Carpe Diem Santorini

We had a great 2 night stay to start our 1 year anniversary. They started with a welcome drink, upgraded our room from a Senior to a Master. It was at the top of the property so we had no one overlooking our pool. Our room 203 had a sunset view, although we did have to sit on the edge of the patio to see it. There is a new breakfast every morning you can choose dishes like yoghurt, eggs, pastry, salad and a cake. We had a selection of everything. It was all delicious. For our anniversary we were given a complimentary bottle of prosecco, and fruits to have in our room while we were relaxing by the pool.

A really lovely hotel which is clean and spacious but a few notes for improvement. We stayed in the superior suite which was spacious and very clean. The towels, bathrobes and bedding were really comfortable. The view is good and the plunge pool is cold but refreshing. It’s is a very quiet hotel. In our 4 night stay we only saw 3 employers, 2 on reception and one serving breakfast. There is a lovely outside pool. Breakfast is very nice, with some different options each day. The hotels location is ok, we wanted to avoid the crowds but it does feel a little remote and although Prygos is close and has some nice restaurants, it doesn’t have the same vibes as the bigger towns. Leaving the hotel there is a very steep 100m walk to the main road. Having a car would be useful here. We spent a fortune on taxis which start at €35 euros one way to almost anywhere. Drinks and minibar prices are ridiculous. €32 euros for 2 glasses of Prosecco. Also for an indulgent escape hotel I was surprised on our last day we had to be out of the room at 11. Although they stored our bags the only place to shower and change before our 8:30pm pick up was the poolside showers and poolside toilets!

We have just returned after a weeks holiday at this lovely resort on the outskirts of Pyrgos in Santorini. The setting is beautiful and first impressions were really good. We travelled on a Tui package and arrived at around 12.30pm We were greeted and shown to a table for welcome drinks. On reflection, there is no doubt we were expected to begin our spending with Carpe Diem immediately. The drinks might have been "Welcome drinks" but we paid for them and more drinks, including water, and lunch too. There was no offer to store our luggage and go off exploring as our room would not be ready until 3pm. We were captives at this mountain view resort and that is where we would stay. And that set the tone for the week. The steep incline driveway (if you can call it that) to the resort is not for the weak and once you are in you are in. If you go out and forget something you have to manage as you are not going back. We downloaded a very limited menu for the restaurant and there was no doubt we wouldn't choose to eat here again. It was the A la Carte menu with only 4 ridiculously expensive main courses and little else. Earlier reviews suggested staff were amazing but our experience didn't leave us feeling like the reception staff went above and beyond. We never saw a Manager and we were never given any resort information. I couldn't tell you anything about the spa or gym as we were never told about it. The restaurant on site may have been permanently closed at night as we never saw anybody in there or any sort of promotion for it? Having seen the limited menu on day one it was never an option for us. Breakfast was lovely and Mary who served us was delightful and recalled our drinks orders from previous days. We made the hike out of the place twice daily for the first 5 days and then I hit a wall. We had carried supplies back from the village a couple of times as there was no way I was paying 5 euro for a bottle of water in the hotel. I truly felt like a captive and this isn't what holidays are supposed to be like. So we made the decision to rent a car for the last 2 days and decided our sanity meant more than a glass of wine with our meal. I was still on edge going up and down that slope....so steep is the incline you felt as though the car might flip with too much acceleration. Things to note: This hotel is supposedly 5 star. I would dispute that. There is no turndown service There is no full length mirror - not that it matters - don't take any fancy sandals as you need Walking boots/walking sandals/trainers for that hill! . There is no free water. In a country where the tap water cannot be consumed this is particularly poor. We drank the first bottle of water in the room and soon realised it was chargeable. In an isolated spot this is dreadful and inexcusable. The hotel entrance is NOT 5* by any means. I don't know any other 5* hotel that would expect you to have to climb in and out. We saw golf buggies/concierge in Fira assisting guests up and down the hill. That is not the case here, If you book a taxi at reception - double check the time. There was a little mix-up with our booking but we still made our ferry to Ios. That's the only thing we asked for help with and they got it wrong! Taxis are expensive. A trip to Fira or the Port (Ferry) is 30 euro. Worth it to leave captivity without a climb!! On a positive: We were lucky with our room - we had a huge balcony and lots of outdoor space but many beneath us looked like they could barely move so limited was the space. Views are outstanding, especially the sunsets. Pyrgos is a lovely town but it has its limitations. Fortunately the local buses are good and you can get to Fira and Perissa easily. Surprisingly we enjoyed using the buses....quite an education! Rooms and pools are well cleaned and maintained. In summary: We got a late deal here and paid a fair price. I wouldn't have wanted to pay more. We enjoyed our holiday and made some lovely memories, but we won't make a return trip to this place.

Hmmm where to start….not sure how others got the amazing experience here, maybe rose tinted glasses as there are some things amiss. Yes the hotel looks amazing, like a futuristic Greek boutique hotel, I loved it as soon as I stepped onto the property. The morning ladies hosting reception and breakfast were both lovely. We booked the honeymoon suite which has its own private pool but it’s not heated so my fiancée never used it. You’d think being in Santorini in late July would be hot but for some reason, the biggest secret about a well known island is it’s windy and it’s not always a warm wind. Maybe the sun does heat the pool but it’s blown cool by the wind. The view from the rooms veranda is stunning, highly recommended. The rooms face north over the island so you look directly at Fira on the hill and Oia on the headland in the background to the West of Fira. Sunsets are lovely on the veranda despite the wind. When you look at the honeymoon suite on their website, then click “view photos” you assume you’re looking at the photos of the room but you’re not, it’s all suites. So we were sucked in thinking the room has a separate living room area but it doesn’t, the honeymoon suite is just one large bedroom, there is a chair and bench seat/sofa are at one end though. According to the site the honeymoon suite pool isn’t heated which is a let down if you wanted cosy evening dips with your beloved. The location is a little awkward with it being halfway up a hill below Pyrgos Kallistis village. As others have said, the driveway to the hotel is very steep so walking back up it twice a day to go for lunch and evening dinner gets tiring. The walk back to the hotel is less steep though and mostly downhill. Breakfast was lovely but at times odd in that it’s a mixture of Greek and other food types but overall very tasty. Scrambled egg served in a bowl on top of a dry bagel was interesting. More on food. Previous 5 star reviews going back to 2017 and 2018 seem to suggest evening food is available, it isn’t. I enquired before I left about evening options for food, there was a menu showing overpriced food, ie €24 for basic spaghetti. Upon arrival we were told evening dining is for private dining only. As part of my enquiry, I was sent the private dining options, circa €148 per head for a 3 course meal! Champagne sir? Certainly that’ll be over €700 per bottle! Rosé? That’ll be €83 for a bottle that I found to be up to €12 online. If you want candles on your veranda for a romantic evening, €7 per candle with a minimum of 10 recommended. Yikes! So here’s the rub, if you want to market yourself as a swanky hotel with expensive food and drink options then everything else has to match. You have to drag your own cases back up to the main road behind the hotel for pick up, buy a golf cart and take the cases for your guests instead. The veranda gets dusty due to the wind, wasn’t cleaned once while we were there so the chairs, sunloungers and coffee table were covered in a layer of dust during the week. This is then walked into the room making the floor a bit dirty which also didn’t seem to get mopped during the week. Your feet will get dirty. The fit and finish in the bathroom is not €700 a bottle of champagne standard either with the tap fittings standing proud from the wall. The mirror in the bathroom was never wiped so was dusty with the odd toothpaste fleck on it. Neither were the toilet flush buttons so they had greasy sun cream fingerprints on them all week. Mini bar charges were ridiculous, €22 for a small bottle of vodka or whiskey, I think they were 50ml size. Nothing free in the mini bar fridge and no ice either…€6 for a single packet of crisps! I would suggest if the hotel want to be that swanky and exclusive they step up to the mark, or better yet revert back to how it seems it used to be a few years back where you could have more than just breakfast on site and the bed was made with a heart shape on it. The location is great for the fact Pyrgos village is a mini Oia with some hidden gems, like a rooftop restaurant with sunset views, I felt like royalty up there! The village is also on tour operatives excursion lists so it must be worth visiting. Lots of great places to eat there and fairly quiet and classy, think nice bars and restaurants without music blasting out and no Brits abroad type people getting drunk. Sensible prices too. Overall a lovely place but needs to work out its identity or revert to previous standards.

Maria & Maria were amazing. The service was amazing. From the second we arrived everythng was well take n care of. Not in a busy are a of Santorini are so it was so quiet and peaceful. It felt like we were the only people at the resort even though we were not. Amazing