Smy Mediterranean White Santorini

Santorini

This hotel is literally behind the airport , 200 metres from the sea.

Most rooms face the garden/ pool area which is very pleasing on the eye, however all the areas outside the perimeter are barren. For a 4 star hotel, the rooms are adequate but starting to look a little tired as is some of the toilets and public areas. They need updating.

Being an island, be prepared for windy days and understand the beaches are black.

Breakfast is the same each day. Fresh melon, tinned pineapple and peaches, yoghurt and normal ‘plastic cheese’and ham. However, this has been the best hotel for real feta every morning. Not the pretend stuff so if feta is your thing you will be happy. Coffee is very average out of a large urn.

The hotel itself;

Pool area is lovely and the pool is spotless if not a tad chilly 😁

The beds are comfy and you have a choice of a double in the pool or the standard single bed. Both have well padded cushions but they have seen better days and need replacing for next season. The staff are very good, cleanliness not an issue. The food (breakfast already covered) is more than acceptable. Very good Greek salad, mousakka , spinach pie etc and the burgers looked ok although we did not have one.

If you do not have a car, you may feel a bit isolated as there is an expensive mini market just outside the hotel and the beach is another 100 metres after that. It’s black and stony but that’s what you get on a volcanic island. There are no walking promenades around the hotel so if that is your thing, book elsewhere.

Be aware , taxis are very expensive. A trip from the hotel to Oia and back could easily set you back 130 euros and it’s only 7 miles away. Our car cost £110 for seven days. There are deals about. Buses are infrequently and unreliable so don’t spend your holiday waiting for nothing to arrive.

Of course,Oia and Fira are well worth a visit as are the quieter areas away from the instagrammers !!

The two restaurants close to the hotel are Mario’s and Galani tavern. They are walkable but you will have to walk the main road at night which could be tricky!! Both are worth a visit, however Mario’s is classier and at no extra cost. Mario’s toilets were outstanding !!

For us 7 days allows you to do everything across the island but expensive if you buy the organised trips or get a taxis.

Read my REAL REVIEW.. I feel compelled to write this review after reading all the FAKE REVIEWS..which are 90% of them.., saying how wonderful the staff are, come on ..clearly Al fake reviews..i also didn`t come on holiday and waste my hard earned money to have a relationship with the staff, which were mediocre at best

So we have just returned from the Smy Mediterranen White.., Santorini. Sept 26. I booked this hotel after reading plenty of reviews.., well 4.8 stars must be pretty good eh....WRONG! Clearly false advertising on so many accounts if you read deeper into this Thank god we hired a car from the airport, as the hotel is no where near Kamari for starters, and a rip off taxi ride 6 mins will cost you 20-25 euros each way, as other guests told us, unhappily.. As it is in the middle of no where..! Walking would be quite dangerous and will take you 45mins on unlit roads It is basically at the end of the runway..i kid you not, however the planes pass quickly and didnt bother us

On arrival i was greatly underwhelmed and very disappointed to be honest, but as our daughter was holidaying with us, i felt we had to make the best of it. It certainly didn't have the clean white sparkle as portrayed in the advertising..it fact extremely far from it! A wardrobe or a chest of drawers to put your clothes in would of been nice, but all the room had was an open rusty pole. The wife lived from her suitcase and i dumped my clothes of a shelf. The TV didnt work either. The small window had shutters which were constantly closing we thought we were in a dark cave.. Beds were also rock hard

Next morning we saw the true account. The hotel grounds are not maintained and weeds are growing through everywhere.. The mini pools outside some of the rooms are dirty.. The so called "garden" is a disgrace and run down, and there is a constant smell of sewage around the outside pool toilet areas, and our rooms

The sunbeds were in need of replacing and the cushion loungers were absolutely disgusting and filthy and stained.. Ok so you put a towel on..Lol.. The towels were thread bare in many instances, and supposed to be washed..i dont think so as many of these were stained and smelt bad.. The pool area bar insisted on playing remix dance music for 12 hours a day, so many guests were unhappy and complained.. but they done nothing about it.. So bad was driving our 32 year old daughter to despair..

Ok so now to BREAKFAST if you can call it that.. HOT food would of actually been nice..Cold eggs..cold bacon.. Cold sausage bits...cold beans. Only thing hot was the toast! We are retired and have travelled quite extensively and this has got to be the WORST breakfast and service we have ever encountered. Two choices of cereals, no english teabags .earl grey and green tea. The breakfast milk was warm and they were constantly had no glasses, no tea spoons, it was absolutely pitiful..

Maid service for the rooms were just the basic.., maids were issued with a mop and an Aldi bag shopping bag of cleaning products Many guests were unhappy, and one couple had contacted their rep to come and view the place while they were there. I am really surprised this hotel is still operating.. It is in dire need of refurbishment. Oh and the beach is 1/2 mile away and uninhabited

Stay there at your peril if you will.. If you are reading this and about to travel then i strongly suggest you choose another hotel, and one maybe that is actually near Kamari. We travelled out as much as we wanted. We drove into Kamari most evenings to eat, which has a great variety of nice restaurants. Galini and Mario tavernas both served really nice food and more local too. We made the best of a really poor choice