This is a wonderful house to stay in. It is on the edge of a very typical Crete village close to Neapoli, and has been carefully and tastefully modernised from a traditional Cretan stone cottage. It is about 50 minutes from Heraklion, 15 from Ayios Nikolaos and 7 from Neapoli. A car is essential, but gives one access to all of Crete east of Heraklion and to at least part of it to the west.
The photos show primarily the living room (kitchen, dining and easy-chair areas of a single long room), which has been recently decorated and comfortably furnished using traditional materials and objects; the three bedrooms (2 double, 1 twin) are spacious, comfortable and well-furnished. All rooms have air-conditioners. The whole was spotlessly clean and fully equipped with all one could need. After a day out, it felt each time as a place one really looked forward to returning to.
The caretaker, Poppy, is a very friendly person, who, despite our late arrival at 3.30 a.m., after a delayed flight, met us at Neapoli, showed us the route from there and round the house, and had put a beautiful bowl of fruit for us in the fridge. She supplied much detailed local information about places to visit, advice on where to shop, etc, and repeatedly asked us to contact her by phone if we needed anything else. Above all she made us very warmly and genuinely welcome.
There are not as many renovated original houses available for holiday rent in Crete as we expected. We have rented properties of similar kind in other countries, and this was one of the best we have ever seen. Compared with the dense concrete jungle we saw advertised on the Malia area coast, this was paradisal. We were very sad to leave it and would advise speedy booking!
