If you are looking for the most beautiful spot from which to view the most beautiful island in the world...this has to be it!

My husband and I were a bit nervous when we first decided to make all of our arrangements for our honeymoon to Greece. But then we found the TripAdvisor website, and quickly found glowing reviews of Ikies. After reading the reviews, and taking one look at the Ikies website, all of our concerns were gone! After hearing what others on this site had to say, we were eagerly anticipating our final destination in Greece--Oia, Santorni. What we could not have anticipated, however, is that Ikies far surpassed every expectation and truly defined our honeymoon.

We arrived on the island late in the afternoon, and by the time we arrived at Ikies it was nearing sunset. We were shown to our room, and were immediately speechless when we saw the view. We had seen many photos prior to our arrival, but none of them did justice to the panoramic view of the caldera and the entire town of Oia. We found a fantastic bottle of Greek White Wine awaiting us on the patio of the House of the Cook. We had only been in Santorini for a couple of hours, but as we sat watching the sunset and sipping our wine at Ikies, we already knew that we had made the perfect hotel choice for a perfect honeymoon!

Throughout the following 4 days at Ikies, our experience was equally memorable. Everything about our stay was perfect. We spent our first three nights staying in the House of the Cook, where we enjoyed the spacious room with lofted bedroom, 2 bathrooms (which made it easy to get ready in the morning), and a wonderfully private balcony. For our last night, we transferred to the House of the Boatman because we wanted to enjoy a private hot tub. The room was much smaller than the House of the Cook, but it didn't matter because we spent the entire evening on the patio eating dinner and sitting in the hot tub (which was refreshingly cool compared to the temperature outside). The Boatman's hottub had an absolutely unobstructed view and of all the Santorini sunsets we enjoyed, none could compare to the one we watched from that hot tub!

The food at Ikies was also amazing. Breakfast (it seems like an understatement to call it breakfast) was waiting for us on our patio each morning when we awoke--and it was always an amazing selection of fruits, breads and meats. On our final night we ordered dinner to be served on our patio. The Ikies dinner menu didn't have a large selection, but the food was fantastic--especially the cold cucumber soup. It was some of the best food we ate on the island. We would highly recommend enjoying dinner on your patio at least one night!

All in all, Oia was the PERFECT romantic honeymoon destination, and Ikies was the PERFECT romantic spot from which to enjoy it all!

I am writing this fom the bed at the Artisan's House at Ikies. We have not even left yet, but I feel compelled to say: WOWZERS!

All of the reviews below giving this place glowing reviews are true.
Eleni and Katerina are adorable and will make you feel like you are not in a hotel, but a guest in someone's home. Someone's otherworldly, magical, mindblowing home...

We want to live here, forever!

PS: When you come, be nice to Archie the cat (we named him Souv-LUCKY). He's the friendly grey one with the crooked tooth. We will miss him! (He likes feta and salami...in case you feel generous at breakfast time..). Or bring him some leftover souvlaki from Lotza's.
I attached a picture, so you will recognize him.
;-)

As a first-time traveller to Greece, was lucky enough to find the very best accomodation in the very best place in all of Santorini--the House of the Collector suite at Ikies.. Gorgeous, property, gorgeous view, gorgeous and most accomodating Hotel Manager,Eleni--the trifecta! Truly one of the best suites I've stayed in during my entire life in this, a magical place.. This suite is perfect for 2 couples travelling together.. Can't wait to go back!!

My husband and I spent part of our honeymoon at Ikies, and I'm finding that it's hard to explain just how perfect it was. But here goes my best shot!

The hotel and surrounding area are just beautiful. When our taxi arrived in the parking area at the top, two of the staff were there to greet us and help us with our bags. We then took the (many, many) stairs down, first to the reception office, and then to our room, the House of the Cook. The Cook's House was not our first choice, as many of the other rooms were already booked when we made our reservations, but it ended up being just lovely. The decor was simple and pleasant, and the room and loft were a lot larger than we expected. We had two bathrooms, one upstairs in the loft bedroom and one downstairs. There were two couches in the living area where my husband and I enjoyed stretching out - with him of course on the couch opposite the flat-screen TV, and me reading a book on the couch under it! Our balcony was on the small side but had a stunning view and was on its own level so it felt private.

And the breakfast that they delivered every morning... Oh, the breakfast. So good! First of all, when we checked in they gave us a form where we could mark everything that we wanted for breakfast and the time we wanted it delivered. I wasn't expecting that we would have a choice on what was served, so this was a nice surprise. The choices that I can remember were (although I'm sure I'm forgetting some): fruit, pastries/bread/muffins, ham/turkey/salami, cheeses, cereal, yogurt, honey, jam, coffee/cappuccino/lattes/tea/milk. Promptly at the appointed time, I would hear them quietly setting the table on our balcony and then we'd get a polite knock on the door letting us know our breakfast was ready. My husband can attest to the fact that I am not a morning person AT ALL, yet I was out there before him every morning with a big smile on my face. The combination of the breakfast and the view was definitely worth waking up early for!

I also loved the location of Ikies - the view of the caldera and of Oia is just breathtaking, and we loved that it was in such a quiet location yet was only a short walk from the restaurants and shopping of Oia. On that note, I personally much preferred Oia to Fira - prettier, more quaint, and with better shopping.

And the staff: the reception staff while we were there (Eleni, Loella, and Katerina) were just amazing. From the planning emails I exchanged with all three of them prior to our trip I felt like I knew them already, and actually meeting them in person just made that feeling stronger. They were all three so friendly and attentive. And although I unfortunately do not know the name of the rest of the staff (cleaning, maintenance, etc.) they were amazing as well. Everyone we came in contact with while we were there was so polite and always had a smile for us.

A perfect example of how much Ikies' staff goes above and beyond for their guests: when we were checking out, they inquired about the rest of our vacation and we told them that we were staying in Athens for one night before we flew back to the States. During the course of this small talk they asked which hotel we were staying at and we told them the Sofitel Athens airport. When we checked into the Sofitel later that day, the woman at the front desk congratulated us on our recent marriage and told us there would be a special honeymoon gift in our room - which turned out to be a platter of fruit and bottle of wine. We were just further amazed with the Greek hospitality we had encountered on our trip, until we realized: the Sofitel should have had no idea it was our honeymoon! I booked our room online and had not corresponded with anyone at the hotel prior to our arrival, so it was a mystery to us how they knew... until we remembered that the Ikies' staff had specifically inquired about what hotel we were staying at next. That is just incredible to me; it's pretty much the definition of above and beyond. Our stay at Ikies was over, they had our money and they were already sending us away very happy, yet they still took the time to call our next hotel and tip them off that we were on our honeymoon, so that we would get special treatment on our last night in Greece. Just incredibly thoughtful.

As a testament to how much we loved our time at Ikies, we are already planning our next trip there! This time we will be staying in the House of the Winemaker. Although we loved the House of the Cook, we are very excited to next time have a jacuzzi tub indoors, and a large balcony with a hot tub outdoors. :)