Aelia Luxury Suites

A few initial problems, 2 beds booked, took a lot of nagging to get sofa bed made up. Booked half board, told us it was lunch. Finally got offered the dinner we expected. We were unable to use the free Fira shuttle advertised as the one free trip clashed with dinner time. We asked for more hangers, ony given 4 for 2 people, were given 2 more, said that's all they had! Meals were ok, lad at breakfast was lovely. Room comfortable, pool etc. nice, not luxury. Hotel a bit out of the way but not too far from local village.

We give a 3 star review reluctantly as with a few upgrades it could be so much better. Location is a little remote but if you dont hire a car and dont mind walking its not a major problem as you can get to bus stop to Fira via a pleasant walk through Karterados or even walk in to Fira. Pool area is lovely with comfortable sun beds and with quiet chilled background music. The staff are excellent and very friendly and the daily cleaning exceptional. The real aspect that lets it down is the breakfast limited with cheap products used, the half board menu limited and not changed but have to say reasonable quality if you pick the right things. Please dont over cook the chicken! The dining area is more like a staff canteen.Drinks are overpriced, an adjustment would get guests buying more and the wine by the glass awful. Definitely does not reflect 5 star rating for this alone It was very quiet when we stayed but I get the feeling the whole menu thing is tailored to run the operation on a skeleton staff enabling them to cope when it gets busy. Overall we did enjoy it but could have been so much better.

I was sad to see the last 2 previous reviews as they were there when we were and they were complaining loudly then to other people. A 1 star is very unfair given the many positives they have included in their review. We were also on the Travelodeal and it was incredible value at less than £1200 including flights, transfers and half board for 2 so it surpassed our expectation. There was a problem with the hot tub in our room when we arrived and this was dealt with straight away with no fuss and we were so lucky to be upgraded then to the largest suite with a hot tub with a sea view. The hotel is immaculate and all the staff were so helpful, kind and polite. The cleaners were cheery, the barman made us amazing cocktails, the staff that cooked and served our food were great - they always had a smile and welcome for us. The reception staff were so helpful and their English was excellent. The menu was set but the food was all fresh, local and tasty. Beautiful salads and the carbonara and Greek yoghurt were incredible. The plates were huge as well and by the end of the week we had to ask for little portions! We ate out once at a fish restaurant on the beach - Captain Loizos. All local people there - incredible fish and salads. It was a 30/40 min walk but we got a taxi back for 20 euro. We had researched before we went and knew that it was a walk to Fira - about 30min uphill on way but we enjoyed this and from Fira we explored all the island by bus for just 4 euro 60 for both of us each trip. Thank you to all the staff there - we had a wonderful time.

I'll start with the good bits, as there were several. Our junior suite, whilst minimalist, was very clean and comfortable, with a super king size bed and nice crisp bed linen. We were on the first floor with a small balcony, overlooking the pools and bar. Good shower room. Lounge area was spacious. Two large TVs, one in the bedroom and one in the lounge. However, extremely uncomfortable sofa, so any TV we watched was done so sitting on our bed! Rooms obviously designed by a man (!) e.g. no mirror in the bedroom, no drawers, too few coat hangers and no towel rails. Breakfast was good, with plenty of choice, and the young man serving us every day was very polite, friendly and smiley. The two lady receptionists were also both friendly and efficient. However, that said, the rest of our experience here was dreadful! When we arrived, we were told that our half board meals would be served between 01.00 and 04.00 pm. We and 2 other couples arriving at the same time said no thanks to that, as our understanding was that half board allowed us to eat in the evening. After confering with management, we were told it could be changed to after 06.00 pm. Good. That evening, we enjoyed the Greek appetisers and Greek salad starters. We then ordered the only 2 Greek main courses on the very limited menu - chicken gyros and pork gyros. Both went back to the kitchen virtually untouched, as the meat was inedible! Other diners complained about inedible chicken fillets and chicken nuggets - both overcooked and too tough to even cut through! The waiter (who was also the barman, multitasking!) wasn't apologetic and didn't offer any alternatives. Only 3 desserts on the menu. 2 we didn't like - too stodgy and sweet for our tastes - which left ice cream, of which they only had 2 flavours, chocolate and strawberry. Even then the waiter said that we couldn't have a scoop of each flavour - it was one or the other! We complained at reception the next morning. The receptionist was very apologetic, but couldn't help us herself. She got the manageress on the phone, who was argumentative and said that we could order pasta and pizza dishes if we didn't like the Greek main courses. How very wrong of us to want to eat Greek food in Greece! She missed the point completely about our meals being inedible! I referred to the fact that Aelia Suites is meant to be 5*, to which she replied that the food wasn't 5* ! No kidding, Sherlock! She again said that we should just have pasta and pizza. She was no help whatsoever. We ended up walking into the local village and enjoying wonderfully cooked Greek food in a local taverna every evening. This of course cost us more money, when we'd already paid for evening meals at the hotel. The other main complaint that we had was with the complimentary shuttle bus into the main town of Fira. We expected this to run throughout the day, allowing us to then catch local buses to explore all over Santorini. However, the hotel bus only went at 05.30 pm, returning at 09.30 pm. Other guests also complained about this not being convenient, but the hotel wouldn't budge on this. We therefore had to walk 40 minutes, each way, into Fira (as a taxi was extortionate) during the day. We would never have booked somewhere so remote had we known that the complimentary shuttle bus was so limited. This lack of flexibility, the dreadful evening meals, and the managements' couldn't-care-a-less attitude really spoilt our holiday. We have complained to Travelodeal, who we booked through, but they are being very unhelpful. We shall now take our valid complaint up with ATOL.

Firstly let me say that the rooms were very comfortable and spacious but the design was obviously done by a man, ie no bedroom mirror and no cupboards etc. The pools again were very nice but the barman was polite but very unhelpful although the young waiter at breakfast was very friendly and efficient. The worse part was the evening food, although described as 5* food it really was poor with little choice. When we arrived we were told that the complimentary shuttle to Fira only ran at 5.30pm and the return was at 9.30pm - not ideal times when in a remote hotel. We inquired if it ran during the day to explore Santorini by bus but no. A taxi was too expensive for us as it was 40 euros each way so we had to walk in. We had to say if we wanted our main meal at either lunchtime or evening but no flexibility at all, one or the other even though the kitchen was open The greek starters were ok, however very little Greek main course food were available and even this was inedible. We could have ordered pizza or a pasta but we are in Greece not Italy - if I wanted pizza or pasta I'd go to Italy! Other diners ordered the Chicken fillet and Chicken nuggets but these meals were also inedible. There was only three deserts available, two desserts we did not like and the third, ice cream had only two flavours. We are complaining to our travel company for compensation as the hotel was so unhelpful and would not address any issues. The two receptionists were apologising but the manageress would only talk to us over the phone and was totally unhelpful. She said that the food was not 5* (no kidding Sherlock!) but we had paid for half board - we ended up going to a nice Greek taverna in the evenings for proper local cuisine. We made the most of our holiday at the end but after paying for a 5* break and not getting anything like what we wanted we will NOT be coming back here again and we will not recommend it.