"The family favorite Space is rare in Oia; a commodity on the brink of consumption. Every square inch of cliffside here on the caldera, a giant’s bite into coastline, has been gobbled up by immaculately iced cake-like hotels jostling for a ringside seat. Yes, when it comes to Corbusier-lauded Cycladic minimalism, it’s poster-framed perfection. Yes, it’s all very pretty in a chaotic sweet shop kind of way—but a little claustrophobic. Canaves Oia Epitome turns its back on all of that. The fourth property from the Chaidemenos family opened in May 2018, a mile north at Ammoudi Bay, facing away from the caldera in a brazen flouting of conventional hotel wisdom. In 1985, Yiannis and Anna were among the first to lure travelers to the Santorini fishing village with views that captured the very curve and expanse of the planet. The two cliffside caves they converted into minimalist dens for neo-troglodytes became Canaves Oia, and then the all-white Cycladic hotel brand which set the tone of the island’s smart scene for the next three decades. Now in charge, their sons Markos and Alexandros bring a stylistic gear change. For Epitome, the group’s first family-friendly hotel, they called in K-Studio, the hip home-grown designers behind Mykonos’s Bill & Coo Coast and ultra-cool Scorpios. The open layout is liberating: almost all sky, sea, and pool with 24 quasi-neolithic, low volcanic stone cubes camouflaged into the rock face. These are brain-coolingly expansive villas. The huge Aqua Retreat has an aquarium-like window in the lower bedroom casting an ethereal blue light from the depths of the pool. There are plenty of places for families to escape one another; the black sands of Katharos beach are just a stroll away. Swirls of tangerine in the sky signal the time to regather. The lesser-spotted sunsets here are somehow better than the ones at Oia. The ones over the caldera no longer seem worth the price. —R.K.W." - Becky Lucas
