My review is in two parts: about the house, and the hosts. Both were an excellent surprise and we loved our time in Tersanas. We were four adults, staying for a month, looking for somewhere we could both work out of, and use as a base for exploring the island. We couldn't have been luckier.
The house: The house is a beautiful villa that has kept both the decor and style of early villas in Crete. The interior is for the most part in wood, and the decor is mid '70s. It's like you're transported back in time, and you also feel like you're right in a greek home. The wooden floors, and doors, and STAIRCASE to the upper mezzanine floor, and kitchen.... make you feel so at home that we would not have exchanged this place for anything.
If you're looking for hotel type villas with black and white couches, this is not it. But does anyone choose hotel vibes over home vibes? ;) - It was so good to feel like it was our summer house.
In fact, the villa use to be a summer house for the owners and it's been kept in excellent conditions. It is FULL of every amenity you want: juicer, pans and pots, plates, drinking cups and glasses, baking trays, they have reclining chairs for taking the sun in the terrace, an inflatable dolphin to play in the water with, all linen and towels, hair dryer, washing machine and dish washer, all washing liquids and powders, etc.
Photos don't do it justice. Really. The place is super spacious, it's very cool inside even in August all you need to do is open windows and doors and a perfect breeze and air draft forms, you can hear the sea that is 3 minutes away from the outside terrace where we dined a lot, there is an enormous terrace upstairs to use for yoga and you have a beautiful view of the mountains and the bay which in the morning is dreamy, a beautiful taverna around the corner, not too far from Chania town and a couple of close by tavernas in little villages around.
The hosts: What can I say...... the hosts were top notch. Rena was always communicative, and responded to our texts immediately even if more than one of us constantly texted her to ask questions about things. Rena's sister came often to see us and make sure that our stay was They are incredibly gracious hosts, lots of personal touches, they brought us honey from their own bee hives, fruits from the house's own garden, went above and beyond to help us with information, and helped us hire weekly cleaners to keep the house clean. When we first entered the washing machine had a slight water problem even if it was working and instead of fixing it they gave us a whole new one immediately and we didn't even have to wait. They really made us feel right at home.
One of the best touches: I last minute asked Rena if she could help me with information and numbers for a cake, flowers, and a breakfast for our friend who's birthday it was. She organised everything for us and had it delivered in the morning of the birthday. I cannot thank her enough for this. It was great.
We all hope to go back there again in the future, and it will probably become a place we will go there regularly.
CORONA VIRUS: the house was extremely well cleaned and it each bathroom and at the entrance there were hand sanitiser and wipes provided. Our contact with the hosts was limited and when the cleaners came we left the house and came after they finished. Everything was handled with care and extreme professionally.