Katerina is a really wonderful host. She went out of her way to meet us at the airport and drop us back at the end. She was very responsive to any issues and is just generally a kind and gentle soul.
The space itself is lovely. Quite large - we were 2 x 3 person families and we never felt overcrowded. The downstairs bedroom has a mezzanine so almost feels self contained. The upstairs bedroom has a wonderful terrace where you can watch the sunrise over the olive groves. The whole place is very charming and cosy, if a bit remote - you definitely need a car! The swimming pool is lovely to relax by and for the kids to play in.
The local beach is about a 10 minute drive. Apparently on this part of the island it is usual for the sea to become quite choppy with the wind and this seems to increase as the day wears on. If you get to the beach early, then the waters are very calm. It would have been great to know this earlier on in our stay (it took us more than a week to figure out) as we were with young children. There are also some lovely beaches not that far away: Lygaria, to the west of Heraklion was my favourite. It's very chic and only about 20 minutes away.
There are some lovely tavernas in Elia but the best meal that we had was in a fantastic restaurant in Heraklion called Peskesi. It was fabulous and very reasonable. Heraklion is fab. A really nice place to visit and very easy to get to on the bus if you don't fancy the drive.
Bear in mind that the nearest supermarket (in the small seaside town where the beach is) is about twice the cost of lidl and the quality of food is pretty much the same in both. But Lidl is a further drive.