World's Best

The Top 10 Greece Resort Hotels in 2021

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Published on September 8, 2021

Note: If you’re looking for our most recent recommendations, check out the 2023 list of our favorite resorts in Greece.

This year's World's Best Awards survey was open for voting January 11 through May 10, 2021, as destinations around the world were lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Survey rules have always allowed readers to reflect on their travel experiences over a three-year period. We hope that this year's honorees will inspire your own travels as you get back out into the world.

Few destinations dazzle quite like the Cyclades, which is perhaps why the top eight hotels on this year's list of the 10 best resorts in Greece are on Mykonos and Santorini. Surrounded by the sparkling Aegean Sea, boasting pristine white houses and blue-domed churches, both islands promise revelatory sunsets, endless opportunities for hiking and boating, towns filled with winding, bougainvillea-adorned alleyways, and phenomenal restaurants.

Every year for our World's Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Hotels were rated on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Properties were classified as city or resort based on their locations and amenities.

Exterior view of Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection — Tryfon N. Georgopoulos/Courtesy of Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection

The No. 3 hotel, Katikies Mykonos, is the only Mykonian winner this year. Located in Agios Ioannis, looking out toward the sacred island of Delos, the 35-suite hotel is a romantic departure from the island's party scene, while still putting guests a short drive from Mykonos Town.

Andronis — a hotel group with six properties on Santorini — stood strong in the rankings, with Andronis Arcadia at No. 6, Andronis Luxury Suites at No. 7, and Andronis Boutique Hotel at No. 8. The cliffside Andronis Luxury Suites, which one reader said was "luxury at its finest," is as embedded in the iconic Oia landscape as you can be. Its service perfectly embodies Greek hospitality, with another respondent raving that they received the "best hotel service I've ever had anywhere in the world" during their stay.

The two non-Cycladic winners, Amanzoe (No. 9) and Blue Palace Elounda (No. 10), offer two very different lenses into Greek life. Blue Palace celebrates Cretan opulence ("unparalleled," remarked one reader), in the ritzy waterfront village of Elounda. The 143-acre hotel grounds are home to the chic Isola Beach Club and one of the longest beaches on the island. Amanzoe, on the other hand, is our lone winner on the mainland. One spellbound reader said they'd "never been so mesmerized by a hotel." The Peloponnesian gem fuses inland culture (think: sought-after Greek wineries and UNESCO-protected historic sites) with bliss in the form of Amanzoe's beach club and ocean view villas.

For their No. 1 choice, though, our readers bring us back to Santorini and Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection, home of the largest swimming pool along the caldera. Read on to see why readers loved the property so much that it rose from No. 5 in 2020 to earn this year's top spot among the best resorts in Greece.

1. Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection, Santorini

Aerial view of Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection — Courtesy of Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection

For T+L readers, this hotel is, with its 99.18 rating, a near perfect resort. The property sits atop Imerovigli, a short walk from the iconic Skaros Rock, offering some of the best sunsets on Santorini (which, it should be said, is widely regarded as the Sunset Capital of the World). With a sprawling, caldera-facing infinity pool, Grace Hotel is "perfection," said a reader who got engaged there in 2018. Another respondent described their stay at Grace Hotel as "the best holiday we have ever had," saying "the hotel is spectacular and the service was excellent." Guests can hike along the caldera to get to Oia, and walk into Fira (the island's capital) from the hotel's central location — and our readers found the town of Imerovigli to be a welcome respite from the island's more crowded spots. A third reader touted not only the "spectacular view" and "impeccable service," but also the hotel bar, a.k.a. the 363 Champagne Lounge, which sits 363 meters (or almost 1,200 feet) above sea level and has a sunset view guaranteed to inspire serious Instagram envy.

Score: 99.18
More information: aubergeresorts.com