On the Caldera in Oia, Santorini and affordable "ahh"
 

We've decided to book the Santorini leg of our trip in the first week of June, so that we can secure a stay on the cliff in Oia, but our first choice (Volcano View Villas, that we heard so much praise for) is full. Now we are at a loss of where to stay (considering VIP suits?). It's our second honeymoon and we are looking for somewhere definately romantic with a private terrace and great window views on the caldera. I'm hoping for an "ahhh" when we walk in. Our budget is no higher than $150 USD a night. Does this exhist? I have found in the past that websites can be misleading and have found great advice from all of you in the past so, appreciate your help.

Can you recommend a place where you loved(besides VVV) and why you loved it?

Esperas Traditional Houses !
Superb views--great pool.

yes, they do look great but a little above our budget...anything else?

A few years ago we stayed at Nimekos villas and had a great private room with a private balcony.

We stayed at Andromeda Villas in Imerovgli. It was about a 15 minute walk into the main town of Santorini. The place was beautiful, clean, and a great view of the Caldera. You can check out Andromeda at - http://www.andromeda-santorini.com/
Oia is far from the center of Santorini. It's a beautiful town to visit during the day, but not much nightlife. In Oia, they have a small village of outside cafes at the foot of the cliff. You have to go there and have lunch. At the end of the resturant row, you walk up some rocks and you can watch people diving off cliffs. To find other hotels in Santorini go to to http://www.greekhotel.com - becareful, because a lot of the villas are not airconditioned (and I think Volcano View Villas was one of them)
There are tons of hotels listed.

Nimekos Villas is in Firostefani, by the way.

Thanks so much. Everything looks so beautiful it is difficult to decide. Do you need reservartions for dinner or can you just walk in? Average meal costs?

For your moderate restuarants, you can just walk in. There are tons of places to it in the center of Santorini. The "Public Relations" man at Andromedas took us to a local restaurant for broiled lamb - delicious! Can't remember the name though. Plus, Andromedas has a great pool side restaurant. Average cost (we drink a lot : ) was about $30 a person for dinner.

We are fans of coctails as well....good to hear. Sounds pretty afforable for dinner. We will just be looking for the moderate, local casual place to eat....nothing very upscale. Can you walk into places to eat on the cliffs? I assume it's pricier to eat there....

We didn't get the chance to go to any real fancy restaurants, but then again, didn't really see any. Our experience was, yes, you could walk into any restaurant on the cliffs (and the view is spectacular).

thanks donnabee. I am just so excited. We're thinking about staying at the VIP Suites. The only drawback is no pool, so I'm still looking.

Here's another website for you -

http://www.travel-to-santorini.com/hotels/

Are you set on staying in Oia??

The other thing you have to remember is - staying on the top of a cliff is going to required walking up and down a ton of stairs. When we got to our hotel, we found out that we had 250 steps to walk up every time we left our room!

thanks...haven't seen this one yet.

Yes, we'd like to stay in Oia but, not married to it. when did you go?

Andromeda looks great! was it easy to walk into town? lots of places to eat nearby? you may of convinced me...I just emailed them for availability.

We went in the end of July, early August timeframe. Yes, it was easy to walk to Fira (the main town), and it was a beautiful walk - all along the cliff - and through the narrow streets loaded with shops and restaurants. At night, when you are walking into Fira, all the lights from all the hotels, restaurants, etc. is just beautiful. There are tons of places to eat all over. There is also a bus stop close to the hotel to catch into Fira if you don't want to walk, plus the hotel has a mini van that you can take (it's not free though). We went 3 years ago, but if their "PR" man, Tahos, is still there, makes friends with him quickly, because he was wonderful! He took us all over the island, took us to an authentic Greek night club, arranged for our lamb feast at a local restaurant, etc. He really made our trip.

Another suggestion for an accomodation is the Loucas Hotel in Fira, definitely had the ahhh quality, on the cladera with spectacular views. We were there in mid-June and it was near the action but far enough away, very peaceful. check out their website (Loucashotel.com) I think we paid about $90 a night

The Volcano View Villas that we stayed in were outside of Fira, not Oia.

Selene, on the cliffs in Fira, is a very nice upscale place to have dinner.

grandmere...I was hoping to hear from you today! Do you have a website for the VVV you recommend?? Did you like Fira over Oia? We're looking for a little peice but don't want to be too far out to walk to dinner or taverns.

Here's another vote for Loucas in Fira. Don't be put off by the price. It was half the price of most hotels we stay in, so we were very worried about it, but loved it -- and yes it has lots of wow factor -- more for the views and balconies rather than for the clean, but rather simple cave type rooms, which were full of character rather than "upscale resort" quality. And don't be put off by the "business" of Fira. At the Loucas you are facing out from the cliffs to the caldera and totally escape the noise if you want to, but it is just a few steps away if you are looking for action.