What a magical holiday! This was by far our best experience using airbnb and this was made possible because Maria and close friend Aleco were fabulous hosts. Maria went out of her way to please us and make us feel at home. We felt instantly that her beautiful home was also our home. Maria was kind, friendly, generous and a ray of sunshine. The apartment itself was lovely and had everything you could ask for. It was decorated with a personal touch. The bed was comfy and it stayed cool during the day and the night because of the stone walls. We cooked breakfast every morning and sometimes made a greek salad with the wonderful local Cretan ingredients for lunch. We actually spent most of our time in the magical garden. We picked lemons every day from the lemon tree and made lemon cake and drank plenty of lemon tea. There are various places to sit and enjoy the different views in the garden and we sure did that. It really makes this place and you can put your feet up, sit back and feed off the energy. We cooked local lamb in the wood fired oven and grilled local caught fish and vegetables on the grill. The local produce is probably the best i have tried in Europe!

Archanes is a wonderful traditional Cretan town and the villa is located just a short walk from the centre where there are restaurants and grocery stores, bakeries, a cheese deli and an ice cream parlour. The local bus takes you into Heraklion once per hour and is always on time and only costs €2. The town was very quiet when we visited in april and we hardly saw a tourist!

If you want the full Cretan experience appreciating the culture, food and history then this is the place for you. Thank you Maria and Aleco for making our stay so wonderful. I have a feeling we will be seeing you again soon...