“Tranquil holiday in paradise! A real Cretan experience in rustic accommodation next to clear blue sea.” | Aug 2015 | Cornwall

A special family holiday for six adults looking for the real Crete. This place is truly rustic, including the option to eat Cretan homemade food at the Taverna or cook your own meals in the apartments. We could see the lively village of Elounda from our apartments, especially at night but experienced the peace of Elounda Island except of the sounds of nature (cicadas, fish jumping!!) and the sea gently lapping at the shore, which was right in front of our windows! Perfect! The youngsters in our party walked to the village every night for a choice of restaurants, bars and shops, it only took them about 15 mins (us older ones a wee bit longer) to get there. The walk is very pleasant and we chose to walk but taxis are always available at €5 one way. We hired a small minivan during the week to travel up to Knossas and also back to the airport (a Heraklion taxi company let us down on arrival so we sorted own transport for return journey). Don’t worry about booking hire vehicles before the trip because the two companies in Elounda are very competitive and will source whatever you need at a price that you are happy with. We also booked scuba diving from the Aquilla Hotel. We can’t praise them enough. They are PADI registered, super safety conscious and first priority is customer service. It’s best to phone them direct and numbers are on their website. Commission is about 10% if you book through an agent if savings pennies is a priority for you. The restaurants all down on the front are fabulous and I think we tried most of them. There is a fish restaurant on the island which has got to be a special treat before you leave your resort. Food fresh and delicious, waiter service impressive and entertaining when they fillet the cooked fish at the table. Take your camera there! You can easily get a bus to Ag Nik, the nearest big port and I think it was about €3 return. It’s not far and the buses are clean, spacious and on time. I had an accident on the boat that does the evening cruises around the bay. They are not particularly safety conscious and I would advise that you make sure you wear sturdy shoes for the slippery deck, make sure you note where the open gangways are (so you don’t slide out when the boat rocks) and check the depth of the water yourself before jumping off the top deck for a swim. I think the hostess got mixed up between feet and metres. Many swimmers landed on the ocean bed thinking it was deep and jarred their legs and backs. The General Hospital in Ag Nik is brilliant, use your EHIC card if you need assistance there. No need to use your travel ins if they can sort you out. The travel ins assistance was nowhere near as good, so disorganised and you have to go to Heraklion for help. The owners and staff at the apartments were wonderful when they realised I was injured and found a way to get me back in the sea which really made the holiday for me. The rest of the family had a fantastic time but agree that it was far too short. We all think longingly for our seaside villas. We may just return one day.