The pictures do not do the views justice. It really is incredible. The pool and grounds are fabulous, it is well equipped. It was much better than we imagined. The central square at Plaka is lovely, not touristy and has a good selection of tavernas, cafes and 2 shops. One shop the smaller one gets their produce fresh from Chania everyday,the larger one has a cheese and meat counter. To get to the square-at the bottom of the hill, go left, then first right and wind through gorgeous Greek houses to the central square. It is only 5-7 minutes walk and no problems. Some of the restaurants are not in the central square but overlooking the sea, the Sunset (on the road on the way into Almerida) and the Emerald (down a road by the Sunset). Almerida beach is great, we have older kids, who love diving off the rocks etc but if you have young kids to the left is a lovely area that is enclosed by rocks and very safe. The town has lots of restaurants and things to do, with a variety of excursions, boat trips and activities such as canoeing. On the way into Almerida on your left there is a butcher than does great meat for the bbq. We had a car and would recommend it unless all you want to do is relax in and around Plaka, you can walk to Almerida but I would not recommend the return trip uphill in the heat. Another 'up' of having a car is that you can see around the area which is very beautiful. We had a 2 cloudy days, so looked on the Islands weather forecast and got the sun in Balos lagoon and the next day a Falasarna, both are stunning.Boat trips leave from Georgioupilis that look great and on the way there are some very beautiful Greek villages to explore. Aptera is very interesting and Chania is beautiful. What I really enjoyed about this area is that it is not 'tacky', it is typically Greek and not 'touristy'. It has been developed well with no high rise hotels, so it is has style and taster and remains beautiful. Almerida is more developed but even that has no massive overpowering hotels and has charm. Annie has been very helpful answering all questions promptly and even whilst we were there replied very quickly (sorry if I was a pain Annie). Another recommendation I have is that my 17 and 18 year old came with us after a week at Annies we dropped them back at Chania then we did a tour of South and East of Crete, this worked brilliantly. In summary this was one of my top holidays and even though I say I don't return to places, I would definitely come back.