Sea View Reviews

Wasn't impressed first day as it was blowing a gale but after finding our bearings absoloutly fell in love with the island. The apartments were kept spotlessly clean and the staff are lovely.

The barbeque on Sunday nights is great. Irene, from the Meteora gave a welcoming speech lasting a good 20 minutes when we first arrived but she sort of grew on you after a few days. We chistened her 'Shelob' after the spider in 'Lord of the Rings' as she had the knack of dragging every passer by into the restaurant! It was a good 20 minutes walk to decent supermarket also the 24 hour bakery which sold the most delicious apple and cinnamon doughnuts and they always give a freebie with all purchases and are really polite.

The people of Santorina are very friendly, we lost our digital camera, having left it in the Tobacco Store whilst we purchased some cigars to tke home and the owner actually brought it back to the Meteora having recognised us from the photographs we had taken. How's that for honesty! Best places to eat were the Meteora, the Laturna in Perissa and the Question Bar was great for Belgian Beers. Get the local bus to Fira, only 1.70 euros, the shopping and views are great.Hope to go back next year as this is Greece at it's unspoit best!

Having holidayed on different Greek islands for most of the last ten years or so we regard ourselves as seasoned Greek travellers. We have holidayed with both larger tour operators and the smaller specialists such as Kosmar and Olympic.

The resort of Perivolos is a small extension to the larger resort of Perissa with the two joined by one large black shingle beach. The resorts are very laid back by day and moderately quiet by night with a good choice of bars and taverna's.
The resorts are suited to both couples and families with Perivolos the quieter end of the beach and the more expensive due to lack of competition.

Sea View Studios were typical basic accomodation, room with basic furniture needs, a bathroom with wc and shower and a small kitchenette. Optional extras are aircon and safety deposit boxes. Despite the name very few rooms have a sea view.

We found the accomodation very good with rooms well cleaned and adequately equipped. The owner Leftkas claims not to speak English but can when required! The pool is medium in size and is very clean with ample sunbeds provided free.

The main downside to the holiday and also a finding in line with other writeups about this accomodation is the influence of the Meteora Taverna next to the Sea View Studios.
We arrived in the dark to be greeted by a mad hyperactive Lebanese lady ";Irene"; who welcomes guests on behalf of Lefkas the owner. (Olympic rep remains on coach and guests are directed to the accomodation).
Irene spends 15 minutes or a little longer giving you an overview of the Sea View Studios and the Meteora. 5 minutes is devoted to the Sea View and some 15 minutes to promoting and spinning up the Meteora. You don't need this hype......

In truth the Meteora is a very expensive place to eat and the food is very sub-standard. Prices are generally 25% dearer than other places and the bill is never the price you think. One couple waited 2 hours for a steak during our stay!
Olympic have received numerous complaints about Meteora and Irene but say it is out of their hands since the Sea View owner arranges this introduction himself.

The best advice is by all means stay at Sea View but avoid Meteroa and the Sea View Bar (Both are owned by Irene) and attitudes and issues at both places are similar - poor quality drink and food at high prices!.
Take a left turn out of Sea View and walk a quarter of a mile or so along the beach front road. Very soon you discover gems such as;
The Best (Fantastic food and cocktails)
Acropolis (Fantastic food and good value)
Atlantis (As Acropolis but smaller choice)
The Volcano (Good food and value)
Laterna in Perissa for good service and food.

Santorini is a beautiful place and the sunsets in Fira and Oia are not to be missed. A little more expensive than other Greek islands but worth the extra!

One other note - avoid booking trips through Olympic - the travel agents next to the Euro Market (Left turn out of Sea View and 1st left then 200 yards on rhs) does the same trips for around 30% less.

O.K. Lets keep this simple.
Everything for which Olympic are responsible was great.Sea View appartments were clean and comfortable,staff very helpful.
However the closely associated Sea View pool bar,and the Meteora Taverna are another matter.
At the pool bar,staff are very friendly and welcoming but strangely at the end of the night we never managed to work out how our relatively few drinks cost so much.Twice we were over-charged until we challenged them.
Same story at the Meteora where the staffreally is the life and soul of the party;and very clever too.
The taverna does not provide you with a bill at the end of your meal,but she comes to your table,and goes through exactly what you have had (so there is no mistake there then),she then adds it up on a calculator(so there is no mistake there then)? But the cat likes her cream.
Funny, how it is always a little more than it should have been!
And sad too,because there really is no need.The food is very good and the prices are already slightly above the island average (which in turn is slightly above other Greek Island prices).
The charitable will say that they may have made a mistake (or two)

IN 17 Greek Islands this is only the second time that we have felt cheated (the other was in Rhodes Old Town)
Santorini generally was good (if overpriced),but not special.
Perissa-Perivolos area was fine ;plenty of bars/tavernas,and no hassle.
Best places to eat were Cafe Del Mare;
Kalimare (for kleftiko and shrimp spaghetti);and The Best Restaurant.

If you are active,take the hike up the hill to the small chapel,and then on to Ancient Thira;the views are amazing.

Despite my negative comments above ,we did enjoy Santorini,but I don't think we will be back.

We had a fantastic holiday- the apartments were kept spotless were very spacious air conditioning is provided for 5 euros a day but we just kept our doors and windows open [very breezy].
al;though its called the sea view hotel- very few rooms had a sea view but its not a problem because its actually on the beach .
The owner and staff were very friendly and helpful although they couldnt speak english
The pool is lovely- plenty of beds and umbrellas available free of charge- the water in the pool and the taps come to that is salt water- there is no natural spring water on the island at all so this will be the case everywhere on santorini

The taverna next door the Meteora is run by a wonderful Mad lady called Irine and her husband Roland she made our and most peoples holday!!! she speaks several languages perfectly and organises lots of entertainement for free- any problems she will sort it including getting you the best deals. My partner is disabled and she thought nothing of taking us to the nearest bank when we needed to change some money and provided us with a loaf of bread free of charge for our breakfast every morning.

The restaurant itself has a top saucier chef and we found every meal there absolutely delicious and were hard pushed to pick a favourite- there are plenty of other tavernas to go to nearby if you prefer a change
There is a shortage of supermarkets we thought- a small one selling very basic items and a larger one a good twenty minutes walk away- the taverna owners wont let them sell any closer apparently to encourage you to eat out obviously.
the beach is a long one directly opposite the hotel and is black shingle which we found uncomfortable and hot to walk on. the sea drops quite quickly we were told. beds and umbrellas are readily available for hire for 6 euros a day.

There is a bus stop nearby the buses were all air conditioned and it costs 1.60 euros to get to Fira the capital and from there you can get anywhere else on this small island for another 1 euro- I would recommend everyone to do this rather than pay for the tour operators organised trips- which in our opinion was GROSSLY overpriced!!!! We were told Fira or Thiera the capital is very expensive but if you go there yourself its not at all the tavernas were priced approx the same as anywhere else-

Oia is also worth a visit- All in all the whole island is very beautiful- We would definately go back again