Pleiades Eco Houses

The Location: This villa is located in Vothonas, about 5 minutes away from the airport by car. So even after a long day of travelling, it won't take much longer to put your bags down and chill. Proximity to the airport aside, Vothonas is right in the middle of the island, making it no more than 30 minutes from any attraction in any direction. My wife and I rented a quad and circled the entire island fairly easily. We visited Oia, Pyrgos, Fira, Theros...etc., due to staying in this ideal location. The Grounds: Pleiades is simply gorgeous. It's safe to say that the reality of the property matches its pictures. The place is clean, well kept and naturally beautiful. I took pictures of it just so that I can always mentally come back to it, while busy in my everyday life. I miss it already. The Food: Breakfast was prepared every day. And I looked forward to it just as much as seeing the most sought-after sights around the island. Waking up and watching the Sun begin to beam, while taking my sweet time eating freshly made breakfast is a sublime experience. I did this every single day, as the wife slept. This is how we should all start the day. The Hostess: Stamatina is just excellent. My wife and I arrived very late, around 11 pm local time due to flight delays. She was still up and welcomed us to our villa. Stamatina prepared everything and even gave us a full itinerary to explore. That initial impression played itself out throughout our time, as she was always available but never bothersome. And when it came to booking extras such as rentals, cruises...etc, she was most helpful. As an example, my wife and I had to catch a 7:30 am flight out of Santorini. Stamatina knew this, and woke up early to make us sandwiches so that we could still eat breakfast one last time. Btw, her daughter Eva is just as involved as Stamatina and just as lovely. She was a pleasure to interact with herself, and also goes the extra mile. I recall trying to get to Santo Winery, and she offered to get in her car and give me a tow. It's gestures like that can compell someone to go and write lengthy recommendations. The Conclusion: I honestly didn't want to leave. And if I'm going back to Santorini, I would come right back here. It's 5 stars for me.

Having now reached the point where our children have grown up and left the nest (for the most part!), my wife and I decided to try Greek island hopping for our first not-school-holiday summer holiday. The first week we rented a villa for us, our two children and their other halves (see what I mean?), following which we moved on to Santorini by ferry for our next leg. Stamatina, who runs Pleiades Eco Houses, arranged for us to be picked up by car at the port on arrival. Unbelievably helpful, the arrival of the many ferries is semi-chaos with so many people and it can be tricky understanding how to get from the port to your destination. This is a standard part of the service when staying at the Eco Houses, with some other establishments following suit. The transfer by car to where we were staying took just under 20 minutes. As a comparison, I went by bus a couple of days later to pick up our daughter who had popped over from Crete (more of this below) and the round trip by bus took me five hours, really! We were met on arrival by Stamatina, who runs the Eco Houses. Throughout our stay she couldn’t do enough for us. We had a small suite at the back, down some steps from the pool. It was wonderfully quiet, nicely fitted and furnished and very spacious. The style of the offering is no reception or restaurant, it’s a bed and breakfast operation. Breakfast was served daily outside our room, a beautiful spread that changed daily and was served to our timing. We loved the peace and solitude, which was a great contrast to the hustle and bustle of Fira. Being September it was quieter and most days we had the pool to ourselves. However, Fira was less than 10 minutes’ walk to the bus stop followed by a five minute bus ride, so very accessible. Two things made this stay outstanding for us. The first was the quality of the Pleiades Eco Houses and the oasis of calm they provided. The second was the outstanding service provided by Stamatina and her team. Two examples of this; during our stay my wife need to return to the UK for 24 hours. Stamatina insisted on taking her to the airport herself instead of ordering her a taxi. Secondly, our daughter asked to come over to see us for a couple of days from Crete. This was no issue at all, Stamatina’s team made up an extra bed and extended the breakfast to accommodate us. Our daughter was also welcome to stay later on our day of departure as we had an early start. If you’re looking for a quality stay in Santorini that allows you to dip into the busy tourist scene but gives you a quiet accessible base with outstanding service, this is it. Highly recommended and we will definitely return.