Tholos Resort — Hotel in Municipality of Thira

I WAS STOLEN HERE. I visited Santorini for five days (August 9-14) with my family (husband and 11-year-old daughter. I booked with the Tholos Resort of Imerovigli. Instead of paying a deposit I PREPAID the TOTAL amount of 2350 Euros. I asked the concierge to suggest boat company for a morning cruise. I preferred the company suggested and owned by the hotel. On the third day we were picked up at 09.45 from the hotel in order to board the catamaran. We returned at 16.30. The payment was made to the crew (550 Euros). Within 48 hours the businessman had received a total of 2900 Euros from me. The nice experience turned into rage upon our return to the hotel. Opening the safe which was locked I found that 450 Euros were missing from the amount I had left. I contacted the person in charge in the afternoon. He called me after a while and told me more or less that the owner answered him by phone that this could not have happened (SO I AM A LIAR OR MYTHOMAN) because there is no second key to safe !!!!!!! I went straight to PD of Santorini where I filed a theft lawsuit. The police reacted quickly by sending a patrol car, a Security unit, while they also informed the signage for taking fingerprints. When asked by the police officer who came with the patrol car to be given a memory stick with the recording of the security cameras, the person in charge of the afternoon shift called the owner. The owner told the police that there are NO security cameras to record the entrance of the room except for one in the corridor with the stairs. This of course is not true because a camera at the level of the pool has direct vision to it. Understandably, the third day of my short vacation was ruined. The next morning came the marking which as expected did not find anything. Really who would go to steal without gloves ??? The next afternoon, the owner appeared from below in the pool area. In a “style” he told me that he has three companies with large turnovers "so here we are not talking about 450 Euros", and that there is no other key to safety other than the one I had. I replied angrily that despite the fact that I do not have his business turnover, I am a 54-year-old doctor with a great reputation in my field, a family man, with an 11-year-old child and that I find it outrageous to be treated like a scammer. Also in my request to be given the recording by the camera of the pool that was looking at my room he stated that it does not work. So I categorically repeated to him that everything shows that the theft was committed by a person from his business and I turned my back on leaving. As if by magic, he changed his behavior, went up to the balcony, entered our room where he did not apologize and asked for 48 hours to "investigate the matter with his staff". He suggested we have a drink together at the restaurant that night or the next but we politely declined. It should be noted here that for the last 2 days we did not have room service with the excuse that we did not want to, and I had to call to bring us towels and consumables for the bathroom .... The police and the competent services obviously can not find anything without recording by security cameras and without fingerprints.. Reasonable questions. How is it possible for the businessman to be right when ONLY according to his statement, there is no second key to safe when in all the hotels of the world there is always a master key and a master code. How is it possible that the businessman is right that only 2 cleaners came in together while on the second day we found only one in the door, and in the other rooms there was always only one ?? How can the businessman be right according to his statement only, and not the reliable customer in every respect ? Common sense says that if I intended to deceive any businessman I would not prepay 2350 nor would I give another 550 to another...

RUINED OUR HONEYMOON. RIP OFF. Our honeymoon stay at Tholos Resort was an excruciatingly poor & unacceptable experience. We had booked the room with the private indoor swimming pool as well as the private hot jacuzzi.

Indoor swimming pool was unusable: Firstly, we have obviously paid a very large sum of money per night for the room with the indoor swimming pool. The indoor pool was the key reason why we chose Tholos Resort & this room in particular. The temperature of the pool was FREEZING COLD, so much so that I am certain that it is unhealthy and unsafe to swim or be in any sort of pool at that temperature. We paid a premium for something that we could not even use, and when we asked if we could get the pool's temperature fixed, they used 'COVID' as an excuse, stating that a warm pool will spread the virus (even though it's only us with access to the pool), all the while, not a single staff member wore a mask themselves. We expected a swimming pool but received an ice bath. We were not able to use the pool at all during our stay, and frankly, we feel ripped off.

Outdoor Jacuzzi was not ‘private’: Secondly, we were told that the outdoor Jacuzzi would be fully private and secluded. It was horrifying to find out that the jacuzzi can not only be seen by the passing public, but that only a gate separates the Jacuzzi from the passing public popping in for a swim with you. The previous hotel we stayed in offered a private jacuzzi, which was actually private from any preying eyes of other guests due to coverage on either side. The jacuzzi button at Tholos also did not work.

Breakfast delayed: Thirdly, for two of our three breakfasts, items were forgotten and arrived cold. It was also delivered 30 minutes late one morning.

Shower odour and no hot water: The showers let off a significant drain odour which made the rooms smell incredibly off-putting.

The first shower in the suite delivers hot water when the tap is turned towards the cold symbol & vice versa.

Moreover, hot water for both showers in the suite last no longer than 5 minutes. Even less if both showers are running at the same time. How is this acceptable? Hot water should be a basic necessity that is delivered by a hotel of their supposed calibre.

No running water: Furthermore, I woke up at 6am and there was no water at all being delivered from any taps in the room. I had to wash my hands with drinking water before going back to sleep again. Such a basic necessity that is not being delivered cannot be turned a blind eye to.

Toilet: The toilet in the room constantly made strange loud noises. These are annoying at night when one is trying to sleep.

Reception: This is the first time I stay at a hotel without a 24/7 reception. The inadequacies around this should be self explanatory.

We were advised by the reception to get in contact with the owner, who was in Switzerland whilst our honeymoon was being ruined at his hotel. The employees could not do anything or compensate for us without the owner's permission. We got in touch with the owner, asking for at least an apology, if not anything else, but were ignored on both email and WhatsApp.

In conclusion, Imerovigli is beautiful, but this particular hotel should be shut down. There are many other hotels that are a seconds walk away from this one that will probably treat you with respect alongside respecting your...

Beautiful hotel but plenty of other options nearby. Make sure you select the right room for you.

Now that I’ve been to santorini I can say in Imerovigli there are plenty of options to stay and next time I would have taken my time and done more research.

Pros of this hotel Location in the heart of other honeymooning hotels. 35 minute walk to Fira the main town. View of the caldera and sunset Breakfast is included

Cons The room we booked has a hot tub “inside” technically separated by glass doors. Makes for beautiful photos but the smell of chlorine is very much inside of the room. This left me with a headache and I had trouble sleeping (I am sensitive to smell). When I asked the hotel if it’d be possible to change rooms they offered another room at 70$+ more / night. I just felt that at half occupancy they could have accommodated me for free… especially considering that this room was the farthest away from the pool / main facilities which made it incredibly hard for the staff to bring breakfast and do turn down service. By the way the price we paid when we booked the hotel was 100$/night mote than the current rate for even their nicest available room. Perhaps it’s best to get last minute deals…either way. When you book this room, they should tell you that there will be a smell in the room.

The hot tub in this room was freezing when we returned from a day out at 5pm. To turn it back on they had to call the maintenance guy that had gone home to the other side of the island. We waited close to an hour for him to arrive and then much longer for it to heat up. The lady at the front blamed us for not asking it to be hot. Well first they never told us to ask… AND the day before without asking the hot tub was on but not only that scolding hot. Likely a temperature that is illegal in the US.

No acknowledgement of our honeymoon.. given everyone is here for some celebration I get that no real special treatment can be given but at least a verbal congrats or acknowledgement would have been nice.

The room is small which you can tell from photos but so small there’s nowhere for luggage. And also no luggage stand. When I asked if I could have one she said they didn’t have any...

The staff at the front are nice but not helpful. For a boutique luxury hotel my expectations are higher. When we asked for dinner recommendations she repeatedly told us the hotel restaurant or Avocado restaurant. She was unable to come up with any other options…

Long story short, next time I would do my homework and check neighboring hotels to ensure I was getting the best experience. Most only come to Santorini once and only honeymoon once. Take it from me and don’t stay here if you want it to be...