Greece Luxury Trip Review: Rhodes, Santorini, Athens, History, Ruins, Fabulous Food & Wine, Beauty & the People

On the whole the trip was well-planned and turned out to be a pleasant experience, especially given the short lead time to arrange for accommodation, tours and private guides at such popular destinations. There were a few "hiccups" along the way which I will mention below but all in all it was a very enjoyable trip.

I was impressed by the process of gathering detailed information about our general travel history and preferences to use as a foundation for crafting the type of experiences and situations we would enjoy or prefer to avoid. Our travel specialist was great to work with. She was professional, personable and responsive. The itinerary created for us allowed us to appreciate Greece the way we aimed to: ponder the remarkable history and antiquities, explore and savor the ancient ruins and incredible artifacts, delight in the fabulous food and wine, drink in the intoxicating beauty of the islands studded in impossibly azure waters, and relish the warmth and gregariousness of the local folks.

Now the few "hiccups":

Hotel problems. (1) Athens hotel. The hotel is in a fabulous location but its age inevitably showed in the rooms we were given, and the bathrooms exhibited signs of deterioration and deferred maintenance. (We stayed there twice on the trip for a total of 5 nights, in two different rooms.) The sound of the toilets flushing (ours and the neighbors') was deafening! Truly. There were no electrical outlets in the bathrooms and no wash/face cloth; there was not a single mirror in the bedrooms.

(2) Hotel in Rhodes.Upon arrival in the early afternoon we were told we had no reservation. After showing the front desk our printed itinerary from the travel company and waiting 30 minutes for the hotel to contact our Greece contact to clear things up, we got room #54. It was very small, and the bathroom was tiny: the door could only be opened 90 degrees before it hit the toilet, and there was a barely one foot gap between the edge of the door and bathroom counter so we had to suck in our chests in order to squeeze by and reach the toilet. The small shower had no door, just a narrow strip of glass partition so shower water splashed out onto the floor and the counter. There was a floor drain outside the shower and we realized why when we finished showering --- the BA floor was flooded. Dangerous because the floor was marble and very slippery when wet. The bottom of the BA door was rotting away from repeated moisture penetration. But the worst part was that the BA was a step up from the bedroom. Small step, but so out of the ordinary that we stubbed our toes every time we went to the BA, and missed the step leaving the BA and fell or crashed into the wall of the BR. So when we went out to dinner we stopped at the front desk to complain and asked for a room change. The woman who checked us in was surprised; she didn’t know such a room existed! She couldn’t do anything that night but promised to speak to the reservations manager in the morning. I texted our travel specialist and sent photos of the BA. She was apologetic and promised to fix the situation. We were given a new room the next day, slightly larger and a much better BA with no step up. 

(3) Hotel in Heraklion. The hotel is situated in a convenient location, up on a rise. Our room had a nice view of the harbor, but airplanes started taking off early in the morning (5am) and roared over the hotel and inevitably woke us up. We're not sure if most or all of the hotels in that part of the city are affected by the flight patterns or just our hotel.

Arrival problem. Rhodes. On arrival in Rhodes we did not see anyone with a sign waiting for us. We waited and walked around all the other agents holding name plaques outside the arrival area but did not find our greeter. Finally after 10 minutes and most passengers had been picked up, we walked down the hall and found a young woman at the end of it standing next to a booth chatting with friends, and a sign TAPED on the booth with our name on it! We complained to our Greece contact.

Positive Note:

Our Greece contact was quick to act when she found out about the ferrymen's 24-hour strike that was to occur on the day (Sept. 24) we were to take the ferry from Santorini to Athens. She called us (we were driving from Chania back to Heraklion) and immediately booked us on a flight, securing 2 precious seats. If we were not able to get back to Athens on time, we would have missed our early morning flight back to the US on Sept. 26. The strike did happen, and it affected not just the ferries but also extended to the rails and buses, and caused the closure of schools and banks in Athens. Arriving in Athens on the day of the strike, we felt very lucky to be met by our pre-arranged transport! Our driver for Athens (and the excursion to Delphi) was wonderful.