Our party of two adult couples loved Julia's place where we stayed for a week in late September and early October 2017. It has two comfortable bedrooms each with an en suite bathroom. There is a superbly equipped kitchen in which we enjoyed cooking on the evenings we didn't go out to eat. The adjacent dining and sitting area is spacious and comfortable. French windows open on to a patio with its own dining table and down into a garden with shade and open space. There is a wonderful view of Sfinari Bay. There is currently no wifi but with 4G enabled devices this was not a problem. The new oven and the built in dishwasher have instruction books in most European languages. We couldn't find instructions for the AEG washing machine (and we forgot to ask Millie) but with some trial and error managed to get it to wash our clothes.
We were welcomed by Millie in Julia's absence and she was very charming and helpful, popping by unobtrusively to check that we had everything we needed.
Sfinari is a pretty little village on the Western coastal road from Kissamos to Elafonissi. It has a couple of mini markets and several bars, cafes and small restaurants. There are also three excellent restaurants on the beach at the Southern end of the bay, about twenty minutes walk from Julia's villa. The best swimming is from the beach by these restaurants. Take swimming shoes if you don't like walking on pebbles. The swimming is safe and in late September the water was very warm. It can get very windy though. The look of the bay is slightly spoiled by some semi derelict polytunnel greenhouses but it is still very pleasant to walk down.
Hania is about one hour's drive away. The road is excellent as far as Platanos, about 10km from Sfinari. After that it remains well surfaced but it is narrow in places, very winding and sometimes vertiginous. In late September the light traffic was evenly divided between mainly pensioner tourists in hire cars and locals in pick-ups. We went on great walks on the nearby Gramvousa Peninsula which also has the superb Balos Bay for swimming. We also walked on the Rodopu Peninsula and on the E4 long distance trail at Elafonissi, which is an hour away on the winding coastal road. Elafonissi has a beach to rival Balos. We really enjoyed visiting the Archaeological Museum at Kissamos. Polyrinnia 10 km due South of Kissamos has extensive ancient ruins well interpreted. Don't try driving from Platanos to Polyrinnia direct unless you have a 4WD.
We would wholeheartedly recommend Julia's place and Sfinari for those who like a really comfortable retreat after a day's exploring or just to chill. Great place.