Hotel Sofia

This small, family run hotel is a great choice. Located on a pedestrian only pathway you are surrounded by quality restaurants and cafes, convenience stores, tour operators and easy access to the public bus system. You can sit on the balcony and watch the passing parade of people, admire the caldera and for a full sunset view walk just 10 steps to the left of the property for uninterrupted views without the crowds. The walk to Fira is easy and whilst it is uphill on the way back it’s a steady incline with flat sections that makes it very doable as you’re not needing to climb up hundreds of steps at any point. It a 10-15 minutes walk at best although you will want to stop many times along the way to admire and take photos of the breathtaking views. The rooms have been recently renovated and are painted a clean, fresh white with contemporary furnishings kept to a minimum to maximise space. The family who run the property are lovely. They allowed us early access to the room as our flight arrived at 7.30am and they had us in by 10.30 which was greatly appreciated. Although you’re in the heart of the action when you close your balcony doors you have complete silence. There is a small pool on the property and during really hot weather you will be so glad to have a place to cool off. Highly recommend this property.

First the pro, the locations is great. It has beautiful sea view without the crowds. But it ends there. When we arrived, we had the Sophia staff just smoking on the staircase, they didn’t move over or offer to help get our bags. We were looking forward to staying in Sophia and booked a room for what we wanted and after we waiting for the room to be ready, they presented us with a different room from what we booked, telling us it’s a surprise they gave us a bigger room. The room was indeed bigger but had a shared pool with no privacy, right next to the staff maintenance closet, with staff smoking in front of the door, not what we booked. We asked if we can just have the room we asked for and they kept making excuses saying they can give us a different room but for the next day. Afterwards we just asked for a refund so we can go somewhere else and the front desk person said hold on and she just disappeared ! We called the hotel and they said we need to talk to someone else for refund and email them. There was no one there to help us. We took our bags and left and found another hotel with more professionalism. We emailed Sophia for a refund since they gave our room to someone else and we didn’t stay there at all and they responded that they won’t provide a refund because it’s high season. It was in October, the person checked us in even said it’s low season in Santorini, also if it’s high season what excuse is that? If you want a scammy unprofessional hotel, look no further

This mid-range small family-run hotel has a great location, comfortable rooms, and a small pool. The hotel only has 6 rooms,(all accessed by a long flight of stairs) each opening out onto a common patio equipped with drying clothes rack, tables and chairs. In room air conditioning was excellent and the location was quiet. We really enjoyed watching the sunrise from the rooftop and sunset from the nearby lookout point. The hotel is located on the walking/hiking commercial walkway that runs along the cliff from Oia to Thira. The area has many restaurant choices, from budget to deluxe that would suit every wallet. There is no reception desk, the property also runs a small convenience shop next door,and you "check in" at the shop.|| We bought fresh bread, honey and yogurt at the local mini mart for breakfast and ate on the common patio outside our room with a view each morning. The rooms were equipped with kettle and instant coffee or tea for breakfast. || Although we walked into Thira a few times, we also took the local bus back to Firostefani after a full day of activities. We were very glad to be on the edges of the touristic section of town. || The only problem we had was confusion on the first day when our transport delivered us to the wrong "Sofia Suites" in nearby Imerovigli. In actual fact, there are several accommodations on the island with the name "Sofia". Be sure to specify the Firostefani property if you are using a driver.

Stayed here 22nd - 27th June '19. Lovely hotel in a perfect location whether you are on a budget or not. Views across to the other side of the island from the pool area but only a 10 second walk to the fantastic Caldera view, and only a 5 minute walk into Fira. At least 10 restaurants on your doorstep and a small supermarket underneath the hotel. The family who run the Sofia were perfect hosts. Nothing was too much trouble and they went over and above to ensure our visit went well. We will definitely return and highly recommend this hotel.

The location is the best in my opinion: located in the heart of Firostefani surrounded by restaurants. Just a quick beautiful walk to busy Thira and easy bus ride to Oia.||The view from the pool is awesome (blue dome and sea view). ||Having the store right downstairs is really convenient. ||Wifi was fast and A/C cold!||Only negative comment is that we booked a transfer to the port via the hotel and the driver told us once we were at the port that the ferry companies were striking and that our boat would not show. It would have been more honest to be told before being driven to the port!||Over all, I would definitely stay there again and recommend it. Great value in an expensive island.

This was an ideal room to use as a base to explore! Only a stones throw from stunning views of the island, above a shop so very convenient, on a strip of restaurants, but as soon as the door is shut, you can’t hear anything from any of them! The pool is lovely. Very effective air con in the room! And only a 10-15 min walk from Fira where you can get the bus to the likes of Oia and Kamari - both worth a visit.

Me and my partner stayed at the Sofia hotel for 5 days in July as we were attending a wedding over in Santorini. ||||The hotel itself was lovely and the room was clean and had great aircon, however upon arrival (after a very stressful journey due to numerous delays) the lady who greeted us could not find our booking. This was sorted quickly however was just an added stress to our already stressful day. ||||The hotel itself is in a great location right in the centre of Firostefani, surrounded by plenty of bars and restaurants. The pool area was small with only 6 or 7 sunbeds but on most days me and my partner were the only people by the pool so this did not cause any issues. ||||The only real issue i had with the hotel was on one of the days our friends who had checked out of their villa and who had a 3 month old baby asked if they could keep their bags in our room as they could not store them in their villa and stay by the pool area while they waited for their transfer. ||||When they arrived the hotel management told them it was not a problem to store the bags in the main waiting area and that they were fine with them being at the hotel and using the pool area while they waited. However after maybe an hour by the pool (baring in mind we were the only ones by the pool), one of the members of the hotel management rudely came over and said she wanted a word with me and stormed outside the hotel into the nearby shop (which is also owned by the hotel). I followed her and she was quite unhappy stating she had explicitly told me that our friends could not use the pool and they were just allowed to stand in the hotel grounds and store their bags there - however i had not once spoken to her as when my friends arrived she spoke to them and my partner not me. I told her i would let them know they could not use the pool but they were only using the pool to keep the baby cool. ||||We decided it was best to go out for a walk with the baby as she was quite angry, later when we returned and there was possibly only an hour before our friends transfer was due to arrive, the same lady said to our friends that they could use the hotel pool and have a room for 65 euros. If she had told us this first thing they would have paid the money as they had a small child and could have done with an air-conned room and shower etc before they left but as they only told us later on in the day it was pointless them paying that amount. ||||As a result our friends felt quite uneasy being at the hotel and it put quite a dampener on one of our last days which was not great. Due to the unfriendly staff i would not return to this hotel and would not recommend the hotel to people with children.

Charming boutique hotel in the heart of Firestofani . Very close to bars , restaurants , shops etc . Quite affordable price point as well .||Rooms were basic, quite small but clean and comfortable. Good air con . Lovely bar fridge with a complimentary bottle of water and small bottle of wine . Such a lovely thoughtful touch which we really appreciated .||Staff organised our pick up from the airport as well as our return transfer to the Port .||There is a lovely terrace outside as well as a rooftop area for viewing the sunset although you are better off walking down the street for 2 minutes and seeing it from there .||Staff greeted us when we arrived at 9 am after an early flight from Venice . They were friendly and we were able to store our bag until check in time (1pm). We went and had breakfast and then a walk into town to explore and by the time we got back our room was ready . To our surprise they had even taken our bags to our rooms . This was great because Greece was the last stop for us of a 3 month European adventure and we were tired of carrying our bags up stairs (lol).||Because this was the second last stop for us we didn’t book any tours but chose to do self guided walking |tours in the morning and spend the afternoon lazing by the pool .||All in all a delightful stay made better by the friendly staff . I would certainly book again should I ever return to Santorini. Thankyou Sofia and team . ||