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My husband and I splurged on a Santorini hotel for our honeymoon that costs over $400 per night and is built into a cave. Here's why it was totally worth it
My husband and I splurged on a Santorini hotel for our honeymoon that costs over $400 per night and is built into a cave. Here's why it was totally worth it
Jamie FriedlanderJan 9, 2019, 22:46 IST
Jamie Friedlander/Business InsiderThe author at Pezoules of Oia hotel in Santorini, Greece.
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If there's a time to splurge on an expensive hotel, your honeymoon is likely an ideal occasion for it.
Here, author Jamie Friedlander details why she and her husband spent $4,000 in total on a honeymoon trip that included a stay at Pezoules of Oia, a pricey hotel in Santorini, Greece.
Pezoules is a small, family-owned hotel: It only has seven units.
Last year, my husband and I got married. We've been together for nine years, and have spent much of that time traveling - to Hawaii, Aruba, Spain, and Costa Rica, among other places. We're budget-conscious when we travel, always trying to find affordable places and typically booking with points.
We wanted our honeymoon to be both adventurous and relaxing, which is why we settled on Greece. After booking modest hotels in Athens and Mykonos, we knew we wanted to splurge on something a bit more high-end in Santorini.
A friend of a friend who had visited Santorini told me about a place called Pezoules of Oia, in which there are seven rooms built into a cave on the side of the mountain.
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There was just one catch. The hotel was $433.15 per night, which meant it would cost us over $1,700 to spend four nights there. In total, we spent around $4,000 for the eight-day trip.
We'd decided to save up for Pezoules in the year leading up to our honeymoon, and it was totally worth the cost in the end. Here's why.
There are several prominent areas to stay in Santorini. The town of Oia is the one you've likely seen in photos, and Pezoules is located right in the heart of Oia. After a walk down 30 or 40 steps, you arrive at the entrance to Pezoules. This means that the views are stunning in every direction. Directly out our window was a calming view of the Mediterranean, and in every other direction, we were treated to beautiful views of the city itself.
The complimentary breakfast.
I don't eat breakfast. I never have. That changed once I stayed at Pezoules. Each morning upon waking, we would simply call the concierge, and a homemade Greek breakfast would be on our porch within 20 minutes. We were treated to fresh Greek yogurt, eggs, coffee, fruit, pastries — the list goes on. I have celiac disease, and they even made fresh gluten free croissants for me every morning.
Some of my best memories from our honeymoon are rolling out of bed with my husband and reminiscing about our wedding as we ate breakfast in the slightly chilly Mediterranean air.
The private bar.
Shortly after we checked in, we learned that there was a bar on-site. We ordered a few drinks, and they said they'd bring them up to our porch soon. After 20 or so minutes, the drinks hadn't arrived, so we popped in to see what was happening, only to find the bartender hand-chipping ice from a large block. He told us he had just picked a fresh cucumber from the garden (I'm not making this up) for my husband's drink.
Needless to say, these cocktails were pricey — about $18 a pop — but they were some of the best I've ever had.
The infinity pool.
Although it was a bit too chilly to get much swimming in during our visit, one of the biggest draws of Pezoules is its Instagram-worthy infinity pool. Located right at the edge of the property, the pool appears to flow directly into the Mediterranean, despite being hundreds of yards up in the air.
Had we gone during a warmer month (we visited in May), we could've spent ample time sipping homemade cocktails from the bar while relaxing in the pool.
The alternative vibe.
Pezoules is family-owned. It wasn't an all-inclusive, five-star resort. But that's what made it so nice. There were only seven units on site, and we barely saw the other residents. (Some units have their own private porch — we shared ours with one couple.)
The room's accommodations were very nice, but not luxurious by any means. The simplicity of the actual room was refreshing, and we didn't need anything fancier. After all, we spent most of our time at the hotel sitting on the porch looking out into the Mediterranean with a cocktail in hand. The price we paid was for privacy, intimacy, and relaxation, and it was well worth it.
The feeling that we'd never be doing this again.
Pezoules was by far the nicest hotel we've ever stayed at, and will likely be the nicest we ever stay at. We knew we were splurging on something special, and that made the experience so much more enjoyable. We knew we had to relish each and every moment, and we did.