Vip Suites BY, Oia

Honestly I am very surprised by the reviews here. The VIP suites is a small set of "traditional" houses that are managed out of an office near the main bus station in OIA. We booked a stay here for the week of September 18th, 2006, on the glowing reviews seen on trip advisor and other sites. We were escorted to the house and noted that the property was a set of maybe six to eight houses nestled together on on lower part of the mountain. We were the only people staying in one of the houses and had no neighbors. We should of realized this was a sign of what was ahead. The upside - the house had a terrific view of the cauldera and it's own private patio complete with patio chairs and a table. It did have a small kitchen that had enough appliances to fix most meals. It was really centrally located in OIA, but was a pretty steep walk up and down several flights of narrow stairs to get to the houses. The downsides - The house was in very poor shape. When you see an traditional house advertised they are the original houses in OIA that were built into the sides of cliffs overlooking the cauldera. The VIP Suites house had unfinished concrete floors and painted white walls. In spots the walls were molding, and a smell of mold permiated the whole house. The paint was flaking off in small chips everywhere in the house. We arrived at about 7 pm that night and noticed a small amount of paint flakes on the funitures and bed, but it was late so we decided to go to sleep at about 11. When we woke up the next morning there wer e paint flakes everywhere. On the couches in the living room that were up against the wall the paint flakes were at least a quarter inch thick. I attached a picture of my passport photo showing the paint flakes on it after sitting on a table for eight hours. The bath room has a stall to take a shower that was five feet tall with a hand held wand. The plumbing was so decrepit that when we checked in they told us that we could not put toilet paper in the toilet but to throw it into a waste paper basket. The next day we went to the management people and told them that the house was not what we expected. Fortunately for us the touist season was starting to slow down and they had room in one of their more traditional hotels in OIA. The management people were very helpful and friendly. Mabe our standards are too high, but make sure a traditional house is what you are looking for OIA. The view is unbeatable, but sleeping at night was a truely dreadful experience. Picture notes: Picture one is the paint that fell on my passport over an eight hour period. Picture two is the mold growing on the wall in the living room. Picture three is the great view from the patio. (I guess you could sleep out on the patio if you had to).