The apartment was wonderful, and exceeded our expectations. It is on the top floor of a two-apartment block, and its setting on a small hill in the Golden Beach area offers marvellous views all around. The view from the sitting room, through room-wide patio doors that open on to a spacious veranda, takes in Chania and the bay with the Akrotiri penisula to the north-east and the White Mountains to the south. It is really something special. There are four verandas, two large and two smaller, so you can chase the sun or the shade as takes your fancy all day.

The apartment was scrupulously clean and well furnished, with all mod cons including a washing machine, fully equipped kitchen with oven, hob, and microwave, very effective air-conditioning with a useful quiet mode for night-time, two TVs, and excellent fast wireless internet.

We opted to self-cater most of the time, and found everything we needed. There are two supermarkets (Lidl and the local Inka) within an easy walk, but the Golden Beach area also has a selection of restaurants and tavernas. Sia's apartment is on a quiet backstreet, and we enjoyed a very peaceful and relaxing week.

There are four beaches just a few minutes walk away, each with a slightly different character. Our favourite was Agioi Apostoli, which was great for swimming, and had a small cafe, and trees for shade.

Sia and her husband live nearby and are very friendly and welcoming: our welcome extended to a delicious first-day breakfast. They are on hand as needed to answer questions and give advice about the local area, the beaches, and the shops. Cretan hospitality is rightly famous, but they gave it a charming personal touch and seemed more like friends, but left us to our own devices to enjoy our experience of their beautiful apartment.

We spent most of our time at the beach and relaxing in the apartment: it is such a nice place to be that you'll want to spend time there enjoying the views and the very pleasant surroundings. We walked into Chania along the beach path which took 30-40 minutes, but there is a very frequent local bus service too, and longer-distance buses from Chania if you want to travel around without a car.

We hope to revisit Sia's apartment before too long, and would highly recommend it.