at such speeds you fear for your safety and no matter how much you’ve paid for your room they are insistent on the €5 charge to take you to Fira outside of their shuttle times.. Yes really they are happy to lose future customers for €5. Musty smell from the wardrobes - clearly show their best room isn’t booked often.

Having just got engaged in Santorini and staying in two beautiful hotels in Oia, we were excited to find what looked a beautiful hotel in Fira but that wasn’t the case. I’ve stayed in better hostels around the world and warn further travellers to do their research before booking!

Overall 1/10. Avoid...

Amazing hotel, amazing view & the best staff in the world! (With a drawback)

We enjoyed our stay in this lovely hotel! The location is excellent with potentially the best view on the Caldera and the Volcano. Its a very laid back atmosphere, no children running around and it is very modern and clean!

The rooms are what you would expect. Having the option to book a pool or hottub with your bedroom. We chose not to since the general pool + hottub provided everything needed whilst maintaining an awesome view.

The breakfast was varied with all sorts of options and they chose to nicely vary the options every day so you didnt have to chose the same everyday. Also the morning staff was awesome! Even though I’m not a morning person at all they always managed to give me a smile.

I would highly recommend staying here to anyone! It is excellent.

Sadly on our last evening we decided to eat-in at the hotel’s restaurant. After eating in Oia, Thira & Messaria we decided to try it out.

After asking the day before if we could order from the snacks menu (which was possible until 7pm) since the burgers looked really appetising and missing from the dinner menu. The last day itsself I checked with the evening crew at 5pm if it was possible again just to double check and we received a yes. They were available but again only until 7pm, no problem. We turn up at 6:30 with time to spare to order and all of a sudden there were no beef burgers available no more. This was a bit of a pity and felt more as a discouragement than it actually being so (speculation, I know). Its just a bit sad because the morning/day staff was always so perfect and passionate and exactly that is what the evening staff lacked in my opinion.

Nonetheless we decided to eat across the road which was superb so no big drama!

Apart from this 5 stars all across and I will definitely return here...

We had a wonderful stay at Lilium villas and I was very close to rating it 5 stars. The caldera view from the pool is breathtaking. I'm not sure you'll find better views anywhere. You just don't get bored of looking at the view. The loungers, semi immerged with infinity pool like style are beautiful. We had a room with jacuzzi on the balcony which was wonderful. Balcony was huge with 2 loungers as well. Shower in the room is a bit average compared to the rest, quite old style with just ok water pressure. The staff of the hotel are always smiling and ready to help you have a wonderful stay in Santorini. The few things which could be improved to make it a real 5 star experience it's quite annoying to have to get towels from the reception, they should be made available at the restaurant near the pool no anti bacterial gel on tables at the restaurant (this was standard across all other hotels or restaurants we visited in Greece) some people are "reserving" loungers in the morning without even being close to the pool. It's not the hotel's fault but not something you want to experience at a 5 stars hotel. About the location: the fact that it is slightly outside of Fira center also makes it peaceful and away from the busyness of the city center. I'm not sure it's possible to have such views in the center of Fira. The downside of course is that you will need a car/quad to move around. The free shuttle service from the hotel is very handy, but finishes too early (22:30). Taxi ride from Fira center to the hotel costs 10€. So overall we would still come back to Lilium and hopefully give it 5...