One can always quibble about minor matters (a wobbly barbecue or not quite enough forks and knives) but the villa, terraces (stunning views) and garden! are exceptional (especially the latter; I felt like Socrates touring his grounds, inspecting the lemons, grapes and olives) and the pool area was just lovely. The house is cleaned every three or four days and fresh towels and sheets brought in. In terms of value for money, you can't beat this particular accommodation. WE WILL DEFINITELY RETURN!
I quite liked the guests at the adjacent hotel (same management): French, Belgian, Canadian, English, German and Russian. All were pleasant. A family atmosphere for the most part.
Special thanks to George for coming to get us after midnight (late arrival, broken GPS)! That was clearly above and beyond the call of duty. And George was always happy to answer our questions and to give advice. He was very gentlemanly, I thought.
Tips:
1. Make sure that you get the correct address for your GPS; if the address does not pop up on your GPS or if you are in any way uncertain, plug in Lygaria (Ligaria) Beach. That will get you to within spitting distance. Just up the hill from the beach in a more or less straight line. Look for the sign (Keramos villa and apartments). When driving on the national road, try to keep to the right. That means driving in the safety lane. Safer for you! But not safer for pedestrians and animals! Be careful! The lanes are not always clearly marked. And people pass on curves going up and down. We witnessed several near misses.
2. Lygaria (Ligaria) Beach and Agia Pelagia were good beaches but the best beaches (sandy in and out of the water) are the Bali beaches (half an hour drive on the main road direction Rethymno, so in the opposite direction from Heraklion). Two exits. Try to hit the first exit. Not as steep.
3. The so-called supermarket at Lygaria beach is quite expensive. I recommend going to the A/B Hypermarket in Gazi:
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ ΓΑΖΙ
ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΟΥ ΒΕΝΙΖΕΛΟΥ 147
71414 ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
In fact, there are two hypermarkets facing each other in the same Gazi street.
Go up to the main road, drive towards Heraklion. After a few kilometres, you will see some enormous smoke-stacks on your left. It is at this point that you will see a sign "Gazi 4 km" on your right. Take the exit. Immediately after you have taken the exit, there is another sign (very low, hidden behind a bush) that says Gazi 4 km with an arrow pointing left. Take the left. After a kilometre or two you will come to a kind of small shop/kiosk. Turn left at that shop. Follow that road into Gazi. You will have to drive all the way to the end of that main road until you come upon the two large hypermarkets that are on your right and left. We think the market on the right was better. It also had underground parking, which was very easy to use.
4. The Dinosaur Park sucked. Don't bother.
5. The best waterslide park is Acqua Plus, not Water City.
6. Heraklion is not pretty. Go to Agios Nikolaos. Do the semi-submarine boat trip. Then stop in Malia on your way back to the house to go for a swim or to have dinner. I also heard about many pretty villages in the area but we just ran out of time.
7. My wife and I walked the Samaria Canyon (14 kilometres). It was awesome but too much for our 51 and 55 year old bones. It was a killer. And many older folks were almost dropping dead near the end. We were giving out pain-killers like they were candy. There are shorter walks for the older folks.
8. I guess the Greeks do not separate their rubbish. I found it painful to throw plastics and glass into the rubbish.