Close your eyes and think of Santorini. You’re likely picturing a scene not unlike that we admired from our sun-soaked deck at Canaves Ena: whitewashed villages atop volcanic cliffs, framed by a sky and a sea competing over which affords more hues of blue. It’s Santorini as you know it from postcards and Explore pages, and this 18-suite, boutique escape amid cupolas and cobblestones serves it up on a silver platter.
In a corner of the Aegean not shy of beautiful panoramas, few could compete with the view we lost ourselves in at Canaves Ena. That the hotel sits on one of the most enviable plots of land in Oia is no coincidence, for when it initially opened its doors (or rather, gate) in 1985, it was among the first to welcome guests to the village. Owned by the Chaidemenos family, this was the original Canaves hotel, and it did something rather extraordinary: Ena took inspiration from Oia’s traditional cave houses, yposkafa, and turned its 17th-century wine caves into guest accommodations, a take on hospitality that would come to shape how we think of a Santorini holiday to this day.
Much has happened since – both at the hotel, as well as on the island itself – and a 2024 renovation has reimagined Canaves Ena for style-conscious travellers. It’s those who value the type of restraint that lies in the local DNA, and which has been replaced elsewhere with the hallmarks of ‘hotel-ification’ (golden straws, branding galore, silly designer collaborations), that the hotel is after. And amazingly, you still feel a little as though you’d walked right off the street and into a local’s home here, except that neatly presented fruit platters and welcome drinks reveal said local to be somewhat suspiciously well equipped to welcome guests (then again, why wouldn’t they be? This is Greece, and filoxenia, the ‘love of strangers’, runs through the locals’ veins).
Despite being just off Oia’s main thoroughfare, Canaves Ena at large offers more privacy than most places to stay in town, whose tiny jacuzzis are often so exposed, visitors might on occasion feel the need to suck in their stomachs and smile for the camera. Those who don’t fancy a swimwear-clad cameo in an Instagram Story of a fellow traveller searching Oia’s meandering walkways for the best view will appreciate the added layer of discretion. We, too, spent many an hour by the hotel pool, scanning the sky for fluffy clouds, sipping on frozen peach juice, and dipping into the water to cool off… or to grab a Kallisti cocktail from the swim-up bar. While the hotel stops short of being adults-only (children are allowed from the age of 13), two suites are effectively of the honeymoon type, offering perhaps the most private and serene stay in this part of town.
Our 50 sqm/538 sqft River Pool Suite, meanwhile, was tucked away in a corner of the hotel and featured a deck with loungers and outdoor seating surrounded by low, whitewashed walls, as well as access to our very own cave pool, which snaked its way into the structure. A small antechamber served not only as a cosy spot to get lost in a book on a rainy day, but also doubled as a mini-theatre with the stage being a window that framed an uninterrupted panorama of Santorini’s caldera – fantastikós. Up until the 2024 renovation, some accommodations still featured bits of the hotel’s original furnishings. Those ‘relics’ are gone now, and interiors are decidedly uncluttered, with decor that blends in rather than stands out (think locally made ceramics inspired by designs of antique objects found in Akrotiri, a Bronze Age settlement in the island’s south).
| Perfect for | Fly into | Right on time |
| The Insider | JTR | GMT +3 |
| While you’re Out There |
| Though we’re not the biggest fans of Fira, Santorini’s capital, we loved the beautiful hike there, whose trailhead is just a stone’s throw from Canaves Ena. Take plenty of water and sunscreen, and don’t miss the opportunity to scale Skaros Rock on the way. Just before you arrive in Fira, stop by the famous Atlantis bookshop, which relocated to the village of Firostefani from Oia in 2024. |
The structure of the rooms itself is part of the experience, of course. Some accommodations benefit from perforated interior walls that invite daylight to seep deeper into the underground spaces, while our suite featured vaulted ceilings and an authentic cave section that echoed atmospherically. And, if you’re so inclined, one room comes with an enormous, downstairs wet cave equipped with twin showers and a vanity… while not the most practical, it’s certainly show-stopping. Despite a consistency in style that weaves together all spaces at Canaves Ena, the hotel doesn’t feel like it came from a mould: too charmingly idiosyncratic are the rooms and too numerous the many nooks and crannies that tell a story, evidencing the grounds’ expansion through the years.
One example of this are the narrow stairs leading up to Adami Restaurant, whose Greek-inspired name nods to a tradition of shared, social meals. Though we found its menu to be on the passive side of catering to dietary requirements, the team understood our preferences, and was quick to point out meals that could be made plant-based on our request. Ideal this is not, and we’d much rather have found a small selection of dedicated, vegan-friendly foods readily available. But regardless, each dish we tried was superb, even those with ‘removed ingredients’, from mouthwatering mezze to zesty lentil salad and stuffed bell peppers. What sets Adami apart is that it does all things simple, fresh and wholesome – you’d struggle to go hungry here, or find a dish that takes itself too seriously on the menu. Only at breakfast did we long for more variety: epic views and Freddo espressos aside, there are only so many salads we can have before craving something sweet and sinful.
For your wellness needs, massages are arranged in-room while a cave sauna that can be booked at reception is just a five-minute stroll away, at sister property Canaves Oia Suites. Those looking for state-of-the-art facilities and space-age therapies worthy of Alpine rejuvenation clinics won’t find them here, and we thought that’s a good thing. Canaves Ena aims not to take years off your face, but instead to help you make memories that last a lifetime, and the ever-attentive staff would delight in pulling a few strings to help arrange helicopter tours, yachting trips or even something as simple as a romantic turndown.
Speaking of the team, we found service to be exactly as we like it: present when you need it, invisible when you don’t. This arguably goes with the modern and confident type of hotel Canaves Ena seeks to be. While others in Santorini are becoming clichéd versions of themselves in an effort to chase trends and play into the zeitgeist (or rather, what they perceive it to be), this is one of a few places to stay locally that think bigger than merely Santorini or travel. Details like original, rough-looking pori stone doorways hint at something more soulful than just a number of rooms with decor courtesy of an expensive designer. Canaves Ena has that rare quality of being both elegant and relevant – to design aficionados, hospitality advocates, and the cultural clique. Here’s a hotel that allows the island itself to play the first fiddle. As it should.
Photography courtesy of Canaves Collection
