I went to Dimitris's beautiful villa with my two children - aged 18 and 15. We all had a wonderful time there; in the pool, beside the pool and in the villa. The villa was much bigger than I thought it would be from the photos. As well as being spotlessly clean, and with fluffy white towels. The aircon and shutters made sure we slept well.
The surrounding area suited us too. With a five minute walk to the coast, and a few more minutes to sandy beaches, we were able to pop to the beach easily for a good swim without paying for beach beds/umbrellas.
The beach restaurants hit the spot too, as did the local supermarket where we stocked up on delicious deli food. Everything is well within walking distance, but we liked having the car to drive to the bigger supermarket and to explore the local area and Heraklion old town.
The local area does have a number of big hotels, and the noise from them could impact on your peace if that is what you need. The one closest does have activities - such as aqua aerobics - playing music. It was pretty loud at about 11 am on one day and I called them to let them know. Within a few minutes the volume had been turned down to a reasonable level and that continued through our time there. Dimitris said that different weeks have different groups so things do change and an hour of 'euro pop' not too loud didn't bother us. Nor did the cicadas buzzing which was constant and pretty loud too. It all added to the ambiance.
We had a very warm welcome from the Cretans wherever we went, but particularly from Dimitris who was completely attentive, kind and generous. We will definitely be back to Crete for its delicious food and warm hospitality now we know that there is so much to explore.