I have stayed in over three dozen villas over the years and can honestly say that Stelios is the very best Villa Manager I have ever encountered - by a very long way. He genuinely wants the villa’s guests to enjoy themselves and puts himself out to facilitate this.

Before we arrived we asked him to help arrange two rental cars and a ‘Welcome Pack’. The cars were waiting for us at Heraklion Airport and he met us locally to guide us to the villa although it was getting on for midnight. He briefly showed us around the villa and returned for a much fuller briefing the following day. The Welcome Pack was very comprehensive and included some items ‘with the compliments of the villa’. Stelios’s English is good and his optional extra Thai massages, both relaxing and therapeutic, are excellent.

He is quite rightly proud of the villa’s beautiful and secluded garden and lovely surrounding olive grove. He planned and maintains this garden himself and generously shares the organic fruit and vegetables that grow in it. His advice and guidance on nearby sites and restaurants to visit were also very useful and his willingness to help make our stay as comfortable as possible was much appreciated. He was a thoughtful, kind and efficient adjunct to making our stay as pleasurable as it was and he was always just a phone call away if needed.

The villa itself is a delightful and architecturally interesting building. It is maintained to a very high standard and is well equipped and comfortably furnished. The twice weekly linen change and cleaning were very thorough. The living rooms are high ceilinged and cool even during our stay when local temperatures rose to about 40 degrees C. The air con in both the main room and all the bedrooms was effective and quiet. The en suite bedrooms themselves are well set out with comfortable beds and good storage.

The swimming pool terraces are spacious and the main pool kept sparklingly clean. The views from the villa are terrific, looking to the sea and Goat Island in one direction and the White Mountains in the other. Although we did not really avail ourselves of it, there is a well and expensively equipped gym in the basement and the wi-fi worked well in all areas of the villa and outside around the pool & terraces.

In summary, we would not hesitate in recommending this villa to anybody, especially given the friendly and thoughtful services of Stelios who always went the extra mile to give us a delightful and memorable vacation.