More about Vedema Resort
Enchanting
by TripAdvisor Member kimv3020
My 91 year old father, 19 year old daughter and I are currently staying at the Vedema for 5 nights. We spent 10 days in Italy and looked forward to a peaceful time in Santorini. I was a little reluctant after booking this hotel, after reading several reviews, but I have not been disappointed. The hotel is enchanting. Staff is wonderful and very accomidating and although it is a little out of the way, everyone has made the distance minor with all of their suggestions...thanks for the memories....
lovely hotel, but not quite 5 star
by TripAdvisor Member mny_traveler
We stayed at Vedema the latter part of May, beginning of June for 5 days. I look to tripadvisor when booking a hotel, so please understand that my review is unbiased. I just wish to share what we have experienced.
Pros: This is not your typical hotel. There are no rooms. There are villas, which leads to a quaint country-like atmosphere. If you have ever visited the Tuscany region in Italy, Vedema is almost an exact replica of a Tuscany village. The grounds are meticulously kept, there are lovely, vibrant flowers throughout the property. The pool is refreshing, the waitstaff is friendly. With this said . . .
Cons: Vedema is not a modern hotel, with modern amenities. There is a key for your villa, not a key card, which is fine, yet can be cumbersome to some folks. The showers are no larger than a shower in a first class car on the Eurostar. The beds are hard, very hard, and the pillows are thin. Little touches . . . like a modern coffeemaker . . . would have been most appreciated. While we did have the breakfast included with our package, coffee in our villa, at whim, would have been a lovely touch. Yes, we could have ordered room service and we did, but the option of being able to brew your coffee in a MODERN coffee maker would have been most appreciated.
I believe a true 5 star luxury property consists of more than the rooms and the amenities. Service can make or break a 5 star rating in my view. I specifically requested early turn down service, was assured it would happen, and twice, not once, but twice, it did not happen. I know this is minute . . . but, a 5 star property would not allow this to happen. Also, at breakfast, when we received our coffee, we had to ask for milk. It was never offerred. So, they would pour the coffee, we'd ask for milk, wait a few minutes (coffee now getting cold) and then the milk would come. Again, at a 5 star resort, this wouldn't happen.
Overall: This resort is perfect as a getaway location for privacy, away from the Fira and other areas in Santorini. If peace and tranquility is what you would like in your holiday, Vedema will not disappoint. I would rate Vedema a 4 star hotel. They need to come a lot further with their service and they really must update their villas, bathrooms specifically (would a 5 star resort have bathrooms with broken tiles, etc.? Not in my book.) They also need to address their TV offerrings. Yes, we are on holiday. But, we are westerners. And we do like to have the opportunity to watch the news . . . not Euronews, not CNN International. This hotel had 3 channels in English . . . and although the directory listed CNBC and CNN, neither was not available during our stay. The staff told us it was "reception problems"". Whatever that was supposed to mean, i do not know. A 5 star resort has satelite TV. Offers their patrons a variety of TV channels.
Santorini is a lovely destination and I wish you a wonderful holiday, wherever you choose to stay.
Magical place, only the dinner ...
by TripAdvisor Member DRKR
We stayed in the Vedema in 2004 and 2005. Now reading all the bad reviews concerning the furniture, we have to give an "neutral" statement as "Non-Americans".
As the manager mentionded, the resort understands istself as a traditional little village in a traditional settlement area. In consequence, the furniture is very simple but very authentic. The situation of the resort in the mainland-village is too pittoresque to believe. When the sunset breaks in, the village is like it must have been 100 years ago. The views to the sea and the vineyards during the sunset is unbelievable, soft and bright. When the night breaks in it becomes a magical place. The soft lights allover the resort, the decent lounge-music in the main areas and the rising moon are incredible, makes you stunning every night. Truly unique. This was the main reason for coming back last year. And the stuff (esp. Apostolos!), which made everything for giving us a warm stay, even with our 1 year baby, which was pampered like a litlle queen by all staff members. So we can´t understand all the complaints about the housing, it is an authentic resort and kept in an excellent allover-cleanliness, it is not an artificial new-style resort. it is expensive, but authentic places are never cheap.
The reason for not returning this year is the food ... You can have very good breakfast (it is for everybody, for Americans, Europeans ...) and lunch. But then it stops. The diner restaurant terrace is indeed a truly magical place, but the food is boring. Well prepared, but always the same... Same menu card in 2005 as in 2004, and the choice is not very rich. And it is too expensive for this. So mostly everybody has to go out and then it becomes hard to get to interesting restaurants. There are three nice tavern-restaurants at the village place, but it is not enough to go there every evening during a 2 week stay. The "resort beach restaurant" is very stylish and the food is excellent, but it is too far to go there every night. We talked to many guests and they all felt like this, so very very few people go there for diner. And this is the reason why we will wait a little bit to go back to the Vedema. Maybe they change this one day and serve fresh fish or a daily changing menu for diner...
In total, we absolutely cannot understand all the complaints and bad reviews. We usually go to real luxury Indian Ocean Resorts in the Maldives or Seychelles. But the Vedema is one of the few European places we consider for a longer stay, at least because of the magical evenings and the authentic location. You should not expect a butler service, refreshing towels everywhere, jacuzzis and huge bath tubs. But you can feel the spirit of the location. Try this, dont think about the dinner (hard hard ..., but go to the lovely local taverns) and enjoy.
And one last thing: there are absolutely NO (other) tourists in the village at night! You wont find this elsewhere at Santorini. Less people, higher costs, like everywhere in resorts. If you dont accept this, you should go to other greek places and meet hundreds of "tourists" every night. Have fun...
Nice but?
by TripAdvisor Member Lucy1970
The Vedema is a beautiful property - we stayed there for three nights of our honeymoon, using Starwood points.
Pros:
The room was very cute (B2 I think it was??) - see photos - and we had one that was given to us with points. The staff was incredibly nice and painfully hard working - often we saw people at 7 a.m. and again at midnight - and we learned that they work 7 days a week with no days off.
The pool was lovely - nice deck chairs, and not too crowded. The shuttle to the beach was a nice touch, and don't worry - if the first is full, they immediately fill another, so there is not much wait. If you can't stand to wait five minutes, you should rent a car!
The wine tasting was fantastic - we loved the wines and learned so much. We also really enjoyed our 9 course private dinner - fabulous! The bartender at the main bar was so nice, and gave us tips about where to go out in Fira, which were right on.
The 400-year old winery is amazing, and we loved the dining room at the hotel's restaurant - go to the inside one and you'll feel like you're in a movie!
We found people at the pool to be very friendly, and although we're not ones to start talking to other travelers, we made friends and the hotel booked a private boat trip for us, which was great. Most people seemed to either be on their honeymoon, or using their points - there were a lot of families with kids, which surprised me. If you don't want to see kids at the pool/beach, I wouldn't go here.
The champagne on arrival and private pickup from the airport were very nice touches, as were the flowers in our room and rose petals on the bed when they learned that we were on our honeymoon.
Cons:
The staff seemed to be always looking over their shoulders, like they were going to "get in trouble." It was disconcerting - and we heard from other hotels in town that the owner's wife is a very difficult woman, which made it clear why the staff seemed so nervous. She has nothing to worry about - her staff is incredibly gracious and hardworking - especially Magdalena (I think her name was) and Maria, who booked our private dinner and spent hours with us picking the menu, music, etc.
The location is really not near anything, although we did catch a cool festival in the town center. I'd stay in Oia if given the choice.
Breakfast is not included, which is ridiculous considering the rates. I would have been furious to pay 600 euros and not get breakfast. When my husband went to breakfast the first morning (assuming it was included as it was everywhere else we stayed) he was presented with a bill for 20 euros. As he said, he would have eaten a lot more if he knew it was going to cost 20 euros!
Overall, the Vedema is a beautiful hotel, and if it weren't so expensive, I'd give it great marks - but for the price, you really are expecting the best in the world, and it's very, very nice - but not worth the very expensive prices if you ask me.
An island of beauty
by TripAdvisor Member kantrli
Location: Santorini, Greece
Date: August 2002
A visit to Greece should be had by all at one point in their life. The Greek islands are one of the most incredible sites to see, experience, taste and enjoy!! The venue where my friend and I stayed was more than could be imagined. We had a private beach which was top notch! The food and service were incredible. The rooms were extremely comfortable and clean. The only complaint that I have (and it is a minor one) is that the location of the hotel is a little bit inconvenient - but nothing that a few extra cab rides can't take care of !!!
Great Island - Good Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member Passepartou
Had a really pleasant stay here in September 2005. Hotel and rooms are quirky with some of the suites having private pools /jacuzzis.
The staff were incredibly helpful and polite and the dining room is a must if only to see the decor!
Food was well above average but for European tastes probably still limited, but that goes for the whole island. The pool setting and atmosphere at night was fabulous though a little quiet at times - we were the only ones in the poolbar at night most of the time.
There are some good eating places across the square with a lively traditional atmosphere and food.
The only drawback to the hotel was the setting - the sea view was a long way off across rooftops of local houses - bit of buildng work going on, washing lines etc but all in all a lovely hotel on a gorgeous island.
Bit pricey and would rate overall as a 4 star (just).
Expensive moldy hotel with bad food. Not starwood quality Terrible
by TripAdvisor Member BillJenn
The beds were terrible and not starwood quality the "spa" is a old moldy room the gym is in a cave with rusty eqipment that does not work. It is a fifteen minute cab to get into town. The "complimentary" shuttle fills up so you must get there 20 minutes before to get on. The breakfast is old and stale. We stayed in a suite with a dirty swimming pool and it cost $600 per night. The worst bed I have been on. Save yourself the money and find something better.
We stay in Starwood hotels all of the time and this was the biggest rip off ever.
we agree with the last bad review
by TripAdvisor Member diane119
we also foud this hotel to be below luxury standards in fact below most standards. the first room we were shown had four different levels the bedrooms being on a different alevel than the bathroom . if a person awoke at night the might fall down the stairs trying to reach the bathroom. the furniture was uncomfortable the beds looked hard and there was no view. when we said we wanted to leave we were delayed because they were suposedly looking for a better room, by the time were were shown to what would be a normal standard room it was to late to leave the island. the final choice of rooms had one level and a jucussi which was dirty so by t he time that was cleaned and refilled it was the next morning . at which point we left the island. i would also advise anyone who has trouble walking not to go there as everything requires going up and down stairs and the walkways are cobblestone very uneven. we had no problem with the food however, and the staff was quite nice. this hotel is deffinitly not up to standard.
far from luxury
by TripAdvisor Member billsNewYork
This is not luxury, not up to starwoods standards.
We are currently still there and felt compelled to post a review. We will add more detail after we leave.
The staff are very friendly and try to help but they cannot make up for the hotel shortcomings.
Forum Posts
Going to Greece 2010
by goingtogreece2010
does anyone know how the VEDEMA RESORT in SANTORINI is?? planning on staying there.......is it fairly close to Fira?
Re: Going to Greece 2010
by starstudio
You remind me that i was working to Vedema hotel at my studying years, as a barman.
Well, you need to drive as we say is not a walking distance. Roads on the island is not highways, so take care especially at night when you came back from Fira.
At the end, yes is fairly close.
Have a nice and safe staying to Greece.
K.
Re: Going to Greece 2010
by brotherleelove
It's a very good luxury hotel, but there's no caldera view. It's in the middle of a quiet vineyard. You'll need a rental car to conveniently move around the island. If you live outside the EU and want to rent a car be sure to bring an International Driving Permit with you. If you're from the U.S or Canada pick one up at your local AAA/CAA office, no test required.
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