Renowned travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller included the hotel Perivolas in Santorini in its “78 best hotels in the world: the Gold List 2019”. The article lauds the hotel praising its unique location and style which stands out from the rest of the imitators on the island.
Set the scene
Perivolas is completely original and unlike any of the dozens of imitators that have sprouted all over Santorini. A smouldering volcano sends ripples across the still, blue expanse of sea, sculpted white houses seem to tumble off sheer, reddish-black cliffs. Yachts drift into the distance. As you step through a small wooden gate and zigzag down grey steps lined with bright red and hot pink geraniums and bordered by black volcanic boulders, everything else fades into a dazzled silence.
What’s the story?
While almost every other hotelier on Santorini has opened one hotel after another, the Psychas family have stayed true to their original intentions: to transform some 300-year-old stables and fisherman’s shacks into a simple, intimate, quiet place where family, friends, and friends of friends could get away. Costis, the builder (and sailor/surfer) in the family, has carved out a few more extra special suites from the rock-face over the years, but there are still only 20-something rooms. And they’re much bigger than most of the cramped, musty ‘cave rooms’ on Santorini. They have no plans to expand. Perivolas is still very much a family business, who take everything extremely personally in the best possible way. Naturally, they would never namecheck any of the celebrities who have stayed at Perivolas, but they range from starchitects to Hollywood stars to supermodels.What can we expect from the bedrooms?
Apart from Wi-Fi, everything is pared down to the absolute essentials. Every surface has been hand-finished. The brushed concrete floors have cracks and scars that feel soothing under bare feet. Simple wooden cabinets and closets recall the unfussy furniture on yachts, perfectly right for a Greek island setting. The bare interiors are jazzed up with a couple of oversized cushions in daring fuchsia and mauve, a trio of vintage, blue glass carafes, a sprig of bougainvillaea… but there’s nothing else to distract the eye from those views. All rooms have a slightly different view and a very personal touch.
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