Villa Katikies

Villa Katikies

Oia is the village that made Santorini what it is in the collective imagination, and Katikies is the hotel that has been doing it justice since before the crowds arrived. Villa Katikies sits adjacent to the original Katikies Hotel on the cliffs of Oia, 300 feet above the Aegean, a more private and intimate address within the same collection, with seven individually carved suites built into the caldera, each different in shape and proportion in the manner of rooms that have been excavated from the rock rather than designed around it. All white, all with private terraces, all with the caldera and the volcano in the frame, and all with access to Katikies' three infinity pools cascading down the cliff face toward the water below. Ettore Botrini, whose Athens restaurant holds a Michelin star, runs Botrini's Santorini at the hotel, Greek-Italian cuisine with the caldera as backdrop, a wine list that runs deep into local Assyrtiko and further, and the particular atmosphere of a restaurant that has earned its setting rather than relying on it. The Upper Deck Lounge, at the highest level of the property, handles everything from Greek meze to sushi and caviar alongside the lagoon-shaped infinity pool. The Champagne Bar by Fleur de Miraval handles the rest. Breakfast arrives on your private terrace with champagne and a view that makes conversation unnecessary. The Katikies Club organises sailing trips, wine tastings, VIP access to the archaeological sites, and private motor yacht connections to Mykonos. Open April to November, and six months' advance booking is the standard advice for high season. Short version: Seven individually carved caldera suites in Oia on the cliffs above the Aegean, part of the original Katikies collection, with three infinity pools, a Michelin-awarded chef at Botrini's restaurant, champagne breakfast on your private terrace, and the kind of views that have been making Santorini make sense for decades. Open April to November.