I travelled to Santorini with 4 middle-aged girlfriends in May 2007. We booked 2 rooms, at the Artemis Studios (considered 3 star in the tour guides) One was a studio appartment on the top (4th floor?) and the other was an effeciency unit on the third level. Both rooms had a great view of the Caldera. Each unit had its pluses and minuses. The studio had a whirlpool bath in the main living unit -nice but impractical location if you are modest. It was a large unit with a loft and a king sized bed for sleeping and a kichenette. The smaller unit had a large bedroom with a king sized bed and a small sitting area/kichenette combined. Each of the kichenettes could accomodate another person for sleeping on a daybed. We tended to share the 2 units and use the larger for getting together as a group and the smaller just for us 2 who were sleeping there. The bathroom of the smaller unit had a small shower and was more funtional than the bathroom of larger unit that seemed to have sacrificed a shower for the whirltub outside of the bathroom. It rained heavily one day and the larger unit had quite a bit of flooding from aLL OF the windows. The ceramic floor was flooded too but because the luggage was in the loft it was safe. The smaller unit was not affected by the rain at all. The owner advised that he did not use the larger unit if he knew rain was coming -which tends to happen in the off season before May 1. We were visiting from April 25-May 2. Because we were early in the tourist season the pools was not filled and the toilets were just being reactivated from winter shutdown -so there was a noticable foul odour with flushes. This cleared up after a few days of flushing. Santorini depends on water from cisterns -and the sewage, well, I didn't ask. The evenings were cool, 12-15 celcius and the days pleasant at about 18-20 celcius. Too cold to swim in the pool anyway.

Wireless internet available at a modest cost - need own computer. I did not notice internet cafes but did not go looking.

The small restaurant on site provided a sufficient but modest breakfast included in the price. The studio is about 10 minutes drive from the main town of Fira. We used both taxis (10 euro to Fira) and buses (1-2 Euro). The buses were not on the written schedule but were the best value for getting around the Island. We ate out a few nights, overall meals were expensive (35-50 euro each with drinks), and brought food to prepare in our kichenettes. There is small convieneince store about 10 minute walk from the studio where you can buy eggs, fruits, vegetables, beer, olives and other 'essentials'. This was handy for preparing snacks in the kichenette. The best value for eating out is on the side of the island opposite to the tourist areas of Oia and Fira. There are lovely, quaint restaurants where the locals eat. It is about a 15-20 minute bus ride to get there.

We did this island on the cheap as we were there to paint and not to party. As such we did not tend to eat main meals at the multitude of fashionable restaurants in Fira and Oia. There is a distinct difference in prices and attitude when the cruise ships are in port and when they are not. More bargains in the shops and restaurants when there are no ships in port. People are also more relaxed and will spend time talking with you when there are no ships -overall totally different experience -and better if you want to really get to know Santorini.

We did the boat tour to the caldera and island offf Santorini -very nice and would recommend but need good walking shoes and be prepared for a moderate hike to the caldera.

Overall, would recommend this studio to stay -modest and a good value with a stunning view.