Lava cave rooms and a volcanic menu: Santorini’s black hotel channels the island’s eruptive past

After years as a journalist and even longer as a travel obsessive, I am rarely blown away by a place - but Kivotos Hotel in Santorini did just that. 

I’ve spent a long time in Greece over the years, from the Peloponnese to barely touched places in the Saronic Islands. 

Somehow, I hadn’t made it to arguably the country’s most famous place. Now I have, I can only say how glad I am.  

Santorini is everything you’d imagine - all white-washed buildings with cyan blue accents, surrounded by perfect magenta bougainvillaea. 

Kivotos looks rather different. 

The second branch after Mykonos, the Santorini venture was opened by the Michopoulos family five years ago - and it sticks out from the rest of the buildings in the picturesque village of Imerovigli, in the very best way. 

Although it offers the sunset views made so famous by postcards and trending videos on TikTok, Kivotos is, unlike every building in its vicinity, painted black. 

Walking up and down the seemingly endless narrow stairs along the cliff, it’s hard to miss - and that’s even before you’ve stepped inside the gates. 

Within, the suites and villas are truly a wonder to behold and they stand out just as much as the black exterior. 

I arrive after dark at the beginning of September after taking just a brief glance at Kivotos’ Instagram. Really, I had no idea what to expect, but walking into a recreation of a volcano was not it.

This unique experience, the hotel’s charming welcome team told me, is a tribute to the island itself and its very rich history.

Santorini was devastated by a volcanic eruption in the 16th century, which forever shaped its rugged - and now legendary - landscape. 

In the subsequent centuries, locals made the most of the incident, building towns and villages