I should have written this ages ago, especially as I was so well looked after. First i'll just sum the hotel up. I booked on the internet last minute, 24 hours before getting there, and I think the rate was about 60-70 euros a night. It was the closest we could get to Oia at such short notice, but it was only about a 5-10 minute walk to the centre. To get to the the edge of the island to watch the sunset will take about 20-30 minutes depending on your pace.

The place was basic but clean, the air conditioning worked well, and the pool was refreshing in the heat. Even though this is not right in the middle of Oia, the setting sun can be seen from the hotel's balconies. So a couple of the nights were spent just sitting at the outside table with a drink.

The rooms (well our standard one anyway) had kitchens, but the only cooking apparatus was a two hob device; no microwave, oven, or toaster. This was a little annoying because I wanted toast for breakfast occasionally. I overcame this by holding slices of bread between 2 forks over one of the hobs; this work fine, with just the odd slight burn mark here and there when I allowed the bread to touch the hob.

I also thought the overall design of the hotel was very nice and made for some good photography. The photos provided on the site are exactly how it looks, they haven't attempted to hide anything (not that they needed to anyway). I am an amateur photography and took many great photos in Santorini, have a look yourself -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormcab/sets/72157622227153077/

Now, on our last day there I was hit with a severe case of laberintitis (I only found this name out in the UK when I got home). Basically my head would not stop spinning, as if I had been running around in circles for ages but the effect would not wear off. I literally couldn't move, even the slightest movement of my head caused another serge. I suffer badly from motion sickness, and have a few much shorter bursts of this in the past, so I don't think it had anything to do with the location. I have hypothesised that there could have been several causes - 1: heat stroke (climbing the volcano carrying all my camera equipment), 2:dodgy motion sickness pills bought in an Oia farmacy (I had run out of my usual Stugeron, and needed some to go on a boat). 3:I was eating a lot more fish than I normally do, especially with al the calamari on sale in this country (was some off?) 4:someone also mentioned it could have been polluted water getting into my system when swimming in the ocean? Obviously this is all guess work, as no one else suffered, especially my wife. Anyway, I was taken to the hospital in another town by the chap running the hotel, and he told us he would wait for us. At the hospital I was put on a drip by the most beautiful, and young, female doctor I had ever seen (my wife's words not mine, but I obviously agreed). I didn't see what this was going to do for a problem in my head, but I fell asleep and woke up about 2 hours later feeling 95% better. After bringing up everything during the day, and, not being able to eat anything, I was suddenly starving.

Thanks again for our great stay here, and thanks for being there when we needed you.

I fully recommend this hotel to anyone

We stayed in Maria's place in september, we got married in thira but wanted to stay in oia. We didnt want our guests to pay the large prices that hotels overlooking the caledra ask. I negotiated an excellent deal with Kostos and wondered what to expect. Kostos collected all the guests from port and aerport. he helped us book two minibus's for our wedding day. The apartments were very clean, spacious but best of all they had the best bathrooms I have seen in allthe hotels that I have stayed in Greece. It was a pleasure to shower wevery day in modern facilities.
Kostos and all the staff were so friendly and helpful to all of us and made us so welcome that i look forward to staying there again. Teh walk into the vilage is about 10 minutes and there is a lovely small village about 10 minutes away on the road to thira.
marias place even had a little honeymoon suite, where we found flowers, champagne, homemade greek sweets and satin sheets. Marias Place is a little gem on the outskirts of oia.
regards
breda and mike

Maria's Place is a good value if you want to be near Oia, but are on a budget. While it does not have a caldera view, it is an easy 5 minute walk to the center of Oia. We were definitely glad to be near Oia, rather than in Fira.

The studios have ample space, a small kitchenette, and a good-sized bathroom for European standards. However, there aren't any shower curtains, so the entire area gets wet after a shower.

Kostas, the hotel manager, picked us up from the port and showed us our room. Then we were pretty much on our own. The room is "serviced" every day, but we weren't really sure what it consisted of because neither our sheets or towels were changed during our 4 day stay. It is more of an apartment stay than a "hotel".

There is a nice pool, but the lounge chairs are uncomfortable and towels are not provided.

We have recently arrived home from a trip to Egypt, Greece, Hungary and Czech Republic. Our favorite was Greece. The weather, food and views were second to none. The views from the caldera in Santorini were the most amazing. We were told about a great place called Maria's. She has 2 rooms and in 2007 will have 4 rooms.
For only 50 Euro's a night, it was spectacular. From atop the 1000 foot cliff the rooms overlook the Volcano, Thirassia and the North & South ends of the Island of Thira. Our room was very clean and comfortable. A large deck offers great sunsets!
She advertised in the Lonely Planet guide for the first time in 2006.