Santo Pure Oia Suites & Villas stands on the outskirts of Oia, on Santorini’s gentler west-facing slope below the village. The caldera rim, where most of the island’s best-known houses sit, is above and behind it. Santo Pure has taken guests here since 2016, and it belongs to Santo Collection, which also runs Santo Mine next door and a separate villa arm.
There are 85 keys, 83 suites and two villas, laid out across six neighbourhoods rather than one block. Suites run from 32 to 75 sq m, and almost every terrace carries a pool or a jacuzzi of its own. Oia is under a ten-minute walk from the gate, so the village is available without being underfoot. Fira, the island capital, is about a 20-minute drive away, and the airport about 25.
Six neighbourhoods named after Greek islands
The six neighbourhoods take the names of Greek islands and are knitted into the cliff face, each one built around a pool of its own. The main infinity pool and a jacuzzi sit beside the restaurant and bar. The clusters are easy to mistake for one another in the first days, and a golf buggy and a member of staff are on hand to carry anyone to the right door.
Inside, the scheme holds to lava-black and white. Black volcanic rock taken from the surrounding landscape stands against whitewash and domed Cycladic roofs, with wood, brass and silver in the detail and Santorini’s own forged cement in the furnishings and showers. The largest category is a two-bedroom suite with a pool that sleeps up to five. The smaller ones are open plan, with a kitchenette, a veranda and either a pool or a heated jacuzzi outside. Three suites are accessible. The house takes adults and children aged 8 and over.
The two villas
There are two villas, Ilios and Selini. Each runs to 200 sq m, sleeps up to four across separate rooms, and faces west over the sea to the sunset. Each also has a private pool, a personal sauna, a gym and an outdoor relaxation area, so a family or two couples can keep to the villa and still have the kitchen and the spa behind them.
Anassa Spa
The spa is Anassa Spa, run for the house by the wellness specialist Aegeo Spas. Its indoor heated pool is sweet water, 76 sq m and 1.4 metres deep, held at 31 degrees Celsius. Beyond it are two treatment rooms, a wood-lined sauna that reaches 90 degrees, a steam bath laid with essential oils and anti-inflammatory herbs, and an ice room. The signature facial and body rituals are built on the wellness brand Comfort Zone. There is an indoor fitness centre, and guests may also use the outdoor gym at Santo Mine next door. Outdoor wellness sessions run daily except Sundays, and fitness, Pilates and yoga classes are held either indoors or poolside.
Alios Ilios
Alios Ilios is the all-day restaurant and bar, and dinner is served near the main pool bar, looking over the whitewashed suites below. The cooking is Mediterranean with a strong Cretan leaning, Cretan skioufikta pasta and sharing plates among the dishes, with both à la carte and a seven-course tasting menu that comes with wine pairings. Many of the dishes carry over to the poolside lunch and room-service menus, and Akratos, the poolside bar, keeps simpler food. Breakfast has an area of its own, an indoor and outdoor poolside space with a buffet of Greek dishes. Garden plots on site supply herbs, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and white aubergines, and the wine list leans on Santorini and the rest of Greece.
Who is this for
A couple who want the sunset from a terrace of their own, and a family or two couples who want one of the villas to themselves. The mood is quiet and low: six whitewashed clusters linked by footpaths, a pool in each of them, and the Aegean in every sight line. Ammoudi Bay, with its waterfront tavernas and swims off the rocks, is a walk downhill, and the lanes of Oia are ten minutes uphill for an evening out and a walk home.
