Santorini, Greece – Where to Stay

With Santorini being a hotspot for luxury honeymoons and vacations, plus a steady wave of tourists from cruise liner stops, you can bet it’s not as cheap as some of the lesser-known islands. BUT, the good news is that if you do your homework you can actually make it quite affordable if you do it right! When we came to Santorini in September 2016 we were definitely NOT looking to pay for the luxury experience or the luxury prices. Luckily, in doing our homework we were able to plan a trip that would fit within our budget without staying anywhere sketchy. While it does take work to spend countless hours searching for hotels on different sites, comparing prices, and reading tons of reviews, it pays off in the end! OR, if you’re looking to avoid all that, just read this one post, take my word for it, and book at the Blue Dolphins! (For additional info on what to do in Santorini read here.)

We stayed at the Blue Dolphins in September 2016 and had a absolutely amazing experience! Olga, the hostess, was AMAZING and arranged a pick up for us at the ferry, gave us a private sit down “meeting” to show us the best places to visit on the island, made dinner reservations for us, arranged for transport to the airport on our last day, and even booked us a hotel in Athens for the following night when our plans changed last minute due to flights. All of the employees are super friendly and helpful….they drove us to and from the ferry and airport, and always carried our bags for us. They also helped us rent an ATV and even got us a discount and an extra half-day rental at no additional charge!

Unfortunately, at the time, I wasn’t blogging and therefore didn’t think to take photos of the room, sorry! Take my word for it though, it was great and super clean. Also, the free breakfast was amazing (Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, granola, honey, bread, cheese, Nutella, meat, eggs, cereal, etc.)! Some of the reviews online noted that the breakfast was disappointing….either they were just cranky or management upgraded the breakfast because we loved it!

The location is perfect…..an easy 10 minute walk along the paved path that runs through the city into Fira. The view is absolutely incredible….we had a perfect view of the caldera and also of the city of Fira right from the balcony. There is a beautiful little common area deck/balcony where breakfast is served, which also doubles as a great place to relax at the end of the day with a bottle of local wine and Greek chocolate while you soak in the views. This hotel was amazing, especially for the price (I think we paid around $87 a night!). I could not recommend this hotel more and will definitely be staying here again if we ever return to Santorini.