Phos the Boutique

A beautiful boutique hotel with absolutely breathtaking views. Perfect for couples. Rooms were spotless. Staff were helpful and friendly. Great food. A lovely hotel if you are looking for a relaxing retreat away from the busy tourist areas. We loved our stay and can’t wait to visit again! I also recommend the private dining experience for a special occasion.

We were captivated by the awe-inspiring boutique hotel with its breathtaking views. The room and the heated pool and so inviting. The location and privacy were simply delightful, and the exceptional food and attentive staff made our stay truly memorable.

If you want to be in the center of the shopping and be close to many people, do not choose Hotel Phos. But if you are looking for man-made and natural beauty, calm, and some of the most exquisite views you can imagine, you choose Hotel Phos. Phos means light in Greek and the combination of beautiful breeze coming off the water and the abundant sunlight are ideal. The accommodations are elegant in their simplicity, and we chose a suite that had its own infinity pool. Amazing! The staff was attentive, kind, and professional, and certainly greatly enhanced the quality of the stay. Anna and Katerina took care of our every need and are a big part of what makes Phos special. And the views are just spectacular. Photos just don't do it justice. Two small potential challenges of note: First, there are low barriers between the individual rooms outside areas which could be a problem sound-wise if you have neighbors who don’t accommodate to the unique circumstance. Also, if you are traveling to the more populated areas that have shopping, or restaurants off-site, you are either spend a good amount of time and a small fortune on transportation, or you rent a car. Be aware, however, that the roads are narrow, and can feel a little treacherous. Overall, the experience at Phos hotel was the high point of our visit to Greece.

Phos is a truly beautiful property with a lovely living area, outstanding pool and sweeping views of Santorini. It’s quiet, secluded and the perfect spot to relax. The service was also impeccable. Everyone was incredibly friendly and whenever you ordered anything, someone appeared at your door 30 seconds later. That being said, there were certainly a few flaws: I believe this is purposeful (so we didn’t mark them down for this) but there are absolutely no amenities at the hotel. No restaurant, bar, gym, communal area or anything. Their concept is that they bring everything to you. Some people may like this, we found it a bit monotonous having every single meal in our room and nothing within walking distance. They also stop the room cleaning at 3pm. Obviously there is nowhere you can go on the resort (unless you want to sit in reception) so unless you left the hotel for an excursion or something before 3pm, your room doesn’t get cleaned. Our check in experience was painful. Due to our flight schedule we were due to arrive early so we emailed Phos a few days before explaining we’d be there about 9am. They responded immediately, very positively, saying they’d be delighted to welcome us at that time. Naturally we assumed we’d either be able to check in, or they’d have some other option. When we arrived, however, the receptionist seemed surprised to see us. She informed us our room wasn’t ready and because they have no other amenities, we had to wait outside under a cabana for 4 hours until our room was ready. Needless to say this was a painful experience following a long day of travel. The food was hit and miss. There were some lovely dishes (burger, Greek salad, steak) but also some incredibly bland ones (mainly the breakfast omelettes). Our tap was a bit broken so water shot out at random angles and the hairdryer was so useless you’d be better off blowing your own hair dry. Overall we enjoyed our stay and is it a stunning hotel. It definitely needs work to justify the price and five star reviews in my opinion.