This hotel is NOT for tourists on their first visit to Santorini.
LOCATION: Many have posted about the location - it is in a town 10-15 minutes from Fira and 30-40 minutes from Oia. In my judgemental, this location is terrible for anyone who is in Santorini for the first time to see what is special about the island (the caldera, the amazing white architecture, etc). True, the hotel never advertises that it has views of the caldera, but the disappointment many reviewers have expressed is that for a hotel in the 500 euro+ price range, it is not in the prime location. As I walked along Fira and Oia, I kept seeing the amazing hotels with Caldera-views and realising that I could have stayed at 99% of them for the price I was paying at the Vedema. Vedema must be the most expensive hotel in Santorini WITHOUT caldera views.
Management keeps responding in TripAdvisor that they dont advertise caldera views and Vedema's specialty is that it is in a 400 year old wine cellar etc etc. From what I could see, there is a cave where they use to make wine, and the rooms are just newly built buildings. It does have an authenic Greek feel, as many reviews have mentioned, and the room furnishings are gorgeous but I do not believe that justifies the cost at all.
Besides the fact that it does not have caldera views, the most disappointing thing about the location is not that it is far from Fira/Oia (after all, its only 10 euros in a taxi), but the worst thing is that the hotel provides a free shuttle service at the most ridiculous times. The hotel has two vans but runs only three times to Fira (but 4 times to the "private" beach) - at 11am, 5pm, and 7pm. The bus returns from Fira at 2:15pm, 5:15pm, 7:15pm. This means that if you want to get out to Fira early to have breakfast or go for a morning walk or join a volcano tour, the 11am bus is too late. If you want to stay at the hotel for breakfast and relax in the morning, you cant get out to Fira til 5pm. Worse of all, you can't have dinner in Fira, as the last free shuttle will leave before you sit down. Thats why if you are in Santorini to SEE and EXPERIENCE the island, and NOT the hotel, then this is absolutely the wrong hotel for you. (I would like to know how Management expects you to utilise their free shuttle service.) I didn't end up catch the free shuttle at all, and I dont mind paying the 10 euros, I just found it sneaky of the hotel to deliberately schedule their buses (which could run at any time!!) to be maximally inconvenient - clearly they want you to stay at the hotel for as long as possible and dine at their restaurants as often as possible.
So the only people who would like this hotel I think are those who have been to Santorini several times and dont particularly want to see the island, but only to enjoy the hotel. In my opinion, the hotel isnt the special, and expensive if thats all you want. You can get better resorts with better service and more facilities in Thailand or anywhere in SE asia for 1/3 of the price.
SERVICE: It oftened seemed that staff and the hotel seemed determined to push you to spend as much at Vedema as possible, making you feel like they are not on your side at all, and when you didnt spend much at the hotel (like myself) they dont even notice you or care about you.
Another issue with the service is the fact that the hotel guests are quite homogenuous. Majority are guests are identical - Western couples. If you are not western or not going with your partner, this hotel is definitely not for you. Its not really the fault of the hotel, but staff do not help either.
OTHER: Supposedly there is a private beach - I went there and there is a strip of beach in Perissa about 10 m wide that has chairs specially for Vedema guests. Other hotels/companies have their own strips adjacent. At best this would count as a private 10m strip, not a private beach. However, since it is not technically private (since anyone are free to walk or swim in the strip by law), it is not even a private strip.
- Pool is very crowded and small, and very average by Santorini standards. Of course, many Fira hotels have infinity pools overlooking caldera.
- Ordering breakfast room service costs an extra 10 euros and newspapers cost 5 euros. Just adds to the 500 euro daily bill....
- Do not want to take away the positives of the hotel - the rooms were huge and beautiful, our roof top had good views. The jacuzzi area is quite nice and some of the staff are really attentive and friendly. There is free internet.
However due to the location I will never go back to this hotel, nor would I recommend it to friends, even at half the price. If the hotel is not in Fira or Oia, why not save on your hotel price and buy a ticket to Thailand/Hawaii/Caribbeans? Hotel could easily have been better if it just ran free shuttles at normal times and didnt leave you feeling caged/imprisoned in their hotel.
If you are "stuck" in this hotel and not a multi millionaire, consider taxi-ing to Fira daily. Around the area, there are two very good restuarants with good value 1 minute walk around at the square next to the church opposite the hotel main entrance.