We be visiting Santorini for a week in Sep.
Should we stay 3 nights each in say Oia and 3 nights in another town or should we just book a place for 6 nights straight?
We have a rather tight budget abt 100 euros -150 euros per night. Should we stay 3 nights in a place that is cheaper (say 60-100 euros) and shift the budget over so that we can afford another 3 nights in a better place?
Possible to recommend some affordable places with caldera view?!
Which are the areas that we should look at staying?
We want a place to chill, read a book, drink a cup of tea but not too much of partying. Much appreciated.

It's such a small island there's no need to change accommodation, but if you do, consider three nights at the beach side (Kamari or Perissa) which will be cheaper, then splash out with a caldera view room in Oia.

Old Oia Houses have rooms with caldera views, prices start at EUR105 for a studio for 2 to EUR125 for a house for 2 persons. The views are wonderful, we stayed there 2 years ago. There are other options in similar price ranges, there is no need to splash out in order to get a caldera view.

Check Thea Studios, Stelios Rooms and the top floor studio at Aspa Villas. Thea Studios is particularly nice. The other two are very basic.

Brotherleelove is being kind when he describes Stelios Rooms as "basic". I've stayed there, but never again! Not to be confused with Stelios Place in Perissa, where I would be happy to stay.

Well, hopefully they've fixed the A/C and the leaking toilet in the 5 years since you stayed there! One thing that doesn't need fixing is the caldera view. For €40-60/night it's still a bargain and worth staying there, the steep ladder to the sleeping loft notwithstanding.

I thought they would have fixed those things after the first time I stayed there, and was dumb enough to give them a second chance. They collected all my room rent in advance before giving me the key. That should have tipped me off, but I am a trusting soul.

Check these recent reviews and decide for yourself:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R..._Cyclades.html

Well, that's very disappointing. You'd think by now they'd have fixed the problems!

They obviously don't want to put any money into renovating the rooms. The father is useful when he is around, but his son spends all his time on the laptop, which is why you get quick responses to enquiries about reservations. The sister spends all her time in the kitchen (I thought she was going to slap your hand when you looked into one of her pots).

How Rude!!

well i wouldn't want strangers looking in my kitchen either .....

Well, it's not uncommon to look in a Greek taverna's kitchen to see what's cooking, and there is a taverna on the ground floor. Also, it was actually a metal box in the lobby, not in the kitchen, that I thought was an ice cream freezer, the kind you open to choose from. But Don's right, you would have thought she was guarding the Crown Jewels!

I had same feeling with Perivolas, when the mother used to run the hotel.
Every time i entered the lobby area, she reacted like if i was intruding her private bedroom...

Oh sorry Don was looking into the restaurants kitchen...
well that's a must in Greece, as you know...

I never met the mother but I do know Kostis, her son. Have you seen his latest creation across the caldera on Thirassia? Spectacular........... http://www.perivolashideaway.com/

The Hideaway is incredibly nice, above all for it's unique location....
It is a pity that Thirassia is practically unknown to the hundred thousands of visitors of Santorini, as nobody ever visit's it.
What even most Greeks don't know (and are surprised when they found out), is the fact that Thirassia belongs to the ""agoni grammi" islands

The Hideaway was featured in a BBC programme called Secret Mediterranean (Trevor McDonald).

Actually, over the last couple of years a few people have been leaving their trip reports for Thirassia on TripAdvisor. There's a Greek-American man, Jimmy, who has a few rooms to let, Zacharo Rooms. There's a bakery and a small mini-market there as well as a restaurant at the top of the steps that go down to Korfos where the volcano excursion boats stop for lunch. Three times each day you can catch a water taxi to Thirassia from below Oia in Amoudi Bay, and there's a community bus to take you up into the main village.