Santo Maris: rest and renewal in Santorini
Take a restorative break on an island that knows a bit about struggle and healing
Think of a Greek island and there’s a good chance you conjure up a hillside clad in white-walled houses and blue-domed churches. What you’re picturing is Oia, the picturesque town on the northern tip of Santorini.
Known locally as Thira, the crescent-shaped island was a full circle until the 17th century BC. Then a volcanic eruption blasted the centre out of it, leaving a vast caldera that was flooded by the Aegean sea. New islands sprang up within it after subsequent smaller eruptions.
The unusual geography of the island has shaped its unique villages, which cling to terraces cut into the steeply sloping rock. Eye-searingly white paint reflects the sun, while high vaulted ceilings help to keep the heat off the occupants below.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Such practical benefits may be obsolete in the age of air conditioning, particularly in five-star hotels - but the aesthetic appeal remains. To visitors from more northerly climes, those white walls convey the simple pleasures of long summer evenings with a bottle of local wine and a plate of something ripened in the sun.
The Andronis hotels: why stay here?
The Andronis group has four hotels in Oia, each offering a different perspective on this unique island. Andronis Luxury Suites, Andronis Boutique Hotel and Alta Mare sit on the town’s southern slope, overlooking the deep blue water of the caldera. Andronis Arcadia, a short walk to the west, trades caldera views for a little more space and privacy - and spectacular sunsets.
Arcadia’s architecture is modern but sympathetic to Greek island style, its crisp white lines softened by the grass-like shrubs planted in its gravel roofs. Bougainvillea clambers up the walls and drapes them with colour. Inside, the suites are sleek, modern and spacious, with large bathrooms and super-king sized beds. Each comes with its own balcony and private pool, many of which face the setting sun.
The caldera-side hotels are smaller and more traditional in character. Andronis Boutique Hotel, for example, has just a handful of suites and villas carved into the cliffside, their interiors sculpted to resemble caves. The restaurant and swimming pools make the most of the enviable perches, jutting out into thin air to maximise their panoramic views.
What to do
Oia is small, but its dense warren of footpaths and alleyways will while away an afternoon or two, even if you aren’t distracted by the luxury boutiques and cafes secluded in every nook and terrace. The streets are at their busiest around dusk, when visitors flock towards westerly vantage points.
A more relaxing way to see the sunset is from the water: cruises leave the harbour each evening, many offering drinks and canapes to complement the natural splendour. Photographic tours can also be arranged, either on land or sea. If you want to beat the Instagram crowd at their own game, you can even star in your own fashion photoshoot, complete with changes of wardrobe.
The hotel group has its own yacht, the Andronis Feretti, which can be chartered for half-day tours. Itineraries are flexible, but can incorporate beach visits, snorkeling, swimming and visits to other islands - as well as wine tastings and meals.
Or you can sit back and enjoy your hotel’s facilities. Each Andronis hotel has its own spa - offering massages, beauty treatments and other relaxing rituals - as well as pools and sun loungers.
What to eat
Andronis Luxury Suites has one of the island’s best restaurants, Lycabettus, whose location (below) is as breathtaking as the food it serves. Occupying a spur of rock jutting out over the water, its candlelit tables offer 360-degree views across the caldera on one side and Oia’s shimmering lights on the other.
The tasting menu brings a fine-dining sensibility to the island’s fresh produce, from which it crafts a series of elegant dishes. A crab sabayon with caviar and lime is a case in point: delicate, fragrant and beautifully presented.
Over at Andronis Arcadio, the Opson restaurant offers a different taste of Santorini. Eschewing all ingredients originating from beyond the Mediterranean - the new world’s tomatoes, for example, or pasta, derived from Chinese noodles - it delivers a taste of Ancient Greece. Breads baked with heritage grains are followed by fish from local waters, both fresh and preserved using classical techniques, as well as game from the island and its neighbours. All are flavoured with the herbs, nuts and fruits that would have been familiar to the Greeks of past millennia.
When to go
Sitting well south of the Greek mainland, Santorini enjoys a warm, dry climate, its summer heat moderated by the Aegean Sea. Temperatures peak at 29C in July and are only a few degrees cooler in September. Most Santorini hotels close for the winter season: Andronis Arcadia opens from late April to the end of October, while the other three Andronis hotels open from late March to mid-November.
How to get there
British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair fly to Santorini (Thira) International Airport, a 30-minute drive from Oia. BA offers four nights at Andronis Boutique Hotel from 27 October for £1,344 per person, based on two adults sharing, including breakfast and flights from Heathrow. Or book directly with the hotels, from about £250 per night at Alta Mare.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Holden Frith is The Week’s digital director. He also makes regular appearances on “The Week Unwrapped”, speaking about subjects as diverse as vaccine development and bionic bomb-sniffing locusts. He joined The Week in 2013, spending five years editing the magazine’s website. Before that, he was deputy digital editor at The Sunday Times. He has also been TheTimes.co.uk’s technology editor and the launch editor of Wired magazine’s UK website. Holden has worked in journalism for nearly two decades, having started his professional career while completing an English literature degree at Cambridge University. He followed that with a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. A keen photographer, he also writes travel features whenever he gets the chance.
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spread to Africa
The Explainer Ukraine is attempting to strengthen its alliances on the continent to counter Russia's growing presence
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Three Chimneys restaurant and The House Over-By review: Skye's sumptuous rural hideaway
The Week Recommends The award-winning restaurant with rooms is well worth battling the elements to reach
By Jamie Timson, The Week UK Published
-
Mexico City travel guide: art and design
The Week Recommends Modern vibrancy, design legacy and ancient heritage puts Mexico's jewel alongside other art capitals of the world
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya: luxury ecotourism meets Mexican flair
The Week Recommends Caribbean resort hidden in Yucatán Peninsula mangroves combines fine dining with a true love of nature
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Kurhotel Skodsborg: where the atmosphere of Copenhagen meets the wild
The Week Recommends The resort near Denmark's capital offers a stylish and authentic Danish spa experience
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
An unspoiled island in the Bahamas
The Week recommends Explore the natural beauty, windswept beaches and crystal-clear waters of Eleuthera
By The Week UK Published
-
Edinburgh, Scotland: where history ambles alongside the present
The Week Recommends Plan your trip to the Scottish capital
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Westbury Hotel review: stunning suites in charming Dublin
The Week Recommends This hotel is the perfect spot to while away a weekend in Ireland's capital
By Kaye O'Doherty Published
-
Rio de Janeiro: a guide to Brazil's iconic city
The Week Recommends There's far more to Rio than just mountains, beaches, music and dance
By Tom Yarwood Published