We stayed in Alkiviades' flat Venizelou in Rethimnon in July 2014 and we spent a wonderful week. The flat is airy and full of light, it has a balcony with a wonderful view on the sea. The apartment is two minutes walk to the old town and near a lot of shops and restaurants. (We loved the "Petite Fleur!"). Alkiviades has been very kind and helpful. We highly recommend his apartment!

A wonderful week spent with the most friendly people in Crete and Mr Alki Spanda, who looked after us and met us was the most perfect host and we could not have wished for more.

We cannot rate this friendly island enough, the people are charming, warm and so welcoming and our host was perfect and his mother and father delightful and caring =- even cooked a superb meal for us.

We left the UK stressed and tired and returned happy, calm and relaxed - that is what a holiday is all about surely??!!

Thank you Alki and your family and friends in Crete.

We would recommend your apartment to anyone and look forward to returning to see you again.

Kath.Bren. x

This apartment is really a great place to relax and unwind, the location is superb. You can just sit and watch the world go by from the enormous terrace. It is wonderfully located for all amenities that the town has to offer, just being a step outside the front door. It is not noisy at night despite being in the centre of town.There are restaurants and bars to suit everybody from cheap to expensive. We found we could eat very reasonably and the size of the portions can be ginormous.
Alki and his family are very hospitable and if you have any problems they will sort them out for you, Alki will also arrange transport to the apartment from the airport, this is very handy and makes finding the place not a problem. Thanks Alki for everything, we hope to return sameday and will definitely recommend your accomodation.

Brilliant apartment - well cared for and the pictures don't do it justice. Two lovely balconies, well stocked with all the necessities - brilliant gas BBQ, plates/glasses etc and they even provided us with tea and coffee and water - a nice touch considering the late hour we arrived.

The owner could not have been more accommodating, offering to meet us from the airport and then agreeing to wait up until near midnight when we hired a car and drove there ourselves. He was waiting for us on the pavement with an umbrella in the middle of an electrical storm when we struggled our way round the one way system!

The area is lovely with plenty to do, bars and tavernas within seconds of walking yet the apartment was surprisingly quiet and peaceful. We hired a car and explored the island, its surprising how far you can get in a day and the drive was often as good as the destination! However, there are ample tours and activities that you can do without a car, not to mention the beach within 5 minutes walking if you just want to sunbathe and read a book.

The owner's mother lives downstairs and left us some tasty home cooking on our first day which was a lovely touch, but they were unobtrusive and we were left very much in peace and to our own devises for the entirety of our stay.

We cannot fault the service or the apartment - and even in October the weather was glorious. Wonderful holiday - thank you!

This apartment is all about the location - which could hardly be better. Overlooking the harbour and right above the main strip of restaurants and bars; the old town immediately behind and the start of the main beach strip 5 minutes walk away. So in terms of being in the best spot - we'd recommend staying here. Especially as there did not seem to be many one bedroom apartments in the area in this type of price range.

However that said, the apartment itself is only adequate.

Pros - very large balcony area; good size living room/kitchen area with TV; free Wi-fi with strong signal; not noisy - despite bars nearby; ceiling fans in living room and bedroom; comfortable bed.

Cons - basic bedroom with a hanging rail but nowhere else to put clothes; tired bathroom; only hot water in the evenings after a day of sun - not hot in the mornings; told on arrival that the advertised air-con would actually be 15 euros extra per day; insufficient cooking pans - only 1 medium saucepan and 2 small frying pans (despite there being loads of other random utensils).

Whilst the apartment had been cosmetically cleaned on the surface, it could do with a proper deep clean. For example after we'd walked about barefoot for a few minutes our feet were black - so we needed to give the floors a proper mop. Other stuff that wasn't immediately visible was somewhat dusty. Old and probably unnecessary bath rugs were no doubt clean - but slightly stained and just generally grim. We didn't appreciate there still being pieces of soap with someone else's hair attached in the cheap soapdish in the bathroom. The reason for this may be that the small print of the booking contract says that 'on changeover days there is only time for a superficial check and a general clean'. Given that check out time is 10am and check in is 4pm then this appears to be more a matter of choice by the owner rather than there not being time for a better clean if a professional was employed.

The owner only left us one bed sheet and one large/one small towel each for our weeks stay. Others were apparently kept in a padlocked cupboard. This isn't really adequate, especially when handwashing them in the sink is the only option. This just adds to the feel of it all being a basic stay - the words 'comfort' or 'luxury' certainly don't come to mind during your time here.

Rather annoyingly, the booking form you're sent after you've reserved includes: 'guests incur bank charges'. So after paying the deposit, we were asked to add just over £8 to the next payment to cover the charge incurred. The payment of the main balance then incurred a £12 fee; but there was no way we would have known about this until the owner asked for it. Presumably then making that payment could in itself incur another bank fee ..... ! We left the sum in cash in euros. But why these small sums can't be added to the main payment charged on booking isn't clear. It just adds an unnecessary step to the process.

It's worth noting that the apartment is on the 2nd floor and the woodenstairs going up to it from the first floor landing are extremely steep (though there's only a few). So those with any mobility issues might really struggle.

So given all the above, if the apartment was located elsewhere then we really wouldn't recommend it. But given the location then it's still one to consider. Just don't expect too much. Which is a shame, because with a bit more investment and care by the owner the place could be amazing.