"**Disappointing Stay — Serious Cleanliness and Service Issues Despite One Helpful Staff Member**
We checked in to Rocabella Santorini on the evening of June 20, arriving around 10 pm after making our way from the airport. We were traveling with our two young boys and were very hungry when we arrived. We were told the restaurant would remain open for us, but when we went in, there was no one to be found. We were later told there was a wedding at the hotel and that the staff were occupied with the event, which is understandable to a point. However, the restaurant had half-eaten plates of food left on nearly every table and had clearly not been cleaned. It was very unpleasant and honestly quite off-putting to even consider sitting down to eat in that setting. We ended up going next door to the Cavo Tagoo restaurant instead, which was expensive and not really the atmosphere we were hoping for in Santorini.
Unfortunately, things got worse when we returned to our rooms. We had booked two rooms next to each other with private pools, but the rooms did not meet basic standards of cleanliness. There was hair on the bathroom towels and in the sink, and we found small blood stains on the bedsheets. We were genuinely uncomfortable and disgusted, especially with our children traveling with us, and did not feel comfortable having them sleep in those beds.
We asked for a refund for the remainder of our stay, as we did not feel the rooms were acceptable given the price we had paid — approximately $4,500 for two rooms over four nights. The front desk staff member that evening, I believe her name was Christiana, told us that a refund would not be possible at that time and that she could not reach the owner or manager. This led to a very frustrating back-and-forth for the next one to two hours. A cleaning crew was eventually sent to the rooms, and they did clean the rooms much better, but by that point we still did not feel comfortable sleeping there with our children.
The next morning, we still were not able to meet with a manager or owner, and we were again told they could not be reached. After further discussion, we were eventually upgraded to what we were told was the hotel’s best suite, with upstairs and downstairs areas and separate sleeping spaces. The suite was definitely a nicer room, and we accepted this as the hotel’s compensation for the problems we had experienced.
I do want to specifically mention Nick at the front desk, who I was told was the assistant manager. He was much more receptive and helpful than what we experienced the previous night. He genuinely seemed to be trying to make the best of a bad situation. He helped arrange transportation to Oia and back, provided useful restaurant information, helped us move reservations, and tried to ensure the room was cleaned more thoroughly during the rest of our stay. We appreciated his efforts.
That said, even in the upgraded suite, we still found hair, which really speaks to a broader issue with housekeeping standards at this property. Over the next couple of days, the rooms were cleaned better, but the initial impression was very hard to overcome. There were also areas around the hotel that did not appear to be cleaned properly. For example, some clothing tags or small scraps were left on the stairs for the entire four days we were there, which made it feel like routine cleaning of the common areas was not being done carefully.
Breakfast was delicious and the service was excellent, but the menu was quite limited and the portions were very small. The hotel also felt understaffed overall, especially given the price point.
One incident that was not the hotel’s fault, but unfortunately added to the overall negative experience, was seeing another family encourage their child to urinate in the main pool. After that, we did not feel comfortable taking our own children into the pool.
Santorini is a beautiful and charming place, and this was our third visit to the island. Unfortunately, this hotel really affected our experience this time. Even though we were upgraded and Nick made a real effort to help, the cleanliness issues, lack of visible management, poor handling of our arrival, and overall feeling of being short-staffed made this a very disappointing stay. For the amount charged, we expected a much higher standard. We would not stay here again."
