Villa Mathios in Santorini

Hi Matt,
My college-age son and I recently stayed for two nights at the Villa Mathios hotel in Akrotiri on Santorini, and I would recommend it to anyone.  We found the hotel on the Greektravel.com webpage, and it was easy to make reservations through the webpage and to communicate with Costas, the hotel's owner, via e-mail.  Costas is a very hard-working, friendly person, and he gave us some good advice about getting to Santorini and about what to do there.  We really liked staying at the Villa Mathios for a number of reasons.  For one thing, Thira and Oia (the main towns on Santorini) have gotten very touristy
and noisy; while it's fun to visit these spectacular cliffside towns, it's nice to be able to get away from them, too.  Akrotiri, where the Villa Mathios is located, is a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful village on the southern tip of the island.  It is located in a perfect spot for spectacular views of the caldera (the volcanic bay of Santorini); it has the feel of a village instead of a tourist town; and it is conveniently located close to some beautiful beaches and also adjacent to the Akrotiri archaeological dig.  This ongoing, active archaeological site is really worth a visit, and I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more attention; it's a 4500 year-old city that seems to have been a very prosperous Minoan outpost prior to the explosion of Santorini's volcano around 2500 BC.  The archaeologists have excavated city streets, beautiful and distinctive pottery, and stunning wall murals (many of which can be seen at the new museum in Thira town).  This site was one of the high points of our trip.

Villa Mathios itself is a clean and comfortable family-run hotel with lovely views, a swimming pool, and a very good, relaxed taverna. Costas and his family are very welcoming, and Costas runs his own small travel agency from his office in the hotel.  This proved very helpful to us, in that Costas was able to arrange a rental car for us as soon as we arrived at a very reasonable rate; this allowed us to see the whole island at our own pace.  He also looked into travel arrangements for us and booked us seats on an Olympic flight out of Santorini when we were ready to leave.  I should note that they picked us up at the airport and drove us back for our departing flight.

All in all, Villa Mathios is a great place to stay--great location in a quite village, friendly people, and lots of travel assistance.  It
is also much less expensive than staying in Thira or Oia.  Highly recommended!

JR

Thank you so much for your recommendation to stay at the Mathios Hotel in
Santorini. I have just returned from an unbelievable vacation. Kostas and
his family were absolutely wonderful, I wish I could find such hospitality
in the States.  Kostas was amazing himself.   After you recommended his
hotel, he asked where else we were looking to travel while we were in
Greece. He made all of the arrangements for me; hotels, airplane tickets to
and from the islands, ground transportation - everything was flawless. The
hotels he recommended in Athens and Mykonos that were perfect for my Son and
I.  When our flight arrived late into Santorini, his brother George waiting
for us.  It was almost midnight when we arrived at the hotel, Kostas opened
the kitchen and sent up plate of fabulous food for us.  My favorite part of
the trip was Santorini.  Not only because was it the most beautiful place on
earth but  Kostas, his wife, George & Alexandria  treated us more like
family & friends then guests at their hotel.

Your website is wonderful! I spent many many hours reading through it before
my trip to Greece, it was very helpful and very accurate.  Thank you for all
of your tips about Greece! I am recommending it to all of my friends.

Thank you again & best wishes,
Nancy Taylor

May I tell you about the most wonderful family hotel on earth?  Hotel Mathios, is the most wonderful place we've stayed at in many many years.

My Husband and I love the water and the beach and for the first time, stayed outside the US boundaries for our vacation.  We normally go to the Caribbean but decided we'd go to the Mediterranean this time.  We surfed the internet for hotels all around the Greek islands and decided on a place called Hotel Mathios on Santorini Island.  Not too big and not too small, it turned out to be perfect.

Upon arriving, we were met by Mama.  She was so friendly and warm.  She immediately welcomed us and ushered us into their family type hotel.  We later met the one of the sons, Kostas, who is the manager, and the rest of the family were introduced to us shortly thereafter.  Kristy, Kostas wife, Giorgos the other brother, and Papa who is such a workaholic.  Paps is now supervising the building of the new addition to the hotel.  From the first moment we felt the warmth of their hotel which also serves as their home during the vacation season.

At our first meal, Mama suggested we try some of her crepes which were on the menu.  Upon tasting the scrumptous meal, we were hooked on Mama's cooking.  She uses only the freshest ingredients and told us that all the products come from the island.  The wine, the vegetables, and the fruits were all splendidly prepared and the memories of her cooking still make my mouth water.

Since we had friends getting married at the other end of the island, we brought fancy clothes, however, a couple of hours before the wedding, we realized that our clothes were much too wrinkled to wear.  Fortunately, in a family type hotel as the Mathios run, we were graciously accomodated by Mama, as she offered to have our clothes ironed and ready to go in time.  This was just one of the wonderful favors they did for us.  We also had to go to town on our last day, and Giorgos was right there, allowing us to ride with him as he was going into town to run some errands.  At another time, I needed assistance (a woman always leaves something behind), when I realized I did, Kristy was right there graciously loaning some of her own personal cosmetics to me!

We ate at the hotel, we enjoyed after dinner drinks at the hotel and we rented a car there.  We bought and left postcards to be mailed by the family and were never without anything our hearts desired, because the family was always there to make sure we enjoyed our stay!

Since our stay we have told countless numbers of people about the Hotel Mathios.  We are now planning a 2 week trip there in the early season next year.  We can hardly wait to see the family again, as we feel like they are so close to us.  As a comparison, our friends who got married on the other end of the island are planning a trip back in 5 years because they cannot afford to go to the same place again for at least 5 years!  However our hotel was so affordable, we'll be back before a year has passed!

If you wish, you can pass this email or our email address on to anyone who would want to know more about the Hotel Mathios or the wonderful service the family can and will give their customers.

kindest regards,

Russell and Kathryn Perry
Canton, Georgia USA
katperry@mindspring.com 

I also took advantage of the travel service (Akrotiri Travel Agency)
that is operated by the manager of the Villas Mathios, Kostas
Papalexis.  He arranged hotels, rental cars, taxi service, flights and
ferries in Athens, the Peloponnese peninsula, Rhodes, Crete and
Santorini.  I made all my arrangements for Greece with Kostas over the
internet and wired money ahead of time.  Every hotel, rental car
company, ferry, flight and driver reservation made by Kostas was ready
for me at the arranged time.  My Greek travel arrangements were perfect
and took all the stress out of my frequent moves around Greece.  It was
lovely to finally meet Kostas at the very end of my trip and to stay in
his family's beautiful establishment.
Beth Gardner
Morgan Hill

 One thing though I must tell you.  The last night in Athens at the Dinner and Music Show in the Plaka - not good.  The food was bad.  The music was not good either.  George was much much better.  We felt that it was a tourist trap.  Thought you would like to know for future people.  The best part of the whole night was the wonderful little old man who picked us up at our
 hotel and walked us through the Plaka, Anafiotika etc and explained it to us.  He was marvelous.

 God bless you.  We plan to come back to Greece hopefully in two years.
 Greetings to all your family and God bless your marriage to Christina - she is lovely.
Elfie and Bill Eberle

I am writing on behalf of myself, wife and daughters to thank you for
looking after us so well when we had the pleasure of staying in your
hotel during our recent holidays in Greece.

We particularly appreciated your help during the terrible and unexpected
storms which interrupted all transport services serving the Greek
Islands necessitating our staying an extra two nights unexpectedly due
to the dangerous weather conditions. Your help in making this possible
even though it was during the very busy Pentecost long weekend meant
that we did not have to camp at the ferry wharf like so many others did
during the frightening storms.

We also need to thank you  for your help with our on-going travel
arrangements and accommodation in Crete. The Marilena Hotel where you
booked us was so good that we extended our stay through the agent which
you appointed to act on our behalf. The bottle of wine you arranged for
us to be given in our hotel room was greatly and enjoyed with thoughts
of you in mind.

Thanks again for every thing!
Brian Kirkby

Also, I must tell you that the arrangements you made for us in Athens were nearly perfect.  With only a couple of days to spend there we felt like you placed us right where we needed to be to get the most of our short stay.  The tour arrangments were brilliant as well and proved to be another highlight for the entire family.

Please give our best to the entire Villa Mathios family and we look forward to being able to stay with you again.
 Sincerely,
 Jim Black

I am writing on behalf of myself, wife and daughters to thank you for
looking after us so well when we had the pleasure of staying in your
hotel during our recent holidays in Greece.

We particularly appreciated your help during the terrible and unexpected
storms which interrupted all transport services serving the Greek
Islands necessitating our staying an extra two nights unexpectedly due
to the dangerous weather conditions. Your help in making this possible
even though it was during the very busy Pentecost long weekend meant
that we did not have to camp at the ferry wharf like so many others did
during the frightening storms.

We also need to thank you  for your help with our on-going travel
arrangements and accommodation in Crete. The Marilena Hotel where you
booked us was so good that we extended our stay through the agent which
you appointed to act on our behalf. The bottle of wine you arranged for
us to be given in our hotel room was greatly and enjoyed with thoughts
of you in mind.

Thanks again for every thing!
 

Brian Kirkby

27 July 2000

HOw have you been?

I don't think you remember me but I stayed at your villa in may 1999.
I set up a page for you on the internet a few weeks after I returned home.
Reason I'm writing is to find out if any of the info I have posted on the
page has changed?
I noticed that the pages for the villa and the travel agency have been
looked at pretty much every day the past few months and I want to make sure
people can contact you using the info currently on the pages.

Let me know if anything has changed so I can update your pages.
Just as an fyi I added your link on another web site I maintain.

the site address is:    http://www.dogaru.com/greece/mathios/
and :   http://www.dogaru.com/greece/mathios/acrotiri.htm    for the travel
agency.

I hope you got some business out of all the people that have looked at the
villa.

Well let me know if there's any changes to be made.

Take care and I wish you a busy summer.

Ciao'

DI

Your American friends,
Kathy Anderson and Beth Kilduff.

P.S.  If you ever want to come to Massachusetts, you could stay at our house
and we would show you around and make a very pleasant stay for you and your
wife.

>Dear Kostas,
>
>after quite a long while - nearly two weeks - I would like to say hello
>and thank you for the nice time you offered us! We really enjoyed the
>stay at your house and of course will recommend it to everyone. It was a
>pleasure to get to know you and your nice family and to build up a
>personal relationship...
>
>In case that you still have not been informed by any of the other quys,
>I am goinig to give you now a brief summary of our journey back home:
>after arriving at the airport we were told that all planes were
>overbooked and that there might bee just the chance to get on one of the
>flights via the waiting list. Since we did not have any alternative in
>anyway we were waiting and - thanks god - suddenly two seats were
>available at the plane leaving at 10.45 which we decided Jon & Rebecca
>to take as he had to go to the USA on Friday morning. BUT while Ludger
>and me began to prepare for the fact to come back to your villa - which
>under normal circumstances would be a wonderful idea! - suddenly a greek
>woman came along screaming something in greek, which meant that another
>two seats were available on the same plane and luckily Ludger and me
>were the only ones waiting at the counter, so we got them and the four
>of us arrived in Athens at noon and took the flight at 15.00 back to
>Switzerland! None of us would have expected this, but finally everything
>went fine....
>
>Kostas, I hope that you are having a good time and are not too busy due
>to business since I guess that you are booked out at present, aren't
>you? In Freiburg, everything is runnig well and in the meantime again we
>got used to our jobs and the normal life
>although of course, we would prefer staying at the pool and getting a
>drink from George! Rebecca is in the USA but the rest of us is going to
>meet tonight in order to take a look on our holiday pictures and maybe
>we are going to have an ouzo, too?
>
>Many greeting to your lovely family and hope to hear from you soon or to
>see you again one fine day in your new villa!

Hello Kostas,

It has taken me awhile to locate the travel recommendation service that
you mentioned to me.  The SF Examiner newspaper no longer exists but the
SF Chronicle has continued to feature the Follow the Reader column in
one of its weekend editions.  I had to ask a number of friends before I
found someone who knew of it since I don't get the SF newspapers where I
live.

Anyway, I can send a write-up to the newspaper by email but I need to
get some more information from you first.  Please tell me the room rates
for the Villa Mathios as I only know what I paid.  What is the range of
prices for dinners?  Also, is there an internet site for both the travel
agency and the Villa Mathios?

Would you like me to highlight Akrotiri Travel and write about the
travel arrangements that you made for me or do you want me to write more
about the Villa Mathios? Personally, the perfect arrangements you made
for me all over Greece took away a lot of the stress of traveling in a
country where you can't speak the language and only remember the
alphabet from university math and physics courses!  Also, the newspaper
states that if they have already printed an article about a place within
the last two years, they will not print another letter within two
years.  So if Villa Mathios was written about within two years, I should
just write about the travel agency.

I had a small adventure after I left the Villa Mathios.  Apparently I
was supposed to have reconfirmed my passage on the ferry from Rhodes to
Turkey the day before my ferry departure.  I didn't know know about the
reconfirmation and since there was no one at the ferry office when we
arrived in Rhodes in the morning, we just showed up for the ferry an
hour or so before departure.  I had made a reservation with my departure
date when I booked the reservation but there didn't seem to be a record
of that.  Well, no boarding passes had been issued and more importantly,
we weren't on the manifest list of the ferry company.  And the ferry
agent wasn't going to let us on that ferry.  Since we were leaving
Marmaris, Turkey the next morning at 3am to catch our first plane we had
to be on this ferry.  I kept following the ferry agent and every time he
turned around I asked if there wasn't someone we could call or see or
even pay to let us on the ferry. It was pretty tense for about an hour
because the ferry agent didn't seem interested in helping us.  Finally,
he took off on his scooter with no explanation and when he returned he
demanded our passports.  Everyone else was already on the ferry and I
thought the ferry was about to leave but he finally added us to the
manifest and gave us boarding passes with the instruction that we were
to give the boarding cards, the passports and some 'extra money' to the
captain.  We were told to get on the ferry through an unauthorized gate
so we didn't go through passport control.  We finally got on the ferry
and then paid a little more 'extra money' to get our passports back.
But at least we were headed back to Turkey where our friends were
waiting to pick us up.

The next day in the Istanbul airport I almost didn't get out of Turkey
when the passport control agent noticed that I was missing an entry
stamp to get back into Turkey (a small oversight that we made upon
getting off the ferry in Turkey) AND I was missing the Greek exit stamp
because since we had bribed the captain and weren't on the international
ferry manifest list, we hadn't been allowed to go through customs in
Greece when we left.  I ultimately had 5 yelling Turks asking me on how
I had left Greece and how and when I had entered Turkey.  Finally I
guess they decided that I didn't look like a terrorist and they let me
go.

34 hours after leaving Marmaris I was finally home in San Jose.

Once again, thanks for all your help with my travel arrangements in
Greece this summer,
Beth Gardner

Hi, Kostas!  We are home in New Jersey.  We had a great time at your
place and thank you for sending us to Maria's place in Paros.  We had a
wonderful time there, as well.  We had no problems with our ferries,
etc., and appreciate all your work on our behalf.  Hi to you family!
Thanks again!  Judy, Bruce, Liz and Cynthia

We enjoyed our visit, dinner and the music and dancing especially!

Our best regards to you, your lovely wife, Mama and Mathios, and thank you
again for a lovely evening.

We shall meet again.

\Dick & Ramona John

Do you remember us?  We remember a lovely Greek Family in Akrotiri, warm
days with wind and sunshine, excellent food and Atlantis wine, and our stay
at the Villa Mathios.  How are you?  Is your project going well?  Summer's
busy season has probably started for you by now.  We came home to chaos and
trouble, but it is being straightened out now.  Already we have talked to
our children about going to Greece in a year and staying with you.  We
didn't want to come back.  And if we didn't have to make money and could
live like we did without it, we would have stayed.  You have a beautiful
island.
Thank you so much for your hospitality, concern and friendship.  We look
forward to coming back.  I have just begun to edit my tapes and will send
you something as soon as I can.
Thank you Kostas.  My kids loved the worry beads.  They knew what to do with
them- developed their own style of working with them.  We think of you so
often...
Warm thoughts and best wishes for your profitable and productive summer,

Gary and Karen

Costas,

I just wanted to email and let you know that Lindsey and I had a great time with the rest of our journey in Greece.  Your recommendations were great.  We especially loved the place in Naossa.  We were a bit disappointed with Tolo.  It was much more touristy than we expected and the Belos Studios were nowhere near as nice as  Stefanos apartments.  All in all though, it was a great trip.  I just wish that we had more time to spend on Santorini and Paros.  Those were definitely the highlights of our time in Greece.  I am really glad that we found Villa Mathios and that you convinced us to take your advice for the rest of our trip.  It was the first time I have had a vacation where I did not have to be constantly thinking of where to go next and how to find a place to stay.  I really appreciate all of your hard work.  We are in Italy now, but wishing we could be back in Greece.  We both miss meals from Mama and sitting out by the pool.  I hope that all is well for you and your family at Villa Mathios and look forward to visiting again someday, hopefully soon.

Geoff and Lindsey

hi kostas
it is Angela grimm I?m sorry about the hotel stuff and calling you
complaining. But now everything is fine.  They switched me to a more modern
room and everything was fine and i stayed there and will be staying there so
don?t worry about anything you can keep the money. I hope you are not mad at
me either.  I really liked staying at your place and liked Santorini a lot
and want to come back.  I didn?t like Athens cause it was too crowded and
polluted and stressful.  But everything is great now and i?m just writing to
apologize.  I?m very sorry, i know you work really hard and didn?t mean to
cause you trouble or make you upset. I also want to say thank you very
much!!!! for all your help!!!!

Take care
and tell everyone hi for me
Angela

Dear Kosta,
We got back to the U.S. a week ago and we are now looking at the pictures,
and video of your hotel, Santorini, Athens and  Greece.
Thank you very much for your wonderful hospitality. Our family had a great
time staying at your hotel in June. My cousins Penelope, and Pat send
greetings. Again, thank you.

Harry & DeeDee Koulakis

hello

To day the school in Norway bigin their holiday.
This year we have our holiday here in Norway.Sorry to say,but we can't visit you this year.

Here in Norway it has rain a lot this summer.

To day I'm 13 year's old. Last year celebrated my birthday at Willa Mathios.

Then I wish you nice summer.

Lots of love frome ingvild

I''m to say hi from Frank, Evy and Hanna

Costos,
Thankyou for providing Danielle and I with a memorable stay on Santorini. We thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of you and all your family and were sad to have to leave. I will recommend Villa Mathios to anyone I know who plans a holiday to Santorini!!
Jonnene Hedge

Costas, Georgos, Mamma, Pappa and Chrissa --

Thank you SO MUCH for showing us such a wonderful time in Santorini -- your kind hospitality made our trip so memorable.  Please don't forget us when you have have you grand opening of the new hotel next door... Duncan is insisting we return, especially for the room with the jacuzzi in it!

Anyway, know that we send you all lots of love from London.  (You have no idea how difficult it is for me to be here at work today ... )...

All the best ... and hopefully, we'll see you next year!  (Georgos, don't forget to stock up on Bailey's, margarita mix, and gin and tonics in preparation for our return ... )

Much love,

Karen & Dunc

Dear Mathios Village Family,

Our friends you have made such good memories for us our hearts feel like they are still with you on your beautiful island.  Unfortunately we discovered we had your hotel room key when we went through security at the airport.  After speaking with a security guard, she suggested we leave it and they would call you.  Hopefully you have recovered it by now.  Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience it caused.
We reached home about 5 pm on Thursday and while unpacking, we played the music Jorgas (spelling?) so kindly shared with us.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Jorgas, the music is a incredible reminder of the land and the people.

There is so much to thank all of you for in making our stay with your family one of the most memorable times of our lives.  Momma, your cooking was scrumptous and we look forward to the next time you prepare those wonderful crepes for us.  You are beautiful, just like your garden.  Kostas and Krissa (spelling?), you two make a hormonious couple, thank you for making us feel so welcome.  Hopefully we can all go out dancing together towards the end of the year.  Jorgas and Kostas, somehow you've made Russell your brother and he has made each of you his.  This in itself is the single most important event in recent years, I will remember.  Mathios, we didn't speak much, but your beautifull handiwork on the current hotel will surely continue with the new addition. Keep the pressure on those guys next door, I think they are intimidated by you!  To the grounds and housekeeping staff, thank you for your fine work.  The hotel was always so clean and smelled so fresh, inside and out, it was a pleasure.

We miss you all and hope you will stay in touch with us frequently.

Kind regards,
Russell and Kathryn

Hello, my friend.  Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary.  Russell was pleased by the gift of 'worry beads', which I had purchased from George.  He is curious about the beads themselves and I suspect he will be contacting George for more information on them.  Does George have a separate email address?  Please pass my thanks to George for the wonderful opportunity to watch Russell play the beads.  Would you also tell Crissa I said 'hello'?

Your friend,

Kathryn Perry

 Hello Costas,

We just want to let you know that everything went just fine for the rest of
our holiday EXCEPT driving in Athens.  That was really wild!  Getting across
Athens at 17:00 on Friday was stressful.

But our room in Tolo looked right over the water and a full moon was shining
on the water when we arrived...Beautiful.  We walked on the beach one morning
and one day we went to the ancient city of Epidaurus.  We were treated very
nicely at the Tolo Hotel by all of the staff there.

Crete was a surprise to us.  The mountains (some with snow still on the
tops), the variety of plants, the people selling fresh oranges along the road
to Chania, the rugged sea coast, the waves crashing on the beach...it was all
very beautiful.  On Saturday morning there was a street market just a few
blocks from our hotel so we walked through there admiring the wonderful
fruits and vegetables and other items.  It was a popular market and was very
crowded, but fun.  We enjoyed wandering around the old city and along the
waterfront too.

We had a very good holiday in Greece, so we want to thank you for making all
the arrangements for us.  I think our favourite place was on Santorini
because of your family and because it was so restful.

Tom has given your name to several people at work who are thinking about a
holiday in Greece, so you might be hearing from them.  We will continue to
tell friends about you and the good job you did.

Please greet your Papa and Mama for us.  We have played our CD of Georgos'
music several times already.  And give Theresa at special hug...she is a
treasure for you.

Thank you again.
Tom & Elaine Gillespie

I returned from my honeymoon in Greece this past
Sunday.  About a month before going on the trip I came
upon your web site which was a great help.  Because
some of the tri had already been planned we used it
for our time on Lesvos and Santorini.  It was a great
help.
 

We stayed at The Sunrise Hotel in Lesvos.  The hotel
and the town of Molyvos were by far the highlight of
our honeymoon.  Lesvos was quiet and relaxing but the
city had a nice level of energy for the evenings.  The
Sunrise Hotel had a beautiful accommodations and
friendly staff that truly made us feel at home.  By
the way, they speak very highly of you as well.  We
also made two trips to the hot springs with an
additional trip up to the restaurant near by on the
same beach.  In the city we had some wonderful meals,
wondered around the streets and went to a play in the
castle.
 

We also used your guide for our stay in Santorini.
Thank you for that assistance, without it we would
have been disappointed with this part of the holiday.
We were looking for a calm and relaxing vacation.  Our
travel agent did not see fit to put us up anywhere
besides Fira.  As you know, Fira is far from calm and
relaxing.  So, with the help of your guide we stayed
at Villa Mathios.  Mamma's food was fantastic and she
is such a doll.  Kostas was friendly and made us
laugh.  We had a lovely time there.  We were lucky
enough to be there for Greek Night where we were
entertained with music and food and dancing.  This was
a fantastic evening that was one of the 2 highlights
of our trip to Santorini.  The second highlight was
that my husband found a small trail leading off to
these hidden little beaches/coves near Akritorini.
The quiet and the blue waters were about as romantic
as one could ask for.

Besides that we went to Athens and Naxos and we made
day trips to Mykonos and Delos.

Thank you so much for you assistance.  The information
on your web site made such a difference in our
honeymoon.  I only wish I had found it sooner.

Take care & safe travels!
Stephanie

As promised, we are writing to you to thank you and your family for the wonderful Greek hospitality that you extended to us last month, August 2001, during our visit to Santorini.  We loved every minute of our time on Santorini which I think we covered from top to bottom by bus and on foot! We may write a book and entitle it "Walking Tours on Santorini."  We clearly made the right decision by staying with you in your lovely, peaceful location.  With all the craziness that the world has experinced during this past month, we all need to be able to retreat to wonderful places like Villa Mathios and Acrotiri to find peace and tranquility. Thank you for everything my friend.  Keep up your wonderful work in helping people to relax and to enjoy!  Cordially, Ed and Sheila Rogers, Wellesley, MA., USA 

As you may or may not know, Derek and I did quite a bit of research on the internet before we decided on our holiday in Greece.  Choosing Greece as our country of choice to travel to was easy, as it has always been and will always be our number one dream place.  Choosing how to holiday in Greece was complex.  Given the options of island hopping and then what islands there are to visit, it was a difficult decision to make.  One of my best friends who has been to Greece five times told me, as I was describing my dilemna to her, to just chose one  island and stay on it for two weeks, so that we could actually experience the island.  Then she followed by asking me to describe what Derek and I wanted in our vacation...serenity, privacy and beach.  With that information, she said Santorini was our island.  So far so good...now for the choosing of where to stay on Santorini...Villa Mathios in Acrotiri was extremely inviting.  Your web sites are extremely descriptive...it describes Acrotiri and the service you deliver at Villa Mathios perfectly.  The location of your Villa on Santorini is out of this world...the beaches are indeed plentiful and deliver much tranquility.  Anything you want to do while on Santorini is close enough to do, yet the perfect distanace away from all of the hustle and bustle of places like Oia and Fira.  Acrotiri a is quiet, friendly place that has every convenience imaginable.  It was wonderful to be able to walk anywhere that we wanted to go and see within the direct vicinity.  Our experience living at Villa Mathios while staying in Acrotiri was the very best part of our trip.  It was lovely to experience the warmth of the Papalexis Family.  The hospitality that we had was outstanding...anything our hearts desired was met.  From Kostas' excellent management, to Khirissa's lovely service in the restaurant, to Mama's amazing Greek cooking, to George's discussions with us on Greek culture, to Papa's handsome smile every morning, the experience at Villa Mathios was brilliant.
 
We thatnk you all for everything that you shared with us while we were there with you.
You are absolutely delightful to know.
 
We'll be in touch and definitely see you in the future.
 
Sincerely,
 
Norma Jean and Derek Rae