San Antonio - Reviews
Mystery Inspector's Reviews
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05 August 2011
Top 3 reasons to stay at the hotel:
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Location – 10 minutes from Imerovigli in one direction and 10 minutes from Oia in the other, giving San Antonio Suites unbeatable quietness and privacy. (Away from the cruise boat day trippers to Santorini.)
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The suites are simply designed (characteristic of the island) but impeccable in their décor, very attractive and with outdoor hot tubs - there's nothing like sitting in your private stone hot tub overlooking the caldera under the stars. A romantic escape!
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The multilingual staff are never far away just waiting to attend to a guest’s every need. Helpful, friendly, sincere and genuine.
Overview:
San Antonio Suites is new - opened only 2yrs ago.
The resort is literally carved into the rocks with the tastefully presented hotel lobby in the tunnel under the mountain ridge leading from the main road to the rest of the hotel. This opens to a breath taking vista overlooking the beautiful infinity pool (just like the photos) and beyond to the caldera and the island that is the remnants of the volcano. Although built into the hillside, the suites are light and airy with a very comfortably furnished patio next to the hot tub (some suites also have a plunge pool).
Breakfast or indeed any meal can be taken in your suite or on your patio but the restaurant is truly excellent with five star service, five star food and with a view to match. The chef provides mouthwatering authentic Greek cuisine in addition to some international dishes, all accompanied by extremely drinkable Santorini wine.
The spa at San Antonio Suites is unique. Well-equipped but intimate it offers a very comprehensive range of treatments by vibrant multilingual therapists.
What is there to dislike – having to leave!
19 April 2010
Top 3 reasons to stay at the hotel:
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Words and photographs cannot describe how breathtakingly beautiful this hotel is. From the front it looks like an unassuming small hotel on the side of the road. But once you enter the reception and realize that you are standing ‘inside’ of a mountain you realize this place is special. For me, the sensation of walking down the hallway and through the sliding glass doors to the back of the hotel was similar to stepping out of a gondola on a beautiful day in the Swiss Alps for the first time: you have to pause for a moment to take it all in. Of course instead of peaks and glaciers you have a view of a dormant volcano in the middle of the sea and 26 suites built into the side of a cliff with an infinity pool. Oh, and by the way – this is the first hotel I have stayed in that has a chapel built-in to the lobby (it’s Greek tradition that every home have a chapel and the owners did not want to break from it).
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All of the rooms look amazing, but if you are as lucky as we were you will be able to stay in ‘Room 18’. Even though I made a booking through the SLH website for a standard room I was upgraded to this stunning suite. Try to imagine a terrace bigger than most standard hotel rooms with lounge chairs, a 4-post couch, and private Jacuzzi – all with a view of the caldera. Now picture yourself relaxing in the Jacuzzi with your significant other, sipping on a glass of local wine watching the sun go down over the sea. It is quite simply one of the best rooms I have stayed in, ever.
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Breakfast at the San Antonio might be one of the best meals you have during your trip. The variety, quantity and quality of the food is impressive. Janis, the Food & Beverage manager takes his job seriously and wants to make sure you’re satisfied. Of course the setting is a big factor in the overall enjoyment. Instead of the traditional table configurations where you face your dining partner, the San Antonio opted for bar-type seating placed right on the edge of the terrace. This way you can both face-out and enjoy the stunning views of Santorini, dangling your feet over the edge of the cliff while enjoying your morning coffee.
Overview:
From the outside the San Antonio does not look like much. In fact I passed it twice without noticing it while riding around on my rented quad. However, once we entered the lobby and realized the hotel has been built inside and through a mountain the ‘wow effect’ starts to kick-in. Maria and Krissa at reception clearly enjoy watching the initial reactions that guests have when entering the lobby. With complimentary glasses of champagne delivered on a tray, the check-in process was a very pleasant affair. Next, Krissa is giving us a personal guided tour of the property stopping to explain many interesting facts about the property – first stop is the surprising chapel built into the rock just off the reception (Greek tradition to have a place of worship in the home, apparently). After seeing the pool and terraces Krissa walks us to our room and waits until the end before telling us that we have been upgraded to a suite with private Jacuzzi and enormous private patio! Our already big smiles grow by another few inches. After changing into our bathing suits the next thing on our ‘to do list’ is order some room service and start relaxing on the private sun beds. The rest of the afternoon is spent lounging, reading and enjoying the complimentary wine and fruit basket. Basically our room (no. 18) and the hotel are so beautiful we decide not to leave all day (even on Santorini, what could be better than this?). The only strenuous effort is walking over to the spa for a great exfoliation treatment. The highlight of the day is probably relaxing in the Jacuzzi once the day has cooled off a bit and the sun is starting to set. Between the red setting sun, blue seas and remnants to the volcano it’s really almost too much to take in at once! We only leave the Jacuzzi when it’s time to take a shower and walk over to the San Antonio Pool Restaurant for a casual, yet gourmet dinner of octopus and other local delicacies. After dinner, back in the Jacuzzi the sad realization starts to dawn on us that tomorrow morning we will have to check out and move on to the next place – why didn’t we just spend our entire vacation here?!