#16 in Top 20 Santorini Hotels · ★★★★★
Aria Suites
Five suites in Fira, low-key luxury, the price-conscious couple's first-trip pick.
Five suites in Fira, low-key luxury, the price-conscious couple's first-trip pick.
"The small caldera-edge cave boutique in Fira, a walkable, year-round Santorini base steps from the town's restaurants."
Why this rank: Aria Suites occupies a caldera-edge position in Fira, the capital and commercial hub of Santorini, about twenty minutes by car south of Oia. It is a small property, roughly six suites and four villas across stepped cliff terraces, within walking distance of Fira's restaurants, the cable car to the old port, and the island bus terminal. The terrace and pool bar serve drinks and light bites with caldera views, while Fira's full restaurants sit a short walk away. The caldera-view suites and villas with private plunge pools, several named for operas, are the ones to book for the sunset. Choosing Fira over Oia or Imerovigli trades the postcard-village hush for a base that stays open and walkable year-round. Best for travellers who want caldera drama with a livelier, more practical village at the door; the trade-off is more foot traffic than the quieter cliff villages.
Best room: a caldera-view suite or villa with a private plunge pool and a west-facing terrace for the sunset.
"A small cave-suite boutique in Fira, low-key luxury and a walkable, year-round Santorini base."
Aria Suites is the low-key, walkable alternative for travellers who want caldera views without the Oia crush. The property sits in Fira, the island's capital and the one village with a genuine town centre rather than a tourist-only main square. Its cave-style suites and villas are cut into the cliff just below the Fira footpath, each with an outdoor terrace and a caldera view; the caldera-view units come with private plunge pools. Fira's location is the real asset, putting you a short walk from the morning market, the cable car down to the old port for the volcano boat, the local kafeneios, and the bus connections to the rest of the island. It is also a more affordable village to dine in than Oia, where the cliff-edge restaurants run well above the same dishes in Fira's back streets. Aria is not the most-photographed hotel on the island, and it does not try to be; it is the right pick when you want substance and a real base over the postcard.
A caldera-view suite or villa with a private plunge pool and a west-facing terrace for the sunset.
Walk down the cliff path to the old port early for the volcano-boat departure; the route is quietest before 9am. For dinner, skip the caldera-edge tourist tables in favour of Fira's back-street tavernas, where the same Cycladic dishes cost a fraction of the Oia sunset spots.
Aria Suites sits within our broader Top 20 Santorini Hotels list. It scored an aggregate 9.3/10 across the three editorial criteria, competitive against the field, with its Fira walkability and value the angle that earned its rank. For alternatives in the same caldera neighbourhood, see the Fira and Imerovigli siblings; for a wholly different setting, see the related lists below.
Once your dates are fixed, aim to reserve the room about three months out. The best suites with the right view orientation go first, and inventory for the popular months is quoted in months, not weeks. It is the terrace and plunge-pool suites, the rooms this rank rests on, that book up soonest.
Last updated June 9, 2026
Editorial · #16 on the Top 20 Santorini Hotels 2026 list
Aria Suites is the Fira-village option, a meaningfully different format from the Oia and Imerovigli cliff-village hotels. Fira is the capital of Santorini and runs year-round, where much of Oia closes November through March, which makes it a more practical, more lived-in base than Oia's tourist-concentrated centre.
For Santorini visitors, Aria is the address for travellers who want Fira walkability over the postcard. The property sits on Fira's caldera-edge cliff path, a short walk from the town's restaurants, the cable car to the old port, and the bus terminal connecting to the rest of the island, with caldera-view suites and villas that open onto private plunge pools. For repeat visitors who have done Oia and want the more resident-feeling village, Aria is the natural pick; the honest trade-off is a busier, less hushed setting than the quieter cliff hamlets.
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