On the Rocks Hotel

My fiance and I have just returned from the best week at On The Rocks in Santorini. The service from everyone at the hotel was outstanding, we were really made to feel welcome. We were even greeted by a staff member the night we arrived up on the main street so he could take our bags to our room even though it was well after midnight. We were given a complimentary upgrade to room number 8 (I had explained that this was actually a surprise engagement trip for my fiance). The room was large and spotlessly clean, with a jacuzzi on the balcony looking over the famous caldera. I picked this hotel based on the outstanding TripAdvisor reviews, and it certainly didn't disappoint. If we return to Santorini we will definitely chose to stay at On The Rocks again. A special mention to Anton at the pool bar who was so friendly and lovely from the first day we met him. He is a real asset to the hotel. Note: There are around 200 steps at this hotel, so if you like chilling by the pool ask for a lower room near the pool, if you want to stay closer to the main street ask for a room higher up. The steps didn't bother us too much, but I can see how they might be an issue for some. If you address your concerns to the hotel, I'm sure they'll pick the best room for you :)

Well first of all, it is a must that you stay in this area, even if only staying for a couple of nights. Fira (Thira) however you want to spell it, is like Camden market on a Sunday, another words somewhere you want to avoid if at all possible. Don't get me wrong, it's well worth a visit, just don't stay there. If you can picture up to 5 cruise liners a day mooring up, it gets really busy and to be honest, apart from the odd shop, it's all your local tacky rubbish that nobody buys. Ok the hotel. Let me start by saying, if you are at all impaired walking wise, forget Santorini. It is step city and not all are "approved". We were staying for 9 nights in a suite as we were paranoid we wouldn't get any beds by the pool. Apart from the really cheap rooms, all the rooms appeared to have their own beds, but be warned, Santorini is built on a cliff, so privacy you won't get, you can be very close to your neighbours, but this appeared to be the case at every hotel. We were upgraded to the honeymoon suite which was a pleasant surprise. On it's own, with a day bed rather that chairs. We sat by the pool every day and never had an issue with "crowds" as there weren't any. To me, most people seemed to spend between 2-5 days and then move on. We were happy to splag and relax, go for a nice meal in the evening and for this, we had a great holiday. There are some nice restaurants in the area, but Fira is only 20 minutes to the East (easy walk) and 20 minutes west are some really nice ones (although the walk is a little dodgy, recommend a cab back) Flyaway restaurant and bar is a great place to eat, beautiful location, fantastic food just wouldn't recommend staying there as it's to isolated. Back to On the Rocks and the good bits/bad bits. The staff were very friendly. Our room, thankful for the upgrade had a jacuzzi in the room which stunk of chlorine, so much so it made your eyes smart, we asked them not to refill it as we would not be using it and after that it was fine. I suppose our biggest issue was the food and the inconsistency of it. You had to order your breakfast before 9pm the previous night and book a slot (5 per half hour, tip, book all of them on arrival) which meant you may get breakfast delivered to your room at 10.30 depending on the times left. Also the breakfast was pretty boring, don't get me wrong, I am not a full English type of person, it's just I have had a whole lot better in similar Greek hotels. We also had an issue with room service. This you can order up to 21.30 or so it says, however after a long journey we decided on our first night to order and were told the chef had been taken ill and there was none (understandable) however after a cruise where we got home just after 8ok one night, we again ordered, only to be told they had too many orders already and could not provide anything (that's rubbish) then, not giving up, we booked room service 2 days in advance and got inedible food. This was really disappointing as the food (from the same kitchen) during the day, down by the pool was really very good. Overall, we have stayed at SLH before and for the money I would say it is fair value. I appreciate they may only have a small kitchen but there was nothing "luxury" about breakfast or room service. I also had a couple of issues with our room (boiler broke, no hot water and our front door wouldn't lock (2 attempts to fix). I feel overall a true reflection of score would be 3 1/2 but as you can't give this, I feel a 3 would be unjust so have given it a 4. Truth is, would I return to Santorini again, yes. Would I stay at the same hotel, yes. Finally, we visited in mid September, during the day the weather was glorious but the evenings can get a bit windy and cold. Take some warm tops.

This amazing little hotel has a great location, a great staff and was reasonably priced considering the alternatives. Carved into the cliffs looking down on the Agean and the active region of the caldera, every room offered great views combined with breakfast served on your porch and great room service. The staff was also extremely helpful in setting up tours and rides as needed. They were even ready for my early departure with a breakfast basket (delivered at 5:00am). Can't think of anything more they could have done to make my vacation better.