Maria's place at Agia Anna has a lot going for it. It is one of a handful of small apartments in a complex on top of car rental shop right in the middle of Agia Anna, by the water front. The apartment was a 1-bedroom +1 living room with 2 beds that closes off to become a potential 2-bedroom. For a small family (couple + 1 toddler), this was ideal since we could spend some alone time while the little one was sleeping or napping in the other room. In fact, the apartment came with a baby cot, which was great since we didn't need to bring our own.
AC worked well, which was necessary due to the summer heat. Windows were double-paned with very good sound-proofing which was also a strong plus. Kitchen was well furnished with a spacious fridge that worked well. Bathroom was comfortable and the shower was a click more spacious than you'd usually get on island apartments, so nice. Only qualm about the bathroom was that it had a tendency to get smelly and stay that way, so couldn't be aerated easily. But no big deal at the end of the day. The balcony was spacious and comfortable, although the view was nothing special (the souvlaki place and supermarket across the street). This particular listing did NOT have a sea/beach view, as the cover photo implied.
I never met Maria since she was very busy, and although she was a bit less communicative than I'm used to, especially the day prior to arrival, things worked out well and she was very helpful with furnishing us with some extra bits to make our stay more comfy:
- mosquito net
- baby food chair
- rocking horsey (!)
In general, the place is very neat, well furnished with good taste, and it is cleaned on a daily basis which is a real plus.
My only real problem with the place, which is no fault really of Maria's, is the exceptionally high price tag. We were looking for a place in the last minute (i.e. a month before arrival) so I expected to pay a premium to find a good place to stay, but the total cost left a gaping hole in my wallet and slightly acrid aftertaste. At 70% of the cost this would still be considered expensive by Greek standards. But this says more about the offerings out there, most of which don't get the basics right and still try and charge a premium. At least at Maria's all the right boxes are ticked and the quality is high, but so is the price premium.