We stayed with Manos for a couple of days in September; it was decent room for two people, clean and specious. Balcony was nice but wasn’t possible to enjoy much cause of the strong wind most of the time. Palekastro is very authentic Cretan village, not classic tourist place and it’s a great spot to stay, so you can easily explore beautiful east-south part of the island. You can do it with local buses but is much more convenient if you can rent bike or car. Amazing beaches along coastline, lovely gorges.
Manos was very helpful in providing all possible information you might need while staying in Palekastro. I would recommend this place for a stay, definitely.