Nine rooms.One horizon.
A whitewashed house on the caldera’s edge, kept by the same family since 1968. Every room faces west; not one of them has a television.
The house, from the caldera path
One family,
since 1968.
Alkyoní was a fisherman’s house before it was anything else. It has been added to, whitewashed and argued over by three generations, and it has never had more than nine rooms.
Nothing about the place is designed. The rooms are the shapes the rock allowed, the terrace is where the goats used to stand, and the blue on the doors is mixed by hand each spring because that is how it has always been done.
- 1968Eléni’s grandmother lets the first two rooms to a couple whose boat never came.
- 1984The terrace is cut into the rock. It takes two summers and most of the family’s savings.
- 2007Yánnis arrives to cook for one season and does not leave.
- 2019The last three rooms are rebuilt. The house stops at nine, deliberately.
We have never advertised. People are sent by other people, and that is the whole business.
Eléni Marínou · third generation
Nine rooms,
no two alike.
Whitewashed walls, linen from Náxos, and shutters closed against the afternoon. Four of the nine are shown here; the rest are best seen in person.
One menu, written
each morning.
Yánnis cooks what the boats bring in and what the garden gives up that day. Nothing is printed in advance. Dinner begins at half past seven and ends when it ends.
Breakfast
08:00 — 10:30Yoghurt, thyme honey, figs, and eggs if you ask for them.
Lunch
13:00 — 15:30Cold, light, and mostly out of the garden behind the house.
Dinner
From 19:30Four courses, one menu, written that morning.
Everything else is
a short walk.
We keep a boat, a car, and the phone numbers of people worth knowing. Ask at the desk the night before and it will be arranged by morning.
The caldera, from the terrace at Room 9
Take the whole
house.
For three nights or more we let Alkyoní to one party only. Twenty people sleep here; sixty can eat on the terrace.
- The whole house
- Nine rooms, sleeps twenty
- On the terrace
- Up to sixty at one table
- Minimum stay
- Three nights
- How often
- One party a week, at most
Eléni handles every booking herself. There is no events company and no package — tell her what you have in mind and she will say honestly whether the house can do it.
Ask about dates
White, and then
a great deal of blue.
Photographs taken around the house across one season. Nothing has been styled and nothing has been borrowed from anywhere else.
We came for four nights and changed our flights twice.
Yánnis asked what we didn't eat, then never asked again. Every dinner was different and every one was right.
They lent us the boat and a map drawn on the back of a receipt. Best day of the year.
Nine rooms means they know your name by the second morning. That is the whole point of the place.
Notes from the
house.
We write when there is something worth saying — a repair, a recipe, a bay that is still empty. Four of the most recent are below.
Further than it looks,
closer than you fear.
Most guests are at the house within the hour of landing on the island. The last stretch is the only part you do on foot.
Athens
Six or seven flights a day in summer, two in winter.
↓ 45 minutes by air
Santoríni airport (JTR)
We meet every flight. There is no need to book anything yourself.
↓ 25 minutes by car
Oía
Cars stop at the top of the lane. Everything past that is steps.
↓ the last 60 metres on foot
Alkyoní
Blue door, third on the left, below the bell tower.
Transfers
Send your arrival time when you book and a car will be waiting with your name on it. There is no charge for this.
The large case
The lane is stepped and narrow. Leave anything heavy at the top and Stélios will bring it down before you have found your room.
By sea
The port at Athiniós is thirty-five minutes away by road. High-speed boats from Piraeus take about five hours.
Parking
Two spaces at the top of the lane, kept for guests. Ask for one when you book — in August they go quickly.
The answers, before
you have to ask.
If something here is not covered, telephone the house. Someone who actually works here will answer.
When can we arrive, and when must we leave?
Rooms are ready from 15:00 and we ask that you leave them by 11:00. If your flight is late in the day, leave your bags with us and use the terrace — most people do.
What is included in the rate?
Breakfast on the terrace, the transfer from the airport, water, and the wifi. Dinner and the boat are charged separately. There is no resort fee, because there is no resort.
Can we bring children?
Yes, though you should know the house is built on a cliff and the lanes are stepped. Rooms 7 and 9 take an extra bed. We do not have cots for infants.
Are dogs welcome?
In Rooms 2 and 9 only, and there is a charge of €25 a night for the extra cleaning. Tell us in advance — we will have a bowl and a bed waiting.
How do cancellations work?
Cancel more than fourteen days before you arrive and we refund everything. Inside fourteen days we keep the first night. In August the deposit is non-refundable whenever you cancel.
Is the house accessible?
Honestly, not very. Sixty metres of steps lead down to the door and every room is reached by more of them. Room 2 is the closest to the entrance, with four steps. Please call us before booking and we will tell you plainly whether it will work.
How do we pay?
Cards and bank transfer. We take a deposit of one night when you book and the rest when you leave.