WOW! Where to start? This is one of the best, if not THE best, vacation rental properties we've ever stayed at.
First, some logistics. There are three separate rentals that make up the entire property, all with complete privacy from the others. Our group was four families (eight adults, eight "kids" aged 12-19) so we stayed at the largest property, Rhea Residence, in early June. Everyone had a "real" bed except for one kid who slept on a sofa bed (with no complaints.) There was parking for four cars (two in the large garage, and two in a separate gated parking area.)
View
Unbelievable! Even better than the pictures. Our first glimpse of the view was when we came up from the garage and onto the outdoor patio. Everyone just stopped, dropped what they were carrying and stared - so vast and beautiful. Mountains with snow to the left, green hills all around, red-tiled roofs of the village below and more of the sea (so blue!) than is visible in the pictures. It's really stunning and many hours were spent enjoying the view and a glass of wine or two.
Design/Amenities
Very new and high quality construction and furnishings. Spacious rooms and bathrooms, comfy beds, high quality towels and linens and plenty of hot water in the showers. Individual air conditioners in the bedrooms worked well, but we did have to call and have the main, central system changed from "heat" to "cool" before they really started cooling - somehow it's all tied together. Large indoor kitchen with everything you could need, and also outdoor cooking facilities (grill, pizza oven, sink) which we did not use. Washer/dryer was a huge plus as we all had to do laundry to have clean clothes for the remainder of our trip. Washer/dryer is a single unit, with a ventless dryer. It didn't dry things completely, but an hour or so hung up outside (drying racks provided) did the trick - keep that in mind and don't wait until the night before you leave to do laundry! Pool was beautiful and enjoyed by all. We initially did not pay to have it heated, but changed our minds after the first day. It took about a day and a half to fully warm up which was fine. There is a basketball court with a wall that you can use for tennis practice - balls and rackets provided. There are also two new, well-maintained bicycles in the garage closet that some of the kids took out and had fun riding (even with the steep hills). The adults did not utilize the indoor living spaces much (too nice outside to be inside) but the kids did and the downstairs living room has a TV with Netflix.
Location
The heart of the village (Gavalochori) is about a 5-10 minute walk down, maybe a minute or two longer back up. It was SO nice to be in walking distance of restaurants (Monica's was our favorite), the bakery and a couple of mini markets. Almyrida was a short, 10-minute drive down the hill and we enjoyed the beach and restaurants there too. We did a half-day trip to Seitan Limania Beach (highly recommended, but try to arrive by 10am) followed by lunch and shopping on the harbor in old town Chania. We also did a day trip to Elafonisi Beach (again, try to arrive by 10am to get a jump on the crowds), which was spectacular and well worth the two-hour drive each way. Driving was easy and we had cell coverage/GPS everywhere we went. All-in-all Rhea Residence was a great, quiet, picturesque base from which to explore western Crete.
Support/Staff
Another WOW! Kirsten, the owner, was GREAT to work with. I think we only communicated via email, but she was very responsive before, during and after our visit. Kaiti and the other caretaker (so sorry, can't remember her name - Jenna, maybe?) were so helpful as well. We had a few very minor issues (bedroom a/c's not fully cooling, change of mind on heating the pool, flat basketballs) that they took incredibly seriously and resolved as fast as possible. Take the basketballs for example. None of us play basketball but thought we would shoot a little since the facilities were there. Both basketballs we found were underinflated - not so flat that they world not bounce, but definitely not ideal. We found a pump (bicycle pump on the bicycles) but no inflation needle. Kaiti and the other caretaker stopped by and we searched everywhere but could not find a needle. I emphasized that it was no big deal - if they found a needle, sure, bring if by if they were out this way, but don't make a special trip. They left and we didn't think anything else about it until they showed up about 30 minutes later with two fully inflated basketballs! All of our requests were handled in a similar, above-and-beyond manner.
Other Notes
There were a couple of things that we were not aware of until we arrived. First, one of the upstairs bedrooms, the "north" bedroom, is only accessible from the outside. You can get to it from outside stairs near the kitchen, or by going up the inside stairs and passing through the small "living" room where the sofa bed is located. Second, the room with the sofa bed can be made very private - ideal for us as it was used as another bedroom by one of the kids.
As you can probably tell, we LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this property. It was the perfect villa in the perfect spot for our first (but not last) trip to Crete.