Avis Traditional Homes of Crete

Wi-Fi was down the entire time we were there. Not a huge deal but this was never disclosed to us until we asked. Seems like some information we could have be told up front. Bathroom was definitely not cleaned before our arrival. House is overall tired and needs some basic attention. Lots of lights that don’t work, shower was pretty dirty. Definitely more “rustic” than “traditional” The property is beautiful and we did enjoy our stay, just wish it was cleaner.

Arrival was disastrous. We had notified the contact that we would arrive at 5:30 pm, which we did, and were asked to wait outside the big church - no problem so far. After 3 increasingly angry phone calls we were finally met at almost 7 pm and led up to the property through very narrow and steep lanes. While the house is very rustic and charming, the bathrooms were not very clean. Beds were very clean and comfortable. The house is on 3 floors with steep steps, with the kitchen at the very top of the house. Superb views from the erraces, and the village itself is lovely. We were taken to The Hope taverna (almost next door) where the proprietress explained that the owner was actually in hospital in Athens and the person who was supposed to meet us had forgotten because there had been damage to her house in the earthquake that happened earlier in the day. Why this had not been communicated earlier we don't know. We were offered a free dinner to compensate for the chaotic arrival, and it was absolutely delicious, served by our charming hostess. I was lucky and slept very well in the downstairs bedroom; my friend in the bedroom above the (extremely small!) swimming pool was woken 3 times in the night by the pool cleaning itself - the noise and vibration from this was dreadful. I would not go back to this property.

Not so good. The land lord was very hard to locate so hard that four locals saved the day and found the land lord for us after 45 minutes of telephone calls. To make matters worse my wife had phoned him 48 hour earlier to confirm our arrival. There was no hot water for a shower. The picture for Homes of Cretan Tradition bears no resemblance to the accommodation offered. Definitely no swimming pool. Words to the wise :- If you are driving make sure your car is very small as the roads are very narrow and the roads very steep. Ask if there is hot water? Ask for pictures of the exact place they are offering you. Ask for exact details of how you contact the landlord, where you will meet him and at what time. My Wife was very disappointed. Once we finally contacted the land lord he was helpful but not informative about the area. The local towns people were fantastic and very helpful and saved the whole situation.

Totally authentic experience on the outskirts of Elounda! Across from an excellent restaurant!