In Santorini, Stay at a Cliff-Top Resort With a Secret Garden That Feels Like a Fairy Tale

Stay Here For

The profuse gardens and generous rooms of a country estate, only minutes from downtown Oia.

The most successful hotels often find a way to bridge the past and present—and nowhere does that sentiment ring truer than at Santorini’s Canaves Epitome. When the Canaves hotel group began transforming a plot on the island’s northwestern fringe into its latest luxury resort, the landscape architects shipped in century-old olive trees from the Peloponnese. The wizened perennials are rooted nicely in their new home, their thick, majestically gnarled trunks now shading showy white hibiscus, daylilies and oleander. On an arid, windswept island that can sometimes feel like a desert, Canaves Epitome is an oasis.

Opened in 2018 and expanded in 2023, Epitome now encompasses two restaurants, including the tasting menu-only Elements Restaurant, plus a bar, a pair of turquoise pools, a gym, a spa and 53 rooms. Unlike most Oia hotels, which trade on their dramatic cliffside perches, this one is more horizontal than vertical. Instead, Epitome’s guests get wide avenues for wandering, large terraces for socializing and big rooms into which to retreat. The landscaping is the living tether between these public and private spaces: fruiting prickly pears, sawtooth succulents twisting toward the sun, lavender and rosemary that make the breeze smell amazing.

Combined with the luxuriant flora, the architectural choices lend Epitome a storybook quality. Whimsical arched doors unlock sun-dappled courtyards. Thickets of vines cluster around the sides of buildings. Volcanic rock forms garden beds and exterior walls. It feels like a fairy-tale village—and it can’t be a coincidence that the cocktails have names like Captain Hook and Princess Jasmine. (The latter, a vodka and passion-fruit drink capped in a froth of lychee bubbles, shares its name with the flower, which blooms in tidy hedgerows near the pool. Inhale deeply.)

The Essentials

The Location

The grounds of Canaves Epitome, on the northwestern shore of Santorini, have an impressive footprint.

Canaves Epitome hugs the edge of Oia on the north end of Santorini. In the morning, make the 20-minute walk to the center of town for a stop at Phyllon, an elegant bakery with pistachio-dusted pastries displayed like jewelry. Come evening, walk 10 minutes downhill to Ammoudi Bay, a crescent cove sheltered by sheer cliffs, for dinner at the casual Dimitris Ammoudi Taverna. When you’re finished, WhatsApp the hotel—there’s a complimentary shuttle to take you to and from Epitome on demand.

The Bars and Restaurants

At the all-day Omnia Restaurant, sun or shade is your first big decision. The second: sweet dishes (walnut-studded açai bowl) or savory ones (zesty shakshuka). Eat by either pool for lunch; all the food runs out of Omnia Restaurant, including Santorini’s omnipresent salad of cherry tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and carob rusks with fat blocks of feta.

It’s easy to fall into a bottle of local wine, but the mixologists shaking and stirring at the lobby’s Sunset Lounge and Omnia Restaurant’s bar make dozens of interesting, thoughtful cocktails. Try the Watermelon Sugar, a vodka concoction involving the titular melon, tomato, strawberry shrub, vanilla, sesame and mint.

For dinner, go all out at Elements Restaurant, Epitome’s intimate dining room serving cerebral tasting menus that draw inspiration from nature’s elements. While executive chef Tasos Stefatos represents the island’s culinary heritage here, he also looks further afield, to Japan (think shabu-shabu), France (foie gras croissant with wild strawberries) and beyond.

The Room

In some suites, miniature courtyards with towering banana palms serve as a focal point.

Epitome counts 12 accommodation categories, starting with the 452-square-foot Deluxe Suite With Plunge Pool and expanding to a 5,920-square-foot Five Bedroom Villa with a conversation pit in the infinity pool. Most of the rooms stand shoulder to shoulder on long “streets,” which enhances the village vibe, with rustic stone walls that envelop each unit in privacy a foot thick. Behind the chunky mosaics, plunge pools sparkle on terraces furnished with blocky loungers and banquettes covered in pillows.

The light-filled suites and villas echo the exterior architecture with wide arches, natural materials (stone floors, linen drapes, jute wardrobe panels) and neutral accents against whitewashed walls. Comfortably large rooms allow for standard features like double vanities, low-slung living room sofas, high-ceilinged showers and tech-integrated custom headboards.

The Standout Feature

The en suite plunge pools are tailor-made for romantic couples’ retreats.

The staff. Service at Santorini’s top hotels is unwaveringly polite and professional, but here, the uncommon proactiveness leaves an impression. You never need to flag someone down for a lunch menu or pool towel; this crew hustles.

The Time to Go

Much of Santorini shuts down in the winter, including Epitome, whose season runs from mid-April to early November. Consider a trip in May, late September or early October for excellent weather and lighter crowds.

The Vibe

The Mediterranean heat calls for light and fresh poolside options.

What you’re buying from the minibar: Full-size boxes of Athenian Zymi-brand biscuits in not-too-sweet flavors such as gingersnappy cinnamon-orange and nutty chocolate-tahini.

The room amenity you’ll want to take home: Not only do the Canaves-branded bath products look good in their pastel bottles etched with botanical illustrations, the juicy fig scent fills the whole shower.

The must-order menu item: At Omnia Restaurant, do not miss the incredible skordomakarona, a spool of spaghetti alla chitarra tossed in glowing green pesto made from ramson, the European analog to ramps. Tiny clams nestle in the curves of the pasta, adding a briny note to the sharp, garlicky sauce.

Relax, read and swim in total peace—a staff member will materialize with a lunch menu before you even realize you’re peckish.

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