Vedema, A Luxury Collection Resort

The Hotel

Vedema sits inland in the village of Megalochori, six kilometres south of Fira and seven kilometres north of Akrotiri, on the volcanic-soil south plateau where Santorini's Assyrtiko grapes have been grown since the seventeenth century. The property is built around a restored 1620 wine canava — a vaulted stone cellar that processed the village's grape harvest from its construction until 1956 (when the Amorgos earthquake permanently closed it for industrial use). The Petropoulos family acquired the canava in 1991, restored the cellar over three years, and opened the original 21-suite Vedema in 1995. Marriott's Luxury Collection took over management in 2009; an extensive 2017 renovation expanded the room count to 45 and added the Vedema spa and primary outdoor pool.

The 45 suites and villas are arranged around the canava courtyard and through a network of restored Megalochori-village townhouses connected by stepped lanes — every category is in a different building, with the village's whitewashed walls and blue-painted doors operating as the architectural through-line. Junior Suites are 35 square metres, with vaulted ceilings, traditional Cycladic stone hearths, and small private courtyards. Premium Suites with Pool add a four-by-three private heated pool. The headline categories — the Vedema Mansion (a four-bedroom standalone villa) and the Margi Villa (a two-bedroom with private pool, garden, and outdoor dining pavilion) — are restored noble Megalochori residences operated as separate keys with their own staff.

Canava Restaurant is the principal dining room — the 1620 wine cellar itself, with its original vaulted limestone ceiling preserved and the wine racks still partially in place. The kitchen runs a modern Greek-Mediterranean menu by chef Andreas Margaritis with the property's own Vedema-estate wines as the central wine programme. The Vines is the all-day vineyard restaurant overlooking the working Assyrtiko vines; The Pool House serves Mediterranean lunches. The 8-treatment-room Vedema Spa runs a wine-therapy programme using the estate's own grape extracts. The 22-metre main pool is the largest at any hotel south of Fira.

Service runs at the Marriott Luxury Collection standard with the Petropoulos-family operating culture preserved through the management transition — many of the senior staff have been in role since the original 1995 opening. The property is the only Santorini hotel that operates its own working vineyard on the same land as the rooms (the estate produces around 12,000 bottles annually of Vedema-label Assyrtiko, sold exclusively at the hotel and to the Marriott regional restaurant programme). The position in Megalochori (10 minutes by complimentary shuttle from Fira, 12 minutes from the airport) trades caldera-edge cliff drama for one of the most authentically preserved Cycladic villages on the island and the south-coast beaches at Perissa and Vlychada five minutes by car.

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