Most Beautiful Place Oia

right in the middle of Oia, with the entrance on the pedestrian foot-path,

right in the middle of Oia, with the entrance on the pedestrian foot-path, with the most perfect view of the caldera. As Nectaria, the very friendly and very helpful owner/manager says, she has "the best office view in the world" So much so in fact that while we were there a Bollywood movie was shooting a few scenes on site!

Besides the view the other big 'plus' for Lauda is the pool. It's a decent size for the location, and again with the caldera view from the surrounding deck equipped with chairs, umbrellas and sun loungers..

All rooms are at least one level down, with some being several levels below the pedestrian walkway but there is no need to be concerned with carrying suitcases up and down. Nectaria has a 'boy' who races up and down the stairs all day carrying bags and doing general maintenance work.

We had a studio where again our bed-room window had a completely uninterrupted view into the caldera. The bed was the traditional style with a mattress on top of brick/stone - perfectly comfortable if not luxurious. The kitchen was equipped with just enough tools and dishes to have breakfast for two, again fine for us . The bathroom was a little bit grungy with mildew, probably because of lack of adequate ventilation, and a couple of cracked tiles but otherwise perfectly clean and functional. In early July we paid EUR130 which considering the other facilities and location seemed pretty reasonable.

We tried unsuccessfully to make our reservation in late February but the owners spend the winter in Athens so there was nobody on site until April, and there is no way to make contact other than by phone. When we did make the reservation Nectaria did not want any deposit; all she asked was that we reconfirm one week prior to arrival.

As most reviews the thing that sells these apartments is the location in Oia and the views.

Prices were 120 euros a night (June 2010) which were, I think, one of the cheapest apartments with a pool and views.

The lanscaping is immaculately kept by the lad who works there. He also keeps fit by lugging everyones luggage up and down the steps to and from their apartments.

There's a few small supermarkets in Oia so you can have lunch on your terrace and a bakers 5 minutes away. The apartments could probably do with a few more bits of kitchen equipment.

Oia is a beautiful place but felt that the 4 nights we stayed there was proabably 1 night too long but better than the few hours cruise ship visitors get there.