Rumah tumpangan di Sifnos

What is not to love about this family run boutique hotel. Firstly, that view upon arrival - quite exquisite. High up and overlooking the bluest of blue waters of the Aegean Sea. Secondly, the very warm welcome by Spiros. This is a gem of a place. Not only are the rooms spacious and clean - with a lovely area outside to sit and enjoy a glass of wine - but everyone is so friendly and accommodating to every need and request. We visited close to the end of a 3 week holiday on the islands of Milos and Sifnos - and I have to say that the evening meal we had in the restaurant here was one of the best we had during our whole holiday. We have to make a special mention of Vassiliki (hope I have spelt your name correctly) who was excellent in serving breakfasts, restaurant meals, coffee, cocktails - in fact everything associated with food and drink. We really appreciated her sense of humour and service with a smile :) The hotel is well situated - a 15-20 minute walk into Apollonia for catching buses to places on the island. In particular it is well worth checking out Kastro - an historic township steeped in history. Spiros will advise on places to visit. A highlight for us was being there on a Sunday and having the opportunity to try the famous Sifnos Chickpea Soup - absolutely delicious. But then, all the food here was delicious. A big thank you to you all for making our stay a very memorable one. And for Spiros driving us down to the port to get the ferry when we left. Very much appreciated. We will be back and cannot rate highly enough the warmth you all extended to us during our stay. A very well deserved 5 stars given. Damyn & Noel :)

Lovely small boutique hotel with great views and easy short walk to the main part of the small town of Apollonia with its restaurants, cafes,bars and designer shops. Great to have a beautiful pool with no jostling for sunbeds. Warmest of welcomes from Ioanna who talked us through the best spots to visit on the island and ideas for eating out. We had a junior suite -good to have a bit more space to spread out as as we stayed for 8 nights. It was very private with a balcony and uninterrupted view to the lovely villages across the valley. Room was extremely stylish & comfortable with fridge & coffee maker. Modern bathroom, great shower, nice toiletries. Cleaned every day. We only ate in the restaurant on our first night and the meal was outstanding. Our only small quibble was the breakfast; was very disappointing to have no freshly prepared fruit, given the availability of nectarines, cherries etc we saw in the shops locally. There were a few cubes of watermelon on a couple of days and some under-ripe bananas and pears in a bowl. Also, am afraid we found the breakfast coffee undrinkable,it was so weak. We did feed this back when we left. We had to go to a local cafe every morning to get a decent hit of caffeine! Sifnos is a beautiful island, very relaxed and low key, absolutely nothing we associate with tourism over-development -thank goodness! You dont really need to hire a car, we managed with local buses and walks straight from the hotel. Only downside of the buses is they finish early so if you want to eat out away from Appolonia,you need to find a way back to the hotel. There are only 10 taxis on the whole island! I think the hotel can arrange a pick up, but it wont be cheap. Hotel transfer from port to hotel cost 25e each way. Do take time to do some of the walks between villages using old donkey paths,its a great way to see the island go to - just google Sifnos Trails (my weblink was removed by TripAdvisor) and you'll find waymarked walks; we did two directly from our hotel. There's also info on all the walking trails by the bus stop outside the Gerontopoulos Cafe (incidentally our daily spot for great coffee,food,snacks & fab staff-open all day). Day trip by bus to great beaches is easy- we recommend Faros beach. There are no sunbeds or anything,just take your towel and swim things. Its the safest swimming we've ever seen. Faros has a couple of restaurants, but we hung out at Captain George's cafe, open all day. Do be aware that on Sifnos, virtually everywhere does close in the afternoon. We also recommend a trip to Kastro -we walked there from Apollonia & go the bus back; if you like history, the Mycenean ruins at St Andreas -which are relatively recently restored and open to the public - are worth a visit ; they have a wonderful air conditioned museum exhibiting finds. You will appreciate this as the walk up the mountain is strenuous, but worth it (you can drive if you have a car) -the views are spectacular from the top. Sifnos is known as