Carpe Diem Santorini

We had a wonderful 10-night stay at Carpe Diem, with genuine smiles and such thoughtful advice and recommendations from Sofia, Marinos, and Mary. They all went out of their way to make it special, and we can’t thank them enough. Every meal at Exaltis restaurant was beautiful, thank you, chef! The welcome was fabulous, and the views, tranquility, style, and ambience were just right from the moment we arrived. I’d highly recommend Carpe Diem for an amazing stay in Santorini.

The employees were very helpful, especially Philip, who consistently went above and beyond for us. The place was close to perfect, but I was disappointed to learn the dinner option was a private chef only, with a set menu costing €125/€175 per person. I hadn’t realized that beforehand.

We had an amazing two weeks at Carpe Diem for our honeymoon. The staff were very friendly and helpful, and breakfast was lovely. The views from the hotel are stunning, and the rooms are clean and tidy, with the option of having your own pool. Highly recommended.

The room was adequately clean and the shower worked well, but the floor and bathroom could use refurbishment, and the sink taps could have had more pressure. We also weren’t told that toilet paper couldn’t be flushed because of the drainage, which made the stay uncomfortable. Housekeeping staff were kind and changed the bedsheets daily. We weren’t shown where the gym or other facilities were when we arrived. When we asked, we were told to book the gym at least a day ahead. We did, but on arrival the receptionist said it wasn’t ready, so we had to go back to our room and wait. Inside, there was one treadmill, two pedal bikes, and a few weights. The sauna, music stereo, and phone weren’t working, and the air conditioning was poor. When I mentioned this, the receptionist said the sauna required an extra payment, which we hadn’t been told about. We ordered breakfast to the room all four days. It cost an extra 16 euros, and although it arrived quickly, the woman kept asking when she could come collect it. That made us feel rushed to finish eating, which was unnecessary stress. Our room was the hotel’s largest VIP room and had a heated private pool, but the water was cold all four days. The man at reception blamed the high winds, but it stayed cold after they died down too. When we asked about turning up the heating element, we were told it was already at the maximum. A huge disappointment, and one of us developed a temperature and a cold during our last two days there. Most of the time, reception was staffed by a young woman and a man. She was quite polite, but he was often abrupt and rude, speaking as if he wasn’t interested. Special mention to Antonis, the night staff member, and apologies if I’ve spelled his name wrong. A light in our room wouldn’t switch off and was too bright to sleep with. When I called, thankfully Antonis answered. He talked me through it and said to call again if it still didn’t work. I did, and he came right away, found someone to help, then returned quickly and fixed the problem. He was a diamond. The hotel was okay, and very close to the airport, but there’s a steep hill outside. Some taxis stopped at the top, so we had to walk up. It felt dangerous, especially at night, since it seemed like we could slide going down in the wrong shoes. Ours were fine, but keep it in mind. The uphill slope felt almost 160 degrees and was exhausting. That’s why I rated the location 3/5. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t recommend this hotel, except for its proximity to the airport and Antonis.