Five Hotels, One Resort – 5-Star Luxury
❖ Located in Halkadiki, Greece
❖ Five hotels within the Sani resort – Sani Asterias, Sani Dunes, Sani Club, Sani Beach and Porto Sani
❖ Resort covers almost 1,000 acres
❖ Ryanair are currently the only airline that fly directly from Dublin to Thessaloniki. There are only two flights a week*, Wednesday and Sunday (*accurate May 2024). It is a 4-hour flight from Dublin
❖ Located 45-minute drive from Thessaloniki Airport (SKG)
❖ Sani Resort is open from April to October inclusive
❖ Over 35 exquisite bars and restaurants
❖ 7 Mediterranean beaches
❖ Private yacht marina with shopping piazza
❖ 300 acres of private natural forest with guided walking tours
❖ 270 acres of wetlands with guided walking tours
❖ On site there are children’s clubs and creches available at Sani Beach, Sani Club and Porto Sani
❖ Recognised in 2023, for the fifth consecutive year, as the World’s Leading Family and Beach Resort at the World Travel Awards
❖ The Ikos Resort & Sani Resort Group currently owns 10 unique resorts in Greece and Spain
The Five Hotels
Sani Beach
❖ Oldest and largest hotel in Sani, with 392 rooms and suites
❖ Targeted primarily at families
❖ Most affordable hotel in Sani
❖ Five restaurants and three bars
❖ Five heated swimming pools
❖ Has direct access to the beach
❖ Children’s club and creche services
Sani Club
❖ Second largest hotel in Sani, with 253 rooms and suites
❖ Targeted primarily at families
❖ Five restaurants and two bars
❖ Three heated swimming pools
❖ Has direct access to the beach
❖ Children’s club and creche services available
Porto Sani
❖ Comprised of 148 suites
❖ Newly refurbished in 2020
❖ Targeted primarily at families
❖ Two restaurants and pool side lounge bar
❖ Four heated pools
❖ Located behind the marina, so there is no direct access to the beach, however guests have access to the beach in an area beside Sani Dunes beach
❖ Children’s club and creche services available
Sani Dunes
❖ Opened in 2017 and has 146 rooms and suites
❖ Targeted at couples and families with younger children
❖ Three restaurants and two bars
❖ Has direct access to the beach
❖ Home to Greece’s largest heated swimming pool (3,500m2) and an indoor heated pool
Sani Asterias
❖ Sani’s most luxurious and ultra exclusive hotel, with only 57 suites
❖ Most exclusive and intimate of all the hotels, and the most expensive
❖ Two restaurants and a poolside bar with marina views
❖ Private Beach with adults only section
❖ Outdoor heated swimming pool
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- Pool at Sani Dunes
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- Lobby at Sani Dunes
I can’t put into words how amazing this resort is. From my first contact with Sani via email, before we arrived, I knew that we were in good hands. The staff went above and beyond for us during our entire stay and no ask was ever too much. The whole resort is exceptionally well run and everything is meticulous.
We chose to stay at Sani Dunes as it felt like the epitome of relaxation, targeted primarily at adults, which is exactly what we needed after a busy few months.
On arrival at Thessaloniki airport, we were greeted in the arrival hall by a team of Sani staff. If you stay 5 nights or more and book directly via Sani Resort website, they offer complimentary transfers to and from Thessaloniki airport (worth €254), so definitely worth booking directly through them to avail of this.
We arrived at the hotel after midnight and were greeted by a lovely receptionist who quickly checked us in and gave us our room keys. Our room was located half-way between the hotel lobby and the beach which, in our opinion, is the best location.
When we arrived in our room, they had left sandwiches, fruit, salads and crisps for us, and a complimentary bottle of white wine, which was a very nice touch. Our room was very spacious and modern, larger than we expected. We had an outdoor area with two sun loungers and a table and chairs. There was a lot of wardrobe and storage space – a big bonus if you travel like me maxing your baggage weight allowance! We booked a double room private garden pool view room on half board basis.
Pools
All of the hotels have gorgeous pools, including outdoor heated pools, indoor pools and adult only pools/areas. Sani Dunes has a lagoon style pool and boasts the largest heated swimming pool in Greece and is directly accessible by all rooms. There are ample sun loungers around the pools so you don’t need to worry about waking up at 6am and doing a 100 metre sprint before breakfast to bag a sun lounger. They also have a policy that if you leave your sun lounger for more than an hour they will remove your towel, which stops people reserving the sun loungers. More hotels should operate this system! The sun loungers themselves are also incredibly comfortable and nicely spaced out to allow for privacy.
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- Pool at Sani Dunes
Sani Marina
Sani Marina, which is also part of the resort, is home to luxury yachts, boutiques and a number of restaurants. This area is a short walk from Sani Dunes, Porto Sani, Sani Asterias and Sani Beach. Boutiques include Missoni, Vilebrequin, Melisa Odabash, Apoella and many more.
There is a convenience store located in Sani Marina called Sani Market, which sells alcohol, soft drinks, water, sweets, chocolate, crisps, ice creams, as well as books, magazines, sun cream and a small amount of clothing and toys for kids. It is reasonably priced, but understandably a lot of items that are imported are more expensive than home. This shop was very handy if we felt peckish between meals and we didn’t want to eat a full meal. There is also a small convenience store located within Sani Beach hotel and Sani Club hotel.
There is a pharmacy next to Sani Market should you need any emergency supplies, however it is very expensive.
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- Sani Marina
Dining
In Sani Dunes, there are two locations for breakfast, The Market, which is beside the hotel lobby, and the Beach House, which is located on the beach. There were more food options available in The Market, but the location of the Beach House was better. The food in both locations was equally as delicious.
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- The Market at Sani Dunes
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- The Beach House at Sani Dunes
There are 26 restaurants to choose from across the resort, so you are spoiled for choice. The resort’s Dine Around Programme allows you to enjoy meals in any of these restaurants, either by choosing a specifically tailored Dine Around set menu in 12 of the 26 restaurants (without extra charges) or by ordering à la carte.
If choosing the à la carte option, the programme’s meal allowance is deducted from the final bill. The meal allowance varies per hotel – for Sani beach it is €20 pp (children €10), Sani Dunes/Porto Sani/Sani Club it is €25 pp (children €15), for Sani Asterias it is €40 pp (children €20).
All of the restaurants we chose included a three-course meal from the Dine Around menu.
There are also a number of bars for pre/post dinner drinks. Our favourites were Bousoulas Bar beside Sani Beach hotel, which is ideal for watching the sunset. We also enjoyed Sea You bar in Sani Marina, which had live music.
Download the Sani App about three weeks before travelling and book your top three restaurant choices. You are only allowed to book three restaurants pre check-in. Restaurants can fill up very quickly, so be sure to book early to avoid disappointment.
Full review of the seven restaurants we ate at can be found here.
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- Pines at Sani Club Hotel
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- Vosporus at Sani Marina
D-Spa at Sani Dunes
I also visited the spa in Sani Dunes, DSpa. I booked in for a 30-minute facial called “Sublime Radiance Express”. All of the products used in the spa are a brand called Anne Semonin, a French skincare brand. The shampoo, conditioner and showel gel provided in the rooms were the same brand, and they smelt divine.
The facial was incredible, so relaxing that I almost fell asleep. My therapist was excellent, informing me of the benefits of each product before she applied them. My skin never felt softer. After my treatment I was brought into a relaxation room and I was offered tea and dried fruit. I sat here for a while listening to the peaceful background music, feeling completely relaxed.
In the spa there are hot beds, sauna, steam room and a gym which are available for anyone staying in the hotel to use, you don’t need to have a booking with the spa. They also give you access to lockers and dressing gowns/slippers.
They often run special offers in the spa with reduced price treatments. You will find these special offers in the daily flyer that E-Concierge sends each morning via Whatsapp.
Activities
Sani is home to a number of academies, including Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre, Chelsea Football Academy, Bear Grylls Survival Academy, Scuba Diving Academy, Biking Academy and Sailing Academy. There is an additional cost for each of these activities.
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- Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre
There are also a number of daily complimentary activities including table tennis, archery, beach volleyball, HIIT, Sparta training, aqua aerobics, Pilates, yoga, synchronised swimming, snorkelling, forest walks, beekeeping and much more. All details can be found on the Sani App, giving the location and time of all the activities.
Mountain bikes are also available for rent and there are designated forest trails within the resort.
Sani have multiple luxury yachts which you can hire privately at an additional cost. They do however offer two cruises complimentary to guests, the day cruise and the sunset cruise. Each hotel is allocated one day for these cruises, for Sani Dunes it was on Tuesday. We went on the day cruise and it did not disappoint! We departed Sani Marina at 10am and arrived back at 12pm. The boat has a lot of seating on the upper deck so that you can enjoy the views, and if you are lucky you may even see dolphins! The sunset cruise departs just before sunset at 8pm. I highly recommend going on one of the two cruises, it is well worth it.
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- Day Cruise Boat
One of my favourite activities that we did was Sani Treetop Adventure, which was complimentary for all guests. This includes ziplines and challenge bridges between tree platforms. It features six courses – two training courses, two family courses, and two youth courses. I was thrown out of my comfort zone, I have a fear of heights, but after I completed each challenge I felt a sense of achievement (even if it is designed for kids!).
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- Sani Treetop Adventure
Kids are also very well catered for with plenty to keep them entertained. They have daily Kids Clubs for 4-12 year olds and Ozone Clubs for 12-17 year olds. They also offer creche and babysitting services, as well as a 30-minute complimentary “Babewatch” service on the beach for babies so that you can enjoy a quick swim in peace!
There is also evening entertainment in the open-air garden theatre most nights. We went to a show called “Rewind”, which featured a band singing 80’s and 90’s music. It was great fun. There were kids dancing and adults singing!
Sani’s entertainment highlight “White Night” is held at Bousoulas bar on the beach every Wednesday evening. It is described as an event that should not be missed. The dress code is white attire. Candles are lit, dancers are dancing and a DJ plays until the early hours. Due to the timings of our flights, we unfortunately missed this, which was a real shame!
Getting around
There are complimentary golf buggys and a number of Volvos available if you need to be taken from one area of the resort to the other. It’s very efficient and the concierge will organise this for you.
Sustainability
There is a huge focus on sustainability across the resort. There are no single use plastics. The shampoos, conditioners, shower gels are all in reusable dispensers. The water is served in glass bottles and the key cards are made of wood. Sani Resort runs on reusable energy sources and was the first carbon neutral resort in Greece.
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- Beaches at Sani
In summary, we had an incredible week at Sani Dunes, and we will definitely be returning next summer. There is so much to see and explore in Sani that the time goes by so quickly. Our experience far exceeded our expectations, which were already very high. You are made feel like royalty from the minute you arrive until you sadly need to leave. The staff are what make this resort so special. They are one of a kind.
The only negative of our entire trip was the weather. We went mid-May and it was cloudy most days with some light rain, and the evenings were cool. We did manage to get some sunshine though thankfully!
Our top tips for visiting Sani Resort:
❖ Book off season for cheaper rates (April to Mid-May or Mid-September to October)
❖Download the Sani App about three weeks before travelling and book your top three restaurant choices. You are only allowed to book three restaurants pre check-in. Restaurants can fill up very quickly, so be sure to book early to avoid disappointment
❖ For restaurants, we recommend booking one in each hotel and then a couple in the marina for a change of scenery and to experience the ambiance in the other hotels
❖ There is an e-concierge in Sani Dunes, where you can contact concierge via WhatsApp. This was really handy if you needed anything for your room, or if you need to book an activity or ask any questions. Any time we asked for anything eg. more water for the room, it arrived within minutes of requesting it. They were incredibly efficient
❖ Book directly via the Sani website. If you are staying for more than 5 nights complimentary airport transfers are included
❖ If you book your trip directly via the Sani Resort website, you will get 10% off your next stay
❖ If you are fussy when it comes to your pillows, rest assured, there is a pillow menu with a choice of five different pillows to suit your needs – just ask concierge!
❖ There is high speed free wifi across the entire resort
For more information, visit Sani Resort website https://sani-resort.com/.