We were looking for a beautiful, quiet, private place to relax and we definitely found it! We are a family of four with two boys aged 7 and 11 whose highlight was definitely the pool. The pool has no shallow end so at first we thought it was going to be an issue for my youngest son who couldn't swim but instead, within 24 hours of arriving (and a good few hours in the pool) he had learned to swim! There are a couple of noodles and inflatable rings there to play with and sun beds with a large sun umbrella too. The highlight for the adults was the spectacular view we could enjoy whilst eating every meal of the day out on the balcony (accompanied by the sound of the cicadas, and the goat's bells in the distance). It was idyllic. The sun shone every day. No rain at all. Temperatures got up to 38 degrees on Crete whilst we were there but because the villa is in the hills it was cooler and had a lovely breeze, so we were always very comfortable and the grape vines on the balcony provided shade. The house was the perfect temperature so we didn't need to use the heating/fire and there is no air-con in the villa but again, we didn't need it all (nor any kind of fan). We are a non-smoking family and I was slightly concerned there may be a smell of smoke around the house and on the linen due to the fact that smoking is permitted. However, it did not smell AT ALL so don't be concerned about that. The house itself is lovely, airy and spacious. We could have taken grandparents, or another family and I think it would still have felt comfortable. We only used the bedrooms on one side of the house! There are two more bedrooms with bathrooms accessed by different stairs coming off the main living area (kitchen/dining/living rooms). Although it said towels were provided I still took some of our own - which was totally unnecessary (and took up valuable suitcase space!) because there really are PLENTY of towels supplied! - towels for the house and beach towels that you are free to take to the pool and to the beach. So save space and don't pack any towels. The only problem we had in the house was ants! They seemed to appear as soon as a crumb was dropped on the floor so it's a good idea to just keep everything in the fridge and clean up quickly after each meal and snack. However, Constantinos was extremely helpful with this matter and dealt with it quickly. We got used to the ants in the end and it definitely wouldn't stop us booking this home again. Speaking of Constantinos. We couldn't speak more highly of him (and his brother and Dad). He was the perfect host and we felt really looked after. He met us at Arkadi Monastery when we...