If you are looking for somewhere to stay in Heraklion, or even Crete, I wholeheartedly recommend Xanthi’s place. It’s absolutely perfect with everything you could possibly need within the flat, you can see throughout that the apartment is important to her and the extra touches (everything from local information packs to spare umbrellas to a shopping trolley/bag and even shoe polish!) are so helpful. We loved all her family’s art and the history of the apartment! We spent the later part of a 2 week honeymoon at Xanthi’s and wish we had started there because we wouldn’t have gone anywhere else!
Having stayed in 5 different places between Chania to Heraklion, La Casa Romantica was a clear winner, and probably the best Airbnb we have stayed in (which is rather a lot!) It’s in a perfect location with a direct view to Koules Fortress/harbour (few minutes walk) and up to Lions square also only a few minutes walk. Pro tip: the seafood restaurant next door (La Dakolla) is the best food we had all holiday, closely followed by Peskesi. If you need cheap car rental the chap next door is very friendly and we got a great little runaround to visit Elounda/Agios Nikolaos for the day. At the weekend the music from nearby bars runs a little late (as you would expect) but if you’re a light sleeper like us earplugs solve that. 100% recommend to anyone thinking of visiting Crete!