Villa Faye, in Vryses, turned out to be above and beyond our expectations... and I can be a fairly harsh critic. I really cannot fault it or our two weeks spent there. The location is pretty rural, peaceful and quiet (just what we wanted). The only sounds are those of the sheep, chickens, Cicadas, crickets, the occasional dog from the surrounding countryside etc all things you’d imagine to hear in Crete. Yet the village is a very short drive or an easy walk down the hill. Also the national road is only a short drive away, which connects you to anywhere else worth going.
The villa is large, for a family (by European standards anyway). So we all had plenty of room. It is a very traditional, charming and quaint home, fairly basic, renovated around 10 years ago. The owner was happy to tell us some brief history of the place and his families connection to it. It was kept immaculately clean by the friendly cleaners who came at regular intervals (I think it was 3/4 days apart at 10am) the next visit is always written clearly for you to see on the bureau and didn’t interfere with our plans at all. The views of the surrounding countryside are great, the sunrises from the balcony are worth watching, the breeze was forgiving. The pool is clean and easily large enough to accommodate a big family. Everything worked and worked well, from the hairdryer to the air con. The gardeners kept the lawns around the pool perfectly manicured and the gardens in order. We used the limes from the tree. And a few grapes from the vines.
Freelance holidays provided an exceptional service. Very professional and easy to deal with. Diane, with whom we dealt, handled our queries/ texts quickly and efficiently. Also the welcome pack, which we were pleased of, was generous. We would use their service again, without a doubt.
It was also a real pleasure to meet the owner, Manouso, and his father.
The village has all you need (supermarket, tavernas, ATM, fuel etc) and is truly a classic little Cretan village. Famous for its yogurt and honey I believe. We didn’t spend masses of time in the village as we were generally at the villa or on the road to one of the towns or beaches. Chania and Rethymnon are both easy to get to from there.
I tried to think of some improvement that the villa or the company could make, so as to give a fair, balanced review. But I can’t. It was an absolutely fantastic holiday for all of us. Five Star.