We really enjoyed our stay at the Castle. The rooms are bright and airy, and the place was very clean. We stayed 12 days, and they arranged for a cleaning service every 4 days. The view from the balcony is wonderful. You have a view over the town to the water, but not a sunrise or sunset view. In May the sun was rising over the mountain and the direction is wrong for sunset. Still pretty. The place is 10 minute drive from the beach. The Venetian castle area is composed of local residential houses, a lot of rental units and a few small shops; it was interesting to talk with the locals.
With a little work, this could be a really top notch rental. At the moment it seems a little basic and not maintained properly. We were early in the season, so it might be the place wasn't ready, but they had several weeks notice and we still had a lot of issues. I have reported these to the owner and trust that they will be fixed. But, it seems like prior reviews are accurate. The jacuzzi pump was replaced the day we arrived. The jacuzzi still has the problem where it doesn't keep the water at a constant hot temperature. The entry window into the jacuzzi could benefit from a couple hand grips to help you get in and out of the jacuzzi. One of the 2 combo heating / ac units (the one in the living room) was broken and couldn't be used or repaired while we were there.
The listing advertises that it has fast internet. It didn't. It was averaging 3-4 mbps, dipped as low as 2 mbps and climbed occasionally and briefly after resets to 9 mbps. If you plan on doing remote work, this is not an easy or reliable rental unit to work from. The signal is beamed from another of their rental units down by the beach and wind conditions can knock the signal down to the 2-3 mbps range. Mobile data isn't a great alternative, as there were limited places in the rock walled unit where the mobile signal could be received. Working on the patio sounded lovely, but even in May the direct midday sun on the balcony was both too warm and too bright to make outside work feasible for most of the daytime hours. The host worked hard to come up with alternatives or try to get the issues resolved after I reported that I had several zoom meetings fail as a result of the 3 mbps speeds that day. After some work on their part, they got it up to 9 and we finished the work. They also offered space at another rental unit that we could use during the day as an "office" because it has slightly faster internet speeds.
The kitchen isn't easy to cook in. After the first day, we kept yoghurt and fruit for a quick cold breakfast with coffee, some sandwich supplies, but ate out most lunches or dinners. The unit that looks like a microwave in the pictures is a tabletop oven with 3 cooking burners on top. You are cooking at chest level. If our experience is an example of how the house is normally stocked, bring your own sugar, creamer, salt, pepper, paper towels/napkins, tissues, detergent, coffee pods, tea bags, and hair conditioner. They had one sleeve of decaffeinated coffee pods and a big bottle of water for each day of our stay in the kitchen on our arrival. Bring cord to create more areas to dry clothes. It's a 10 minute walk uphill from the "close" parking lot; if you need to bring groceries to the rental unit, you might want to bring a backpack to help carry them.
We spoke with them in advance, and they provided separate towels for the beach.
If you plan on renting a car during your stay, parking is an issue and I'm not sure you'll be able to park in peak season. We parked in the lot that the host recommended that was 200 meters away. In May, we were able to do that only because we rented one of the smallest cars (Smart for 2) and were able to squeeze into spots between already parked vehicles. This usually involved parking passenger doors within inches of each other and having my spouse guide me in from outside the car. Several nights we had to park down near the village and the grocery. This was during the off season.
The host is Demetrios and the owner is Gasparis. Demetrios was one of the best parts of the stay. He is a genuine, friendly person with a wealth of knowledge about the area and suggestions to make your stay more pleasant. He greeted us at the unit, helped with our luggage and was our contact throughout these problems. As he is not the owner, he was often limited in what he could do, but we could tell he tried hard to find solutions. We spent a lot of time just talking with him, and we enjoyed it very much.
It has the potential to be a really wonderful place with a few repairs and a little more conveniences supplied. There's something about the neighborhood, the maze of walkways, the feel of history, the bright space, the sounds of the village and the church bells, the amazing views that just make you excited to be in the unit. However, I was frustrated several times by the operations and lack of what I consider basic supplies for an airbnb.