If you’re looking for a truly unique and authentic Cretan experience, you must stay at the Carob Tree Cottage. The beautiful organic farmland surrounding the cottage is your own peaceful oasis during your stay, and will make you feel very connected to nature. You’ll wake up to SPECTACULAR sunrise views, and enjoy equally spectacular sunsets and stargazing on your spacious patio - these views were a really memorable feature. You’ll also be able to enjoy special features like an outdoor shower in the morning (indoor shower also available). Helena and Kostas, the hosts, were incredibly kind to welcome us in person at our late night arrival time, giving us a tour of the land, and a selection of wonderful home grown foods to enjoy. We loved feeling so off-grid in nature and solitude, whilst also being just a 20 minute drive from Chania, and only 10-20 minutes drive from many incredible beaches (E.g. Seitan Limania, Loutraki). It was a perfect balance - staying here we were still perfectly situated to do day trips to arguably many of the best places to visit around Crete. The convenience of how close it is to the airport also made it incredibly luxurious on our last day to minimize wasted travel time and enjoy the island. I cannot recommend this stay enough - we thank the hosts for the beautiful experience, and all they have done to share it.
The only negative experience we had: during the week we stayed, during some weekdays we were woken up in the morning by very loud planes. When we looked at the skies, we saw the noise came from military fighter jets, which we assume took off from the airport or military base located a few miles away. After a minute or so of loud noise as they flew by, it would be quiet again, but there would sometimes be more taking off soon after, which did lead to some interrupted sleep. We are not sure if these loud military flights are a regular occurrence, or a rare occurrence. It is important to note that any noise from regular commercial flights was not noticeable to us at all, just these military ones. We thought it important to share this factual account of our experience, and this is the only negative point we could think to share. Obviously it is not under the control of the hosts, and it did not detract significantly from an otherwise perfect experience. We would 100% stay again! Superb!