Santorini Cave Hotel: Fanari Vista Suites Review
Summary: I’m sharing our experience and review after staying at Fanari Vista Suites in Fira, Santorini. This is a cave hotel in Santorini right along the caldera edge!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which just means I make a small commission if you purchase from them with no additional cost to you!
Searching for a hotel in Santorini can be a daunting task. You’ll immediately realize there are so many amazing options with beautiful interiors, gorgeous views, and five-star reviews. How can you possibly choose between them?
We had this same issue when we were looking for hotels and we decided to book an option that was walking distance to a lot of places we wanted to see in Fira, it was the beautiful cave hotel style that you see a lot in Santorini, and it had a view of the caldera and Aegean Sea. We initially chose Fanari Vista Suites because it looked very nice, but it was in the middle of all the price ranges. There were others that were cheaper, but in less ideal locations, and fancier hotels that were more expensive.
As you can probably tell already, we were very happy with our decision! Keep reading for the details on why we liked this cave hotel in Santorini so much.
Santorini Cave Hotel Interior
When entering our room, we first saw a sitting area with a sofa. As we walked further in, we saw a vanity desk with a mirror right outside the bathroom with a standing shower, toilet, and another mirror. Past that, was a partial wall with a walkway that lead to our king-size bed.
All the walls in our room were the same beautiful white-washed style you see all around Santorini. All the corners were curved and it kind of did feel like we were staying in a luxurious cave.
My favorite part, though, was our terrace. Each room that faces the caldera has a private terrace, however, they aren’t completely “private” as you could see your neighbors. Ours included a couple of lounge chairs, a table, and our private hot tub.
View From Our Room at Fanari Vista Suites
The terrace was my favorite part of the room because it was a spot where we could sit in the morning after waking up, or the evening before bed to just enjoy the view of the Aegean Sea. This was probably one of the best views I’ve ever had at a hotel.
Catered Breakfast Each Morning
Each afternoon at Fanari Vista Suites, you’ll stop into the welcome lobby to let the staff know what you’d like for breakfast the next day and what time you’d like it delivered. Each morning, we walked out onto our terrace to find our breakfast waiting for us!
This was such a nice touch. The food was good and the fact that we got to walk right outside and eat a great breakfast without leaving our private space or preparing anything ourselves was priceless.
Helpfulness of the Staff
A lot of cave hotels in Santorini that are situated along the caldera don’t have actual streets that lead to them. So, when we arrived at Santorini Airport, we took a taxi to the closest spot he could get us to our hotel. We had let the hotel know when we’d be arriving, and they had someone meet us at this spot to help carry our luggage down the stairs as it was quite a trek! This person also worked at the Fanari Restaurant and served our breakfast each morning, and we had such a good time chatting with them the whole time!
There was also a woman who ran the front desk and was possibly one of the most helpful people I’ve ever encountered at hotels. Each day, we stopped in and explained what we planned to do and she either agreed that it was a good idea or politely suggested alternatives that she thought we’d like, complete with restaurant and cocktail bar recommendations.
While our whole trip to Santorini was incredible, a very unfortunate thing happened at the end. I caught Covid and this was during the time where you had to test negative to get back to the United States, so I was stuck on Santorini for an extra week. I know this sounds like the dream, but when you’re sick and just wanting to go home, being stuck in a foreign country is never fun.
Luckily, the friend I was traveling with didn’t catch it and she was able to chat with the staff at the hotel about what I should do as next steps. They were fully booked, but she was able to recommend another (cheaper) hotel I could go to while I was resting and recovering. I will always remember her willingness to help us out with that.
Proximity To Tourist Attractions
If you’re staying in a room like ours that faces the caldera, you’ll likely see donkeys riding past every once in a while. They are making the trek to and from Santorini’s Old Port and Fanari Vista Suites is located right along the path down to Old Port!
Side note: Please don’t pay to ride these donkeys up or down. If you can’t walk the stairs, there is a cable car you can take for a small fee!
This hotel is also about a 15-minute walk from the Three Bells of Fira, a very famous photo opportunity of a blue-domed church.
Just about anything you’ll want to get to in Fira including restaurants, shops, and tourist activities are all within walking distance from Fanari Vista. Its central location was a huge selling point for us. The only time we called a taxi was to take us to Oia, another very popular tourist town on Santorini.
Fanari Restaurant
Fanari Vista Suites isn’t just a cave hotel in Santorini. They also have a restaurant with an incredible view of the water. This is the perfect place to make a reservation and watch the sunset!
You’ll find lots of tasty cocktails on the menu, so you could come here just for drinks during the sunset, or stay for dinner as well. They offer a full menu of Greek and Italian food, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Everything we ate was delicious and being able to sit at a table to watch the sunset instead of fighting crowds to get a good spot was amazing!
Read More About Greece
If you’re planning a trip to Santorini, or Greece in general, I have a few more blog posts you should check out:
