We have just returned from 10 days wonderful holiday at Villa Balos.
On arrival we were met by Mihalis, his wife Irene and his son - a nice touch to meet the family. We were made most welcome then and throughout our stay. One of the family would visit every couple of days to make sure everything was OK, and also responded quickly to email to answer any questions we had.
We were pleasantly surprised to find a meal had been prepared and left for us - Greek salad, bread, bottle of wine and a huge dish of pastitsio cooked by Irene. The pastitsio was so good we said we would be happy to pay for another, which duly appeared together with a lemon sweet, but they would not accept any payment. If you are lucky to treated like this you will find Irene is a great cook.
Having visited Crete several times and toured most of the island, we did not have a hire car trip. When Mihalis realised this, he offered several times to drive us to get shopping.
They really could not have done more to make our stay a pleasant one.
The villa itself was spacious, well furnished and well appointed - definitely a lovely home not just a holiday let. From it's elevated position it had fabulous, panaromic views across Georgiopoli to the bay, and to side and rear across open countryside to hills and mountains.
It was a 15-20 minute walk to the central square in the village or the beach, with some short uphill sections as you near the villa, more than made up for by the resultant views. You only need to be reasonably fit to cope with these - as a reference our group ages ranged from 16 to 68 and no-one had any problems.
Many thanks to Mihalis and his family, if we visit Georgiopoli again, and we may do given the beach, village and tavernas on offer, we would not hesitate to stay again at Villa Balos.