Centro Houses

We had several problems during our stay, and the owners’ attitude unfortunately affected how we felt about Santorini. Based on the social media reviews, I expected an “A+ property.” At first it looked fine, but looking closer, a lot of things were faulty. It reminded me of Fawlty Towers, all show and pomp outside while things crumble underneath. There were some positives: the owners arranged a 7am check-in, the property is a 5-7 minute walk from Fira town centre, and there’s plenty of car parking outside. The cleaner came every day and changed all our bath towels halfway through the stay. But at checkout, we were told to leave at 11am with only an hour’s notice, in a very aggressive and rude way, even though checkout was listed as between 11am and midday. I called the middle party to complain, waited 25 minutes on the phone, and was then told there had been a misunderstanding and that we could leave at midday. When we left on 2nd October, the loft bedroom electrics still weren’t working, so I couldn’t use a lamp or fan there. The owner had promised to send an electrician, but that never happened. The bathroom drains flooded twice with waste matter. A plumber came, then removed the bath plug, so we couldn’t use the bath for the rest of the holiday. The cooker light wasn’t replaced, and several living room bulbs were out, making it hard to see food while cooking, especially in the first few days. The fireplace in the living room didn’t work either. There were holes in the walls, faulty electrics, bulbs that needed replacing, and clutter and junk throughout. Storage was another issue. There was no storage at all in the loft room, while two wardrobes and chests of drawers in the master bedroom were full of the owners’ things, leaving too little space for guests. This wasn’t mentioned in the ad. There was no full-size ironing board, despite plenty of space for one, so ironing meant sitting on the floor or trying to balance the small board, which was a real pain. Toilet paper can’t be flushed at Centro Houses. Friends who stayed in Santorini the year before didn’t have this problem. If I’d known there was a drain issue at Centro Houses, I never would have booked it.