My week-long holiday to San Antonio Hotel in Santorini was a crowd pleaser on Instagram. I think I’ve had more DMs than Beyonce during this trip. I spotted San Antonio Hotel on Lorna Luxe’s Instagram feed YEARS ago and after madly screenshotting her every move, decided it was the perfect bouji and decadent place to visit.

I think it is safe to say that travelling in 2021 can be confusing, hard and expensive. The effects of Covid 19 are still very much present, make things extremely uncertain AND we’re all obsessed now with traffic lights and whether we’re Green, Amber or Red. Not to mention the first thing you pack is your passport, your mask, your PCR test and your hand sanitiser. Honestly the glamour!

However, it had been 18 months since my last Strawberry Daiquiri poolside at sunset and so I decided it was high time I persevered with a trip to the most beautiful Greek island. I previously visited Perissa in Santorini, so for that area, click here.

Lorna Luxe’s Most Instagrammable San Antonio Hotel

On this trip, my numbers soared on Instagram where my stories views doubled and following grew.

Most importantly, the word of mouth via Instagram was out of control. Everyone from work colleagues to my dentist asked me about my trip when I got back…which meant I had really nailed the Instagrammable holiday.

Trips like these go to show that followers want to see a peek into your world (and it doesn’t really matter WHERE you are tbh, just that you share insights). Instagram can be a tight edit of your life and you can don’t just have to stick to work related content on social media.

In fact, I get more creative when I am on holiday so I think I post more when I am somewhere new. So don’t be afraid to embrace it. If you want to take time off social media, do that!

If not, have fun and see where it takes you. This entire trip has made me re-evaluate my approach to social media and my strategy for Instagram.

But I digress…let’s chat holidays!

What to pack for an Instagram Holiday

I overpacked by like a zillion percent. I even put structured evening dresses in…which came back unworn as really it is all about elasticated waistbands on holiday innit.

1. Take light and floaty dresses in white or with pops of colour for the Instagrammable backdrops in Oia
2. Volume is King for the Santorini rooftop shots so think maxi lengths rather than mini dresses
3. Remember killer swimwear and cover ups for the San Antonio Hotel infinity pool pictures
4. Hats…if your hair isn’t playing or you want to add shape to a silhouette – hats are key. The bigger the better.
5. A parasol – optional extra but I used this for my Reels transitions – it took me from Kensington to Santorini
6. Tech. Oh yes – travel tripods, Gimbels, camera, spare batteries, cables, even your laptop – all dependent on size of your suitcase of course!
7. One thing to note is footwear for Santorini. It is quite slippy and steep when you visit the towns with cobbles so wear flats or shoes you can walk in and maybe leave the platforms at home. Heels are fine for the hotel bar or taxi to destination btw!

Getting to Santorini

Restrictions and rules keep changing, however I’ll share what I did. 

I am double vaccinated but I still got a PCR test 72 hours before I travelled.

Your negative document plus a Greek passenger locator form all need to be uploaded (or shown) to your airline before you go.

Make sure you read the rules on the Government website and check with individual airlines as it all differs.

We flew with British Airways direct to Santorini and the hotel was about a 15 minute drive from the airport. The flight is super quick too clocking in at just under four hours.

Lorna Luxe’s San Antonio Hotel

I swear in my head Lorna Luxe is there all year round sipping rose on the terrace. And actually, would you believe she was there at the same time as I visited.

She has made San Antonio Hotel Insta-famous thanks to her epic super giant hats and billowing dresses which she shoots from the rooftop.

All I can say about this hotel is WOW. It is a super luxury option and there are different room levels depending on what you’re looking for. Like for example, how important is the jacuzzi on your terrace?

San Antonio hotel is about twenty minutes from the airport direct in a taxi and nestled into the clifftops. It is a classic, clean, beautiful, modern, white Greek hotel complete with infinity pool, marble work tops and a bar overlooking the sea.

I found this was more of a destination than a hotel as it has so many things to keep you happy and relaxed.

Lorna Luxes’s San Antonio Hotel Rooftop

Ok so I thought I had died and gone to heaven as Lorna loaned me the Insta famous hat for a mini photo shoot on top of the hotel.

I wore the Caterina dress from Lorna’s InTheStyle collection and set on the cliff top, overlooking the sea, it is the perfect location. 

Lorna’s Santorini photos are so iconic, they’ve been shared thousands of times so it was an honour that she shot these images on my little Sony Cybershot camera. THANK YOU LORNA!

It also makes it a great backdrop for weddings too with the beautiful white buildings contrasted with the bright blue sky.

Breakfast

Breakfast is included in the room rate and is probably the most extravagant breakfast I’ve ever had. What was interesting is that rather than be restricted to the menu, we were told we could order pretty much anything, although a menu is provided for ideas. The ultimate luxury is surely room service, so we enjoyed a few meals on our spacious balcony which felt like such a treat. The rest of the time we enjoyed the stunning bar area where there is a little extra breeze.

A typical breakfast was a fruit plate (watermelon, banana, pineapple, cherries, strawberries and so on), a bread basket filled with toast and naughty pastries, with greek yoghurt, honey and granola (soooo tasty!). After that starter (ha ha), I always ordered Eggs Royale sometimes with a side of avocado. You could have a cooked breakfast too with bacon, sausages and baked beans, if you wish – you do you!

For drinks, I must admit I fell victim to my fantasy of sipping Champagne on vacay and ordered fizz a couple of mornings. I caveat by saying, I have been dreaming about ANY holiday for so long that I just ate and drank EVERYTHING.

Anyway, suffice to say, if you did breakfast correctly, you didn’t need to eat until evening.

PLUS the San Antonio Santorini breakfast lasted from 8am – 12pm which made me very happy. It is just nice not to have to ‘get up for breakfast’ on holiday, don’t you think?

Poolside

The pool is such a HOT USP as it basically hangs on the edge of the cliff overlooking the Caldera. All towels, sun-beds and umbrellas are provided so there’s no need to get up at 5am to secure your spot!

I frequently enjoyed an afternoon snack of chocolate ice cream and a glass of rose. They also have a great lunch menu with beautiful salads and lots of options for bar snacks.

The cocktails were epic too and my favourite, a Strawberry Daiquiri, was the perfect accompaniment to the sunset.

Dinner and Drinks San Antonio Santorini

Dinner is pretty epic because you get the view over the ocean. The menu is fine dining and the food is delicious. I enjoyed a classic Greek Salad and a Beef Fillet which was super tasty.

The menu was slightly different in the rooms so we ordered room service a couple of times. This included classic dishes like Tsatsiki and pitta bread, Club Sandwich, Moussaka, Tuna Souvlaki and Chicken Salad. All super tasty and even nicer to eat on your own private terrace.

Going to Oia from San Antonio Santorini

I’ll be honest, this was such a chilled week, we only left the hotel twice. I mean WHY would you need to leave heaven? However, you HAVE to go and see the beautiful streets of Oia with all the pretty pastel buildings.

Lorna Luxe actually rents a little blue house here when she is shooting her InTheStyle collections so she can freely use the rooftops. This is like a super pro tip if you’re an influencer.

On Lorna Luxe’s recommendation we joined her and John aka Mr Luxe at Sunset Taverna at Ammoudi Bay in Oia which was sublime. We had a view to die for which looked out over the harbour and the most perfect sunset teamed with rose and seafood. Delicious.

It is a little way away from the resort so do factor that in. I think it was about a 25 euro taxi ride and then dropped us off at the harbour rather than doing the perilous walk down to the restaurant.

We also got a tip off from Lorna Luxe that Naos in Oia was the place to be and they were right. This rooftop bar is luxury through and through so expect fine dining, panoramic views of the sunset and beautiful interior design.

I would recommend going to Oia for sure, it really is breathtaking with the beautiful white buildings and blue domes. It is really busy so I recommend going a little before sunset to take your time as it gets really busy.

Getting back home

I didn’t want to leave! The days absolutely flew and I wish we had booked for ten nights.

While we were there (July 2021) we did a Lateral Flow Covid test 72 hours before flying. We also did a passenger locator form for the UK 48 hours before coming home.

There’s not a massive airport in Santorini so it was super quick and then we just sat in the Departure Lounge reading before the flight.

Once we were back we were required to isolate (these rules keep changing so make sure you check). We did a day 2, day 8 tests which are legal requirements and an optional day 5 test which released us from quarantine.

NHS track and trace checked in with me by phone every single day to make sure I was where I said I would be.

I’ve made a highlight on Instagram which you can see here.

Follow Lorna Luxe on Instagram.

Lorna Luxe reviews San Antonio Hotel with a budget wardrobe here.

Check out my guide to Perissa in Santorini.

Find out more about San Antonio Hotel in Santorini