Although it had a rough start, our experience at Villa Ilias in Santorini was great.

Villa Ilias is a small hotel with 10 or so rooms in Firostefani, the next area north of Fira yet still within walking distance (15min) of Fira. We had initially booked the "South Caldera Facing" room which offered a gorgeous view of Fira and the Caldera. The view is just like the photos. However, to our very unpleasant surprise, a few days after booking through Airbnb George contacted us and informed us that "Please note that you have been allocated the "Villa ilias East Facing" room due to last minute availability changes." We were offered to accept this, which is not what we booked, or cancel our booking and go elsewhere.

When questioned about the change, George explained that "Airbnb booking system does not co-operate with [their] booking system so the availability [we] see on Airbnb is not the actual but the past one". We felt as if the problem were ours and not George's. However, after this initial disappointment and evaluating our options, we opted to accept the "East Facing" room. After all, we still had a great rate for a room near Fira.

Once we arrived all went great. My wife and I traveled with our 11-month old son. Villa Ilias offered us a free, very clean and like-new crib for our son. We also enjoyed the included breakfasts. Although there was no baby chair on the first morning, by the second morning they had put one in place for us; they have another property somewhere in Santorini and they brought the chair from that property for us to use. Our "East facing" room did not have a view, as it overlooks a street, but was confortable and clean.

Overall, the staff was very friendly. We enjoyed our time with Nicoleta at the pool bar as we watched the sunset (although that day was very humid and cloudy). George (another George, not the owner) was very welcoming at the reception, and so was Mary who also worked the reception desk. Even the cleaning lady was charming; she had fun interacting with our baby.