porterdog

My husband and I are heading to Greece for 3 weeks in September for a delayed honeymoon. We will be in Santorini for 2 or three nights. I am having such a difficult time with a place to stay. Has anyone stayed at La Perla Villas recently? We want a great view (not necessarily sunset, we think caldera view), a pool, and a lovely room. We are not much into nighlife so we are looking at Oia. But I have also considered Imerovigli at Anastasis Apartments, but think we want to be in Oia as a base and not Fira. Our budget is 200 euros a night. What about Oia Mare? Any help is appreciated. Also, I'm assuming we need to reserve now or risk the good places being booked. I'm sure this is the first of many posts of mine. Thanks for your help.

brotherleelove2004

Oia Mare has a sunset view instead of a caldera view, and in September the sun will be setting just around the corner from the end of the island, so it'll be out of your view. Overall Oia Mare is a very good hotel as long as you're fit enough to walk some stairs, because it's partway down the stairs to Amoudi Beach. They will bring your bags down and back up by donkey so you at least don't have to schlepp them yourselves, but if you have knee problems this might not be the best place for you.

I don't know La Perla but from their website I'd say it looks just as good as any other hotel there. I toured several just last May.

Tina_D

I just stayed at La Perla Villas last week. The selling points of this hotel are the swimming pool overlooking the caldera, the location in the village, and the outside space each villa has. The only negative I would say is that the traditional caves can be a bit dark, we did notice a few large bugs at night. The rooms were clean and to be honest we really did not spend much time in the rooms. Oia is the most beautiful setting on the island and a once in a lifetime experience. If your choice is between staying in Oia or another village I would strongly recommend Oia. La Perla Villas are a good choice for the price (our hotel looked over the pool at the Katikies...La Perlas was larger).
Tina

Digbydog

Hi Porterdog. This is Digbydog. We stayed at La Perla in mid-June and loved it. Our room was a 300 year old cave house with a living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a large patio with a fabulous view of the caldera for 280 euros/night. Most of the pictures on the La Perla website are of this unit. We did not find it to be unpleasantly dark, although it is a cave house. It had 3 windows and a large door to let in light. However, we spent most of our time out on the patio. The pool was wonderful with soothing classical music playing in the afternoon. Our patio was right next to the pool, which was fine, as we were travelling with 3 children. However, for a honeymoon, you might like more privacy. There are also several units right above the pool, which were not very private. I would try to get one of the units closer to the caldera. Our one complaint was that the continental breakfast was delicious, but very small.

I may get hate mail, but I think the Santorini sunset is overrated--no prettier than sunsets I've seen over the Gulf of Mexico. I would much rather look over the caldera. You get a fantastic view all day, rather than for a few minutes at night.

brotherleelove2004

You know, I have to agree. I've seen consistently better sunsets elsewhere. But what I do think is spectacular is the way the light reflecting off the buildings changes colors as the sun goes down. Now THAT'S a beautiful thing!

bostonjenn

My husband and I just returned from Santorini a few days ago and we really loved staying in Imerovigli at Artemis Villas. For a honeymoon I probably would have opted for one of the more luxurious places there, but the location was great for its peace and quiet away from crowds, the high elevation and it's right on the cliff. There are also numerous tavernas and groceries in town, which was convenient. We rented a 4-wheel scooter which was a lot of fun, so with the transportation, it was an easy 15 min ride to Oia and a 5 min ride to Fira. There's also a magnificant walk between Fira and Imerovigli right along the cliff which I'll never forget.

porterdog

Thanks to everyone for all of your responses. I think we are going to go with La Perla Villas and ask for a room closer to the caldera for privacy. The rest of the details are yet to be worked out, so you will here from me again! (Athens, Naoxs, Hydra, Folegandros?, Nafplion(sp)) Wow!!!

Judy

Hi porterdog, we were in Greece in May/June this year. We went from Athens to Santorini to Folegandros to Naxos to Hydra then back to Athens. We absolutely loved Folegandros! We stayed at Anemomilas Apartments...the views from our apartment were far better than any we saw in Santorini (which were wonderful)...enjoy your trip!