This is arguably the most stylish hotel in Santorini, with spaces that effortlessly blend local tradition and handmade textures with clean contemporary design and modern luxuries — all in a color palette that extends beyond the typical white and blue to incorporate rich earth tones and even (shock!) a bit of black. The twelve suites, all different, are spacious, well-equipped, and come with terraces, many including plunge pools or hot tubs.

This hotel is a feast for the eyes, not just a scenic overlook but a sparkling white modernist take on a traditional cliff dwelling, spilling down the steep hillside a hundred meters above the water. Guest rooms make the most of the hotel’s position; even the standard rooms have private terraces, and the better suites feature loft bedrooms with picture windows overlooking the sea.

Kirini Suites is hardly breaking new ground on Santorini — if anything, their vision of the quintessential Greek Island hideaway is even purer than the competition’s. It’s just that, at Kirini, all the fresh white paint is somehow more pristine, the infinity pool overlooking the sea that much more spectacular, the suites even sunnier and breezier, and the beds more perfectly cloud-like than the competition’s.

Set on the back side of town, this stylish high-end resort faces to the northwest, looking out over the Aegean Sea and the islands in the distance. If it sounds like a sacrifice, it really isn’t — the sunsets, in particular, are extraordinary. But the most remarkable thing about it is the sense of seclusion you get from being just a few hundred meters off the beaten track. The suites and villas come in a range of sizes and layouts, but they’re uniformly luxurious, bright, airy and open.

Kivotos Santorini isn’t afraid to engage the landscape and seascape directly: dark gray stone and shaded, cavern-like rooms directly refer to the black sand beaches as well as the volcanic forces that created this spectacle, and at the same time lend an extra measure of elegance to this extravagantly luxurious hotel. Even the most (relatively) humble junior suite comes with direct sea views visible from your bed, as well as an outdoor Jacuzzi.

Sleeping in a cave sounds a bit like sleeping in a treehouse, or sleeping underwater; photogenic, to be sure, but questionable as a real-world lodging. But however unusual the concept might sound, Perivolas — encompassing a series of restored caves that once served as horse stables and fishermen’s homes, set into cliffs above the startlingly blue Aegean — looks and feels like a gorgeous boutique hotel on a Greek island.

Bellonias Villas, on Santorini, is a contemporary take on the quaintly rustic Cycladic aesthetic. Like the island’s older buildings, it’s all smooth stucco, clean lines, curving archways, and petite windows that reveal picture-perfect views of the Aegean Sea. But inside the hotel’s 27 villa suites, the look is modern and minimalist. Just a few pieces here and there — a geometric painting, a quirky lamp — add color and character to interiors that are otherwise sleek and silent.

Situated on the cliffs of Oia — one of Santorini’s most picturesque locations — the boutique’s eight suites offer their own take on island decadence. Some offer a more secluded, dreamy experience by featuring a private infinity pool or hot tub, while others, like the gorgeous ten-bedroom villa, provide the space to enjoy Santorini with friends and family. All suites feature beautiful handmade furniture, lush courtyards, and minimal, cotton-white interiors, as well as balconies.

Many of Santorini’s best hotels are cave houses built directly into the rocks of the caldera. Geography and historic preservation codes limit their size, which is particularly noticeable at Limestone Santorini, an intimate five-suite hotel in a beautifully restored cave house that dates back to 1925. All five suites feature dazzling vistas of the Aegean Sea, and most are angled toward the sunset, the evening spectacle visible from whitewashed private terraces with hot tubs.

Located in Fira’s old Venetian neighborhood, Katikies Garden Santorini occupies a restored 18th-century monastery with sweeping views over the caldera. High-arching whitewashed passageways open onto a charming central courtyard — home to the hotel’s stylish restaurant and wine bar — with palm trees, colorful bougainvillea, and an antique tiled fountain, while beautifully illuminated staircases lead to a rooftop pool overlooking the village, the sea, and the mountains beyond.

When it comes to architecture and interior design, there was only ever a hair’s breadth between the Cycladic tradition and the modern minimalist boutique hotel. Both revel in absence of ornament, in geometric lines and vast expanses of white. And in Grace Hotel Santorini the two idioms are brought seamlessly together. It’s near colorless, crisp-edged, clean-lined and packed with modernist furniture, and yet still it looks perfectly at home.