Sophia Boutique Hotel

The plunge pools were cold when we visited in September. They’re not hot tubs, but felt refreshing after sunbathing, even if I wouldn’t want to sit in one for long. Breakfast wasn’t as limited or repetitive as I’d expected from other reviews. There were only a couple of menu choices, but each was generous and varied, and the staff happily made adjustments when we asked. Photos also seemed to depend on the room. We were moved from the Superior Suite to a Standard Double for our first night because the suite hadn’t been cleaned out when we arrived. The Standard Double has a ground floor of about 4m x 2.5m with the sink and shower, an upstairs bedroom around 2.5m x 2.5m, and a small balcony with a plunge pool. It’s not really big enough to lie down on, faces north-east, and loses the sun at noon, with no sunset view. The website photos are stretched a little, so the room looks bigger than it is. The main pool and loungers are worth using if you stay there. The Superior Suite was much more spacious, with a 4m x 4m main room and a 2m x 2m living space downstairs, plus a 2.5m x 3m upstairs bedroom. Its balcony could fit two people lying beside the plunge pool, faced north-west, got sun from early afternoon, and had a sunset view over Oia. We were sad to leave it. We didn’t stay in a Superior Double, but those plunge pools aren’t attached to the rooms, so you have to walk a short distance. The Standard Double and Superior Suite have pools on their own balconies. The staff were excellent and made us feel welcome. They drove us to the mini market our first night and offered help with day trips. Anna helped us settle in that night, and Cleopatra was friendly and exceptionally helpful for the rest of the stay. The bookings team also did a lot to help when unforeseen circumstances meant we had to move our stay by a week. We’d booked through Expedia, and our room was already booked for the week we needed, but the team stayed in touch and arranged for us to switch between multiple rooms so we could move our holiday. We’re very grateful and would visit again. I’d recommend the hotel, especially the Superior Suite. The bookings team even adjusted our non-refundable stay when personal matters changed our travel dates. I would have given five stars if our room had been ready on night one, though we changed the booking, so the hotel wasn’t entirely to blame.

The room itself was nice, but the rest of the stay was frustrating. We asked at least five times about a late checkout because our flight from Santorini to Zurich was late, and every time the response was that they’d let us know the next day. When the day came, staff said it wasn’t possible because of possible new bookings and company policy. The unclear communication made the situation needlessly difficult. Hot water also failed several times, and breakfast was very poor. Unless your expectations are very low, I’d strongly suggest avoiding this hotel.

There’s a public bus stop just a two-minute walk up the hill, so there’s no need to pay $30 for a taxi to Oia. The buses have air conditioning and comfortable seats, and cost only 2 euros. The private pool views from our room were breathtaking. The rooms came with body lotion, body wash, irons, and robes. Everyone was polite, welcoming, and very nice. The afternoon bartender and cook and the morning front desk lady did all they could to make us feel welcome, and their service was 10 out of 10.

The staff were wonderful and arranged everything for us, from massages and transport to boat trips and restaurant reservations. It’s a great hotel for a relaxing few days in santorini, with amazing sunset views from the room. Oia is about a 15 to 20 minute walk or a 5 minute taxi ride, and fira is 15 minutes away by taxi.