Chris' mum Efi was a fantastic host, always there when we had a question, when my boyfriend locked himself in the bathroom etc and she cooked a BBQ for all the guests one night which was delicious. Getting to the apartment was interesting, (only 1 hour from Heraklion airport) there are only a few roads up to the village of Katsikia and we definitely took the wrong one (very steep, loose gravel path!) so take note of the instructions Efi will send. Upon arrival we were greeted with a bottle of sparkling wine, a dip in the lovely pool, a beautiful room (Room 4) and an absolutely stunning view. Room 4 had been finished the morning we arrived so we had the pleasure of being the first guests. Efi's artistic flair and Dimitri's handiwork are superb, the room was spacious, well equipped and had a lovely little balcony from which to admire that view! What you get in terms of view, tranquility and space you do pay for in being a bit further out of town - a price we were happy to pay. It took us a good 50 minutes (downhill then flat along the seafront) to walk to the centre of Agios Nikolaos where you will find a great range of restaurants and bars. It's only a 5 minute drive or €8 taxi (we got one home every evening, the walk up the hill didn't look fun!). A few restaurants well worth trying: Embassy (cute little courtyard one street back from Ag Nik lake), Karnagio (overlooking the theatre square next to the lake), Chrysofillis (not far from the Horn of Amalthea) and Pittes Gourmandes (not on google maps near the Marina and absolutely delicious pitas). We had a hire car and visited Elounda beach (not great but if you do go have lunch at Anemomylos for beautiful food), Voulisma beach (beautiful clear seas but a narrow beach so quite busy) and Almyros beach (our favourite and you can walk round to Ag Nik marina for lunch in 15 minutes). We also took the boat trip to Spinalonga for the day which was a good tour. As we bid farewell to Efi she gave us a parting gift of a beautifully painted pebble and some local herbs. A fantastic stay in a beautiful apartment - we highly recommend a visit!