As a first-time traveller to Greece, was lucky enough to find the very best accomodation in the very best place in all of Santorini--the House of the Collector suite at Ikies.. Gorgeous, property, gorgeous view, gorgeous and most accomodating Hotel Manager,Eleni--the trifecta! Truly one of the best suites I've stayed in during my entire life in this, a magical place.. This suite is perfect for 2 couples travelling together.. Can't wait to go back!!

My husband and I spent part of our honeymoon at Ikies, and I'm finding that it's hard to explain just how perfect it was. But here goes my best shot!

The hotel and surrounding area are just beautiful. When our taxi arrived in the parking area at the top, two of the staff were there to greet us and help us with our bags. We then took the (many, many) stairs down, first to the reception office, and then to our room, the House of the Cook. The Cook's House was not our first choice, as many of the other rooms were already booked when we made our reservations, but it ended up being just lovely. The decor was simple and pleasant, and the room and loft were a lot larger than we expected. We had two bathrooms, one upstairs in the loft bedroom and one downstairs. There were two couches in the living area where my husband and I enjoyed stretching out - with him of course on the couch opposite the flat-screen TV, and me reading a book on the couch under it! Our balcony was on the small side but had a stunning view and was on its own level so it felt private.

And the breakfast that they delivered every morning... Oh, the breakfast. So good! First of all, when we checked in they gave us a form where we could mark everything that we wanted for breakfast and the time we wanted it delivered. I wasn't expecting that we would have a choice on what was served, so this was a nice surprise. The choices that I can remember were (although I'm sure I'm forgetting some): fruit, pastries/bread/muffins, ham/turkey/salami, cheeses, cereal, yogurt, honey, jam, coffee/cappuccino/lattes/tea/milk. Promptly at the appointed time, I would hear them quietly setting the table on our balcony and then we'd get a polite knock on the door letting us know our breakfast was ready. My husband can attest to the fact that I am not a morning person AT ALL, yet I was out there before him every morning with a big smile on my face. The combination of the breakfast and the view was definitely worth waking up early for!

I also loved the location of Ikies - the view of the caldera and of Oia is just breathtaking, and we loved that it was in such a quiet location yet was only a short walk from the restaurants and shopping of Oia. On that note, I personally much preferred Oia to Fira - prettier, more quaint, and with better shopping.

And the staff: the reception staff while we were there (Eleni, Loella, and Katerina) were just amazing. From the planning emails I exchanged with all three of them prior to our trip I felt like I knew them already, and actually meeting them in person just made that feeling stronger. They were all three so friendly and attentive. And although I unfortunately do not know the name of the rest of the staff (cleaning, maintenance, etc.) they were amazing as well. Everyone we came in contact with while we were there was so polite and always had a smile for us.

A perfect example of how much Ikies' staff goes above and beyond for their guests: when we were checking out, they inquired about the rest of our vacation and we told them that we were staying in Athens for one night before we flew back to the States. During the course of this small talk they asked which hotel we were staying at and we told them the Sofitel Athens airport. When we checked into the Sofitel later that day, the woman at the front desk congratulated us on our recent marriage and told us there would be a special honeymoon gift in our room - which turned out to be a platter of fruit and bottle of wine. We were just further amazed with the Greek hospitality we had encountered on our trip, until we realized: the Sofitel should have had no idea it was our honeymoon! I booked our room online and had not corresponded with anyone at the hotel prior to our arrival, so it was a mystery to us how they knew... until we remembered that the Ikies' staff had specifically inquired about what hotel we were staying at next. That is just incredible to me; it's pretty much the definition of above and beyond. Our stay at Ikies was over, they had our money and they were already sending us away very happy, yet they still took the time to call our next hotel and tip them off that we were on our honeymoon, so that we would get special treatment on our last night in Greece. Just incredibly thoughtful.

As a testament to how much we loved our time at Ikies, we are already planning our next trip there! This time we will be staying in the House of the Winemaker. Although we loved the House of the Cook, we are very excited to next time have a jacuzzi tub indoors, and a large balcony with a hot tub outdoors. :)

You must stay here. It's the best thing we did the whole trip to Santorini! The staff is excellent, the breakfast is amazing, and the views...man, the views are spectacular!

This is truely an amazing hotel. Book in plenty of time to ensure you get the room you want. This was our second hotel in Oia and we had such a great time at the first one we were a little anxious if this place lived up to its great reviews. I can tell you is that it surpassed them. It was faultless. When I first went to book about 4 months in advance the hotel was completely booked up. I really wanted to stay there so about a month before we left I sent an email to see if they had any cancellations, and they did. It was fate!. The only catch was that I had to split our three day stay between two rooms, the sailor house on the pool level and the cooks house. They organised free transport from our other hotel and there were two people waiting to meet us, one to guide us to our rooms and the other to look after our luggage. As Oia is like no where else on earth we were guided down the steps to the small reception, they brought us to our room where our luggage was waiting for us and I was so impressed. The website gives an acurate indication of each room and they come with the most fabulous beds, reception has a great collection of dvds if you would like to stay in and the room service food was delicious, Greek Salad, Taziki and Club Sandwich are highly recommended! The breakfast served on the terrace was a highlight, served at your preferred time with a changing selection of fruit and pastries and then of course what you have ordered. The only thing that I could possibly disappoint (and I am afraid to mention this as it could unneccessarily put people off) is the pool, it was smaller then I anticipated but perfect for cooling off, and most of the time we had it to ourselves, on the rare occassion that we had to share it was a great opportunity for a chat and find out some tips on what else to do locally. As most of the rooms have their own private hot tub (we couldn't get one of these but I definately will next time!) The staff were amazing and would do nearly anything to help you. And most of all it was such a relaxing place, the atmosphere was so laid back, its a really fabulous and expensive hotel although you don't get any sniff of pretention that can commonly exist in similar hotels in that price bracket which generally puts me off! Lastly but certainly not least, the views, percehd perfectly to see the sunset for most if not all of the high season months you can most likely watch the sunset from your terrace. Trully amazing!