#10 in Top 20 Santorini for A Honeymoon · ★★★★★
Aenaon Villas
Eight whitewashed villas, no big-resort presence, for couples who want Imerovigli without the show.
Eight whitewashed villas, no big-resort presence, for couples who want Imerovigli without the show.
"An Imerovigli boutique of seven villas, among the smallest luxury properties on Santorini, family-owned."
Why this rank: Aenaon Villas is one of the smallest luxury properties on Santorini, seven villas in Imerovigli built in traditional Cycladic style. It is owned and run by the Alexiou family (Giorgos and Alexandra with their daughters Elly and Maria-Christina); the small scale and hands-on involvement produce a stay closer to a private Cycladic estate than a hotel. Each villa is individually designed, no two identical, and the caldera-edge position on the Oia-to-Fira footpath, with Skaros Rock just below, sits at one of the village's most-photographed cliff segments. A west-facing infinity pool aligns with the sunset, and breakfast is served at the villa or poolside, with light snacks through the day. The honest caveat is access: arrival is on foot along stepped caldera paths, with no car to the door. Best for honeymoon couples and travellers prioritising the smallest-scale, most-personal Santorini stay.
Best room: the flagship villa with private terrace and outdoor jacuzzi.
"Eight whitewashed villas, no big-resort presence, for couples who want Imerovigli without the show."
Aenaon Villas is the smallest of the high-tier Imerovigli properties. Eight private villas, family-owned, opened in 2010. The hotel was built by the Vamvakas family on a single terrace cut into the cliff between Imerovigli and Firostefani, high enough for a clean caldera view, far enough from the Imerovigli cluster to feel genuinely separate. Each villa is a freestanding whitewashed Cycladic house with a private plunge pool, an outdoor lounge, and a small kitchenette. There is no large pool, no restaurant, no bar. Breakfast arrives at the villa each morning. Aenaon is the hotel for honeymoon couples who do not want a hotel, the shared-pool deck, the sunset crowd, the dinner reservation system, any of it. The trade-off is dining (you walk to Imerovigli for restaurants or arrange a private chef) and the lack of a bar. But the privacy is unmatched on the cliff, eight villas spread across a single terrace means you may not see another guest in three days. For the honeymoon that is built around a partner and a plunge pool, this is the most concentrated version of that on the island.
Honeymoon Villa or Aenaon Villa, both have private plunge pools facing the caldera.
Book a private chef in the villa for one of the nights, Aenaon will arrange a Cycladic mezze tasting on the terrace. Reserve dinner at La Maltese (a five-minute walk away) for another night; it is one of the best-kept restaurant secrets on the cliff.
Aenaon Villas sits within our broader Top 20 Hotels in Santorini for a Honeymoon list. It scored an aggregate 9.5/10 across the three editorial criteria, competitive against the field but, on a honeymoon-specific factors, the angle above is what earned its rank. For the alternatives in the same Santorini neighbourhood, see Imerovigli, central Santorini and adjacent. For a different city entirely, see the related lists below.
Have firm dates? Our editor's advice is to book roughly twelve weeks in advance. The view-facing suites disappear earliest, and high-season inventory moves on a timescale of months, not weeks. It is the terrace and plunge-pool suites, the rooms this rank rests on, that book up soonest.
Editorial · #14 on the Top 20 Santorini Hotels 2026 list
Aenaon Villas is one of the smallest luxury properties on Santorini, just seven villas built in traditional Cycladic style. It is owned and run day to day by the Alexiou family, George and Alexandra and their daughters, and that hands-on involvement gives the place the feel of a private Cycladic estate rather than a hotel. Each villa is individually designed, so no two are identical.
For Santorini visitors, Aenaon is the address for travellers who want the most personal stay on the island; at seven villas, the staffing reads almost one-to-one at full occupancy. The property sits in Imerovigli, on the ancient caldera-edge footpath that links Oia, Imerovigli and Fira, with Skaros Rock just below, one of the most photographed stretches of cliff on the island. The honest caveat is the access: Imerovigli is reached on foot along stepped caldera paths, with no car arrival to the door, which rewards couples and small groups who want quiet and find the conventional resort format too institutional, and frustrates anyone with heavy luggage or limited mobility.
A ranked shortlist, a special offer worth booking, and the overpriced stay to skip. Straight from the editors.