Mystique opened in May 2007 at the quiet end of Oia, carved into the caldera cliffs, to a design by the architect Mary Kavagia. It holds 43 suites and villas, and every one of them looks across the water to the active volcano that shaped the island. Among the houses standing on either side of it, it is the one painted cream beige rather than white.
The house is the work of Kalia and Antonis Eliopoulos, who came to hospitality through Santorini itself. Antonis Eliopoulos had been visiting the island since childhood, and on one of his many trips he bought a rustic vineyard, which became their first hotel in 1993: Vedema. Mystique was the second, and the group they built now trades as Empiria Group. What gives the house its present shape is the rebuild it had before the 2024 season, when Interior Design Laboratorium of Athens reworked the suites, the dining rooms and the spa together.
The ground
Oia’s main pedestrian street is a seven-minute walk off, a polished marble walkway lined with shops, churches and restaurants that face the volcano. At Mystique’s end of the village the road holds a few supermarkets and guesthouses and little else. A bus stop on the Oia to Fira route is close by, and the walking trail to Fira begins beside the supermarket at the top of the hotel’s steps. The airport is a 25-minute drive.
Some of the original volcanic rock was left in the fabric of the building, and the levels are crossed by many flights of steps, which makes the property unsuitable for guests with reduced mobility. Two pools sit on the volcanic cliff above the water. Sunbeds and Circe Bar are at the larger one; the smaller sits higher up, beside the Captain’s Lounge, a reading room by day and the room dinner moves into when the weather is against the terraces.
The rooms
All 43 suites and villas were refurbished in the 2024 work. The interiors keep the curves and archways of the caves they began as, and the materials carry the argument: bedside tables pressed from olive pits, raffia and bamboo chairs, a collection of Greek ceramics and a palette of pale creams and sandy neutrals. The bespoke pieces follow organic forms drawn from the sculptural architecture of the island. Bathrooms have twin stone sinks and walk-in showers, with Empiria Group’s own-brand bath amenities, made with the sustainable beauty brand Auraskin.
Mill Haven is the suite set inside a traditional Cycladic windmill, 80 square metres over two levels, with two bedrooms and their own bathrooms, a kitchenette and a terrace holding an outdoor hot tub and an open-air dining table above Oia and the caldera. Several other suites have a hot tub outside, the Secrecy villas have a pool of their own, and the All Senses suites and the Holistic villa sleep four. Many of the villas are finished with an infinity-edge pool.
The table
Lure is the dinner restaurant, perched at the very top of the property and open from 7pm to 11.30pm, under the Greek chef Yiannis Kioroglou. His kitchen is Cycladic set against Southern Italy, and it works to a principle of respect for the ingredient: seasonal, spare, nothing overworked. The room was redrawn in 2024 around the dark volcanic hues of the island. Charisma is the day restaurant, by the infinity-edge pool, à la carte for breakfast and lunch on local ingredients: Greek-style eggs Benedict with Santorini aubergine and lountza, which is cured pork, tomato fritters and taramasalata with hot bread.
The Secret Wine Cave is a cellar about 150 years old holding rare and indigenous bottles, open from 6pm to 10pm for tastings and small plates and taken whole for a private candlelit dinner. The other private table is the Aegean Balcony, an outdoor space that juts out from the cliff.
Elios Spa
Elios Spa is two treatment rooms cut in the traditional Cycladic cave style, open 10am to 7pm daily, working with locally sourced products and natural oils. It takes its name from helios, the Greek word for the sun. The gym next to it is compact, with a couple of treadmills, an exercise bike and weights facing the sea, and private yoga sessions can be booked.
Who is this for
Couples and pairs of friends who want the village a short walk off rather than underfoot. No guest under 14 stays here, so the register is adult and quiet. Arrival is a glass of homemade lemonade, poured by a team many of whom have worked here for years, and Mystique’s concierge books the island beyond the gate: a tasting at a winery inland, horseriding, a photography tour, a catamaran under sail at sunset.
