Framed

You can find a great view from anywhere in Santorini. That’s the whole point. It’s how you frame the view that matters most when choosing a hotel. This list should make the decision easier.

If you’ve ever gotten something professionally framed, you know it’s not an inexpensive proposition. There are good reasons for that. Unlike your local big box retailer, a good framer will offer hundreds of combinations of wood type, molding, matting, and glazing. And the assembly will be done by a highly skilled expert, so your picture or painting will look better than it did before, and last a lot longer than you.

If you’ve ever gone to Santorini, you know it’s a place of impossibly stunning views looking out over the volcanic caldera and Aegean Sea beyond. You don’t need to stay at a hotel to enjoy these views. They’re available all over the island. But if you decide that a roof and a bed would be helpful, then you should put the same care into choosing your lodging as you would into framing your precious artwork.

That’s why this list of Santorini hotels features only those with the most well-framed views, where the architecture, design, and decor combine to provide a portal that not only takes in all those famous scenes of blue water, brown cliffs, black sand, and white-washed stone buildings, but enhances them.

One other thing about these hotels: they’re fully open for business! As you probably know, Santorini experienced a series of earthquakes in early 2025, but the island is back up and running and ready for your summer stay.

See our entire selection of hotels in Santorini.

Vedema

Megalohori, Santorini, Greece

Located in the medieval village of Megalohori, Vedema is a converted 15th-century winery, where gleaming white villas surround numerous courtyards and overlook the vineyards, the town, and that deep blue sea. The accommodations are spacious, and the traditional Greek décor falls neatly in line with what international travelers expect to see — white walls, smart, spare furnishings, and generous sitting areas.

NOŪS Santorini

Mesaria, Santorini, Greece

For NOŪS Santorini, industrialist and art collector Dakis Joannou envisioned an alternative to the cliffside norm. Long sea views are plentiful, but NOŪS doesn’t need a caldera view to supply a visual identity. Here a village-like collection of modern minimalist buildings — clearly descended from the local village vernacular — stands around the centerpiece of a man-made water feature, a 50-meter L-shaped infinity pool.

Perivolas Lifestyle Houses

Oia, Santorini, Greece

Sleeping in a cave sounds a bit like sleeping in a treehouse, or sleeping underwater; photogenic, but questionable as real-world lodging. But however unusual the concept might sound, Perivolas — encompassing a series of restored caves that once served as horse stables and fishermen’s homes, set into cliffs above the startlingly blue Aegean — looks and feels like what it is: a gorgeous boutique hotel on a Greek island.

Kivotos Santorini

Imerovigli, Santorini, Greece

Plenty of very fine Santorini hotels allow their views of the caldera to do all the heavy lifting. Kivotos Santorini, in contrast, isn’t afraid to engage the landscape and seascape directly: dark gray stone and shaded, cavern-like rooms directly refer to the black sand beaches as well as the volcanic forces that created this spectacle, and at the same time lend an extra measure of elegance to this extravagantly luxurious hotel.

Astra Suites

Imerovigli, Santorini, Greece

Santorini is full of romantic hotels, but the highest concentration might well be found in Imerovigli. The hotels that have staked their claim here have been in the business for decades, like Astra Suites, a luxurious boutique hotel that’s been perfecting the sun, sip, and swim experience since first opening in the early nineties. The formula works: in short, every room is a stylish sea-facing suite with a private terrace.

La Perla Villas & Suites

Oia, Santorini, Greece

The views from the village of Oia are possibly the most desirable. Any hotel that’s going to stand out here is going to do it by virtue of the fine details — and La Perla’s vision of modern-classic Cycladic hospitality certainly stands out. Its most modest rooms come with a veranda and a direct view of the caldera; as you ascend the range, they add outdoor hot tubs, plunge pools, and, in one case, a private infinity pool.

Astarte Suites

Akrotiri, Santorini, Greece

Santorini might be the most perfect example of a place that seems tailor-made by nature as a holiday destination, and Astarte Suites, on the southern arm of the island’s crescent, is perfectly situated to make the most of it. The village of Akrotiri is a small one, and Astarte’s fifteen suites cling dramatically to the cliffs of the caldera, providing them with jaw-dropping views of the volcano.

Santo Pure Oia Suites & Villas

Oia, Santorini, Greece

The elevation of Oia, on the northern branch of the island, provides a stunning perspective of the caldera, and its orientation makes for dramatic shadows across the water at sunset. It’s also more or less the heart of Santorini’s luxury hospitality industry — but from within the walls of Santo Pure Oia Suites & Villas it’s possible to feel like you’re just about alone on the island.

Vora

Imerovigli, Santorini, Greece

Santorini isn’t generally known for being on the cutting edge of design and architecture. But a hotel like Vora proves that there’s much to be gained by a designer who’s up to the task. Here contemporary architecture complements the famous view, and the minimalist, traditional methods — Vora was built by hand, owing to its difficult hillside location — ensure that it meshes well with its setting and the surrounding buildings.

Homeric Poems

Firostefani, Santorini, Greece

Even by local standards, Homeric Poems is something special, both as a name and as a hotel — it’s set at the lower edge of the village of Firostefani, perched right over the cliff and looking straight into the caldera. Its architecture and design make liberal use of regulation white and blue, but there’s a sparseness and a simplicity to its interiors that feels more carefully considered than most.

Mystique

Oia, Santorini, Greece

The terraced construction at Mystique, tumbling down the hillside, means there’s not a sub-standard view in the house. The hotel has slowly expanded over the years, adding a suite here and a suite there, resulting in a layout that’s sometimes labyrinthine, adding privacy and an almost whimsical sense of spatial uniqueness. It’s integrated into the village, but set slightly apart by a subtle use of contrasting color.

Katikies Kirini Suites & Spa

Oia, Santorini, Greece

Kirini Suites is what you envision when you think of the quintessential Greek Island hideaway, except it’s executed even more purely than you can imagine. Here, the fresh white paint is somehow more pristine, the infinity pool overlooking the sea that much more spectacular, the suites even sunnier and breezier, and the beds more perfectly cloud-like than the competition’s. Plus, some of the best food on the island and a serene little spa.