We had an amazing experience at The Windmill Villas!! We were met at the airport with our car rental which we booked through Nikos (villa owner) and followed them back to the villa (15 mns in traffic). Santorini is small but absolutely gorgeous, relaxing and driving is an experience!! Nikos welcomed us at the villa which looks exactly like it does in all of the pictures. It is gorgeous! Every detail has been thought of and anticipated. The decor is beautiful and relaxing. The villa felt like home within minutes, mind you luxurious home! We had 2 bedrooms on 2 separate floors (each w/ en suite baths as well as a third full bath outside), a fully equipped kitchen (miele dishwasher! espresso machine!!) on the ground floor and the loveliest patio by the pool to enjoy meals al fresco while taking in the view. Note that the villas are on the east side of the island so you get sunrise instead of sunset. You can still enjoy sunset over the mountain behind the villa but sunrise is beautiful and can be seen right from bed :) While we settled in Nikos made us a welcome dinner of vegetarian pasta (delicious sauce!!), fresh salad (yummy santorini capers), fresh bread and a bottle of Santorini wine. Lovely touch after our day of travel!
There are 3 villas and although they are next to each other, the walls in between keep them totally separate and private. Each villa has its own free private parking and even with the door and windows open, we never heard or saw the other guests next door during our entire stay. The pool area is relaxing with the patio, 4 lounge chairs and a lovely pool that you have all to yourself! The pool also has jacuzzi jets at the push of a button! So much more privacy than the hotels in Fira, Imerovigli or Oia which have all the tourists taking pictures of the views while you try to sunbathe/relax in full view. Here you sunbathe to the view of the ocean, vineyards and mountains.
There is wifi throughout which is great, a landline for local calls (restaurant reservations!) and even a docking station speaker which we loved! If you forget your iphone converter no worries! you can charge your iphone/ipod and listen to music at the same time :) Great for music while you're out by the pool.
There is daily breakfast which they bring to you. You just let them know what time you'd prefer it. There is also daily maid service and Tanja is wonderful. The villa is always super clean and neat and she keeps the pool area and gardens pretty too. She's always keeping busy and you can see how much care goes into the villas. There is even a really friendly greek cat who will stop by to say hello. She's super sweet and cute and has the best life of relaxing at the villas!
With our car rental we were able to explore the island, all of the beaches (so many!) and historical sites, the wineries (a LOT) and brewery! It was quite easy figuring it all out. as all roads eventually connect. The villas are very close to Fira (capital) and Imerovigli. Parking isn't too bad, Fira actually has a public lot which is free and you just walk a few blocks right into town. At the end of our trip we just dropped the car off at the airport and caught our flight. Super easy!
This was by far the most relaxing trip we've ever taken. We spent an entire week in Santorini (we chose not to island hop this time) and we had a lovely time. The villa was the best and we hope to be back very soon!! Nikos had great recommendations for restaurants and wineries on the island and was available throughout our stay for any questions we had. Santorini is a great honeymoon island and the Windmill Villas was the best decision we made!
