We had a number of challenges with this stay and a tough time communicating with the host (Spyros) when we brought up issues. Would like to share my observations to inform future renters and hopefully the host can address some of these as well.
First, the location of the house is excellent. If you are planning on exploring Chania town and the wonderful beaches this is a great location. The house is very well kept and as shown has a lot of room.
We were a family of 3 and needed that extra bed option. The sofa bed worked well and the additional room was a good add on.
Now for things to watch out for. The house looks very modern and equipped with good quality fittings, but missing some key items. We also requested for help on a few items, to which we did not have a pleasant experience:
- There is no dishwasher in the house (the host never advertised it, but it is easy for renters to miss this)
- Just 4 dishes and very limited pots. If you plan to cook and have a family, it will be tough. Plus without a dishwasher and limited cookware, you are going to have to wash dishes all the time
- There is no microwave (surprise!) - not sure if this is regional, but microwave is almost a necessity in any kitchen
- There is no clothes dryer in the house. There is a washer, which is small, but no dryer. There is a clothes drying rack but can take two days for clothes to dry as the backyard is blocked by walls from all sides and doesn't get enough ventilation. I would suggest pulling the rack into the house.
- The bathroom shower - be aware. It is fancy, but totally impractical. Even if you don't go fancy with all the sprayers, the water leaks out into the bathroom and totally makes the area fully wet. The partition is just not effective. There was so much water that we had to put one of the hand towels to soak up the water from the floor. Spyros started blaming us that we spoilt his towel instead of understanding why we had to use the towel for the floor. And it was just one hand towel. After that experience we were very careful using the shower but still water would spill. And this exact same thing had happened to another renter earlier and I read Spyros's comments were similar - he blamed the renter for spoiling his towels and NOT looking into fixing his fancy bathroom.
- There is NO onsite parking. The host did mention that it is easy to find parking around the house on the streets. We did, but it is a densely residential area and most spots are taken by residents through the day and evening. Be prepared to circle around multiple times and be prepared for parking several blocks away from the house. So not very convenient as there the streets that are very narrow and many are on-way too. Tip - remember to take your phone with you so you can pin your parking location and the house so you can find your way back home and locate your car.
- If you are a family and take showers back to back, be aware. The hot water doesn't last. The host has a solar water heating system that doesn't provide enough hot water. This was a challenge and the host was extremely difficult with us on this. He did try to investigate the issue, but ultimately started blaming us for abusing his house and water :). We were just trying to take showers once a day. He ultimately told us about the electric heater option, which did work and resolve the issue. Again to point out that the capacity of the solar heater isn't sufficient and I wish he had just guided us to the electric heating option instead of blaming us and almost verbally abusing us. He even had his mother keep a watch on us. It was kind of scary to to deal with this individual.
I would have appreciated if Spyros was more attentive to why we were asking for his assistance rather than blaming us. It was an unpleasant experience to deal with the host and would ask all future renters to be aware!