We had a very pleasant stay at the Old Cottage, however as it is a new Airbnb we also have some constructive suggestions 👍🏽😊
This is a unique property in a lovely area of the old part on the edge of Paleokastro. It’s quiet and private. The property has been recently and well renovated. We found it to be tastefully decorated in a unique, quirky style and for the most part, it is also very practical.
The local family team who support Maria the owner, Virginie and Manolis, are so lovely and helpful, they made us feel so welcome and helped us settle into the property for our 9-day stay with anything we needed 👍🏽
The neighbour Mrs Stop🤩 (Kyria Stamatia) was super sweet and often gave us watermelons from their garden and desserts that she had made (we can’t promise she will be so friendly to everyone thou 😉)
There were many friendly characters with interesting names around the village - ‘Gold Money’ at the Butchers and ‘Many Gifts’ at the upstairs restaurant in the square...
We were lucky enough to be staying when the village held its Panagiri (summer festival) and practiced our Greek dancing :)
There are so many amazing local beaches (but skip Vai if you don’t like beaches overrun with tourists)
Virginie and Manolis run a shop called Terra Elia, just off the square, which was really lovely and we bought some beautiful gifts there. Manolis is also a photographer and has documented the ancient olive trees of the area in a beautiful book.
The owner, Maria, had agreed to let us have our cat stay with us too (we live near Heraklion in Crete) which was part of the requirements to stay somewhere, and we really appreciated it!
While this is a newly refurbished property it is quite basic in some ways without AC (which we knew and expected) but also without ceiling fans or much in the way of outside shade. Before we arrived we asked Maria if this could be accommodated, but she said (of outside shade) that it didn’t lend itself to the style of the house and that there was a shaded area that we could use (which there is).
However upon arrival, in a heatwave to be fair, the house itself was so hot that it was really rather uncomfortable everywhere...
Virginie brought fans and a big umbrella for shade, which we think looked good at the front of the house and provided some much needed further coolness to our experience...
Also, there is a light well above the bed in both bed areas which made it difficult to sleep late (something we enjoy on our holidays)... Virginie came to the rescue again and tried to cover it with blankets, which made some difference for sure 👍🏽
So overall it’s a very lovely, unique property in a special part of Crete, but with a few small changes, it could be an even more perfect experience!