Iliovasilema Hotel Apartments

Do Not Stay At The Iliovasilema Under Any Circumstance

by TripAdvisor Member ComesAround

THis hotel notified me 9 days before my arrival in Greece, which was also to be the first two nights of my honeymoon, that they were cancelling my reservation because someone else decided to stay longer. They wrote me an email on June 19th (my reservation was made in February for June 28th & 29th) saying:

"We apologise in advance for the inconvenience, but a
>> slight problem has occured with your reservation.
>> The people staying in the Superior Suite before you
>> have extended their stay due to flight problems and
>> for special reasons we cannot move them to another
>> room, which means that the Superior Suite will not
>> be available."

This is more than unheard of and insanely aggrivating as booking a good room in Santorini in June with now 7 days notice (from the US) is nearly impossible.

This is a horrible hotel, that cannot even keep a reservation, not even for Honeymooners! This has soured our trip and we have not even left yet for Greece yet. You cannot trust anything they tell you. I had confirmed this visit in February 2006!!!

DO NOT STAY AT THE ILIOVASILEMA HOTEL. YOU MAY GET CANCELLED ON AS WELL AND HAVE THEM RUIN YOUR VACATION/HONEYMOON TOO!

Great Stay

by TripAdvisor Member Shmiggly

Iliovasilema hotel was the perfect place to stay while visiting Santorini.

We arrivied on a 6AM flight to Santorini and the hotel had arranged a ride from the airport for us. The only problem (very minor) was that we showed up before reception opened and had to wait about 20 minutes, but this was no problem. We went for a quick walk and enjoyed the view. Once reception opened we were immediately checked in and shown to our room.

The room with the bed in the loft was quite comfortable, and the view from the balcony was spectacular. The room was cleaned well, and regularly.

The location was perfect, as it was walking distance to Fira, but not in the middle of it. A 15 minute walk to and from the town was perfect for working off those big Greek dinners. The hotel was quiet and comfortable, even when we slept away the first morning we arrived due to severe jet lag.

The day we left, an early morning taxi to the port was arranged for us, and they even offered to have somebody come in outside regular hours to carry our bags up over the stairs for us (there were lots of stairs). We managed on our own...but the offer was much appreciated...considering some hotels in other contries never offered to take our bags in the middle of the afternoon.

A great place to stay, a great location, and a great price. I'd definately go back.

Great view and value

by TripAdvisor Member teraflop

Firstly, I sought a view, privacy, and decent price (<200 euros) as I was not confident that a >200/300 euro/night place would be worth it. Though some may quibble.

Iliovasilema offers a one of the best views on the island. Perhaps Pegasus and other nearby hotels offer better but I was satisfied. And I brought a telephoto lens for the express purpose of taking photos.

Waking to a private balcony, facing the view was wonderful. Nothing can describe nor replace it. Sunsets: some would argue Oia is better. I say it is different.

As for the bed, it was a little hard but I had no problem sleeping. And the backache I had when I went on vacation disappeared entirely. The hotel staff was accomodating, despite my north american foibles (like helping me figure out the heating/cooling system which is common to european hotels in general). Checkin & out was easy. No surprises when it came to pricing. Everything was done by fax & email. I initially contacted them via email through the Santorini.org website.

The nearby village is just that. If you want nightlife, go walk to Fira & taxi back. I enjoy quietness and privacy. Walking up & down the cliff/steps is a challenge for those with knee issues and weak leg muscles but it was not an impediment.

Overall, run & get a chance to spend some nights there. Bring your honey and a good camera.

simply breathtaking!

by TripAdvisor Member giadas

The apartment was good but the balcony we got was simply amazing! Yes, we payed more to have the best view of all the hotel, but it deserved maybe more! We had wonderful dinners in our private terrace. Really a kind of paradise!

Very nice hotel, bad location

by TripAdvisor Member thedudeisnotin

My wife and I spent one night of our honeymoon here in July of 2005, sadly the only night on Santorini, after staying a week in Mykonos. The hotel is beautiful, built on the side of a cliff, with magnificent views from every room. Each room has a nice patio that you can sit out and enjoy the air. The rooms are stylish and clean, many of them are interesting loft style that you climb a ladder to the bed, although I found it hard to control the temperature up there. The management was helpful, but we were only there two days. The pool was small and the deck seemed cramped.

The only aspect of the hotel that was annoying was the location. It's not near any town and you can either wait for them to call you a cab which can take a long time on an island full of tourists and short on cabs, or hoof it to a bus stop where you never know when the next bus will come by or what it will look like. Unless you plan on renting a bike or a car I would recommend staying in one of the towns, Fira or Oia, the latter being much more desirable, so probably more expensive.

Another note: the hotel is built into the side of a cliff, so if you don't do stairs well this is definitely NOT the place for you as there are a TON of stairs. Make sure you get someone to carry your bags for you, as they are happy to do.

Absolutely Ideal

by TripAdvisor Member busterella

Never before have I stayed in a more ideallic place. Walking down the steps on arrival was just breath taking. My first word and only word for a long time was WOW before I just took it all in. The view was just stunning, the rooms were imacculate, the plunge pool was great and the weather was superb. The location was brilliant. It is not worth the money paying extra to stay in Oia, the views are better in Imerovigli and a lovely walk into Fira.

I just want to be back there now.

Lovely Spot

by TripAdvisor Member Ruth4

This is a beautiful spot, with breathtaking views and easy access to the main town of Thira. Our room was amazing, but we were in the superior suite - some of the other rooms we saw were quite small, and we were told it was difficult to control the air conditioning in the loft areas where the beds were. However, we had no such problems. Breakfast came with our room, and it was delicious. The pool is small, but they all are on Santorini - there's no room for anything bigger - but it's refreshing. The staff isn't the warmest bunch I've met, but they were helpful when required. What's nicest about this place (aside from the view), is that it is very charming and enables guests to chat and get to know each other because their patios/balconies are so close. There is a path that runs from the bottom of the hotel right along the cliffs into Thira, about a 30 min walk, and beautiful! There are markets and restaurants within walking distance, and the sunset is stellar - no need to go to Ia when it's right in front of your hotel room!

Beautiful, relaxing place to stay!

by A TripAdvisor Member

My family (myself,my husband and our two teenagers) just returned from Santorini. We had a lovely stay at the Iliovasalema Hotel. The owners were very accomodating, the views were spectacular and the meals we had there (breakfasts) were delicious. If I were to go back to Santorini, I would definitely stay there again. You won't be disappointed!

Accurate reviews

by A TripAdvisor Member

I recently stayed at this hotel after having chosen it based on the reviews and it's ranking on Trip Advisor, and the information I found on the hotel website. It is a very nice place to stay. The view is great. The studio room was comfortable and cleaned regularly. It is true that the staff are very friendly, helpful and non-intrusive. Even though the hotel seemed to have full occupancy (I think there are about 20 rooms/suites) I was amazed at how quiet the sun deck / pool area was during the day - we had it to ourselves virtually. At night the hotel is very quiet indeed, reception closes from midnight to 8am. It's a great place to relax.
The pool is small but deep and refreshing! Don't go to Santorini unless you don't mind steps, there's a lot of those given the way the little towns are built. The same was true for the hotel. The bus to Fira is about 5 minutes walk away, it runs every 30 minutes. A cab back will cost 5 Euro. You can walk along the quaint pathway, but it can be tiring in the heat. The only downside was that our wake up call never happened and the taxi that was organized for us on the morning of our departure didn't arrive - that was resolved by a call to an out of hours hotel number, but I would rather not depend on that. Summary: nice place to relax, great view, friendly staff and getting around from there is easy.

The view, the view, the view!

by lyntraveller

"I can't believe I'm here at last"

Since my son got home from his world travels Santorini was high on my list of places to visit. I got onto the Internet and found my Hotel in Imerovigli. The Hotel Iliovasilema, which means sunset. I wanted a sunset view, my very own balcony. And even though I was on my own that would make no difference. After the spectacular view from the ferry arriving in the caldera I stepped off the mini bus and walked down the steps to the Hotel reception. And I was stuck right there saying OMG! The view! I was not disappointed, this Hotel was exactly as it was on the Internet. I stayed 4 nights and got the bus around. Fira is very touristy, but the walk along the path of the caldera is magic. And the 8 km walk North to Oia is awesome.