Pigi Vacation Rental villa

I spent 2 weeks (Aug. 31 - Sept. 14th at this BEAUTIFUL property. The owner, Panagiotis, is a kind and helpful person, which made the whole experience even better. The house is fabulous, the photos on the web site are very accurate. Surrounded by olive groves, with a view of the sea in the distance, the location is superb for exploring the beautiful island of Crete. Every detail in the house is of high quality. The house has triple pane windows,and each room has an air conditioner, making it very quiet to sleep. The kitchen was well equipped. Each bedroom opens to a patio. The pool area is great, especially in the heat of the summer. We don't play tennis, but there are raquets and balls at the house. The house was cleaned 2 times a week, and the washing machine was a nice feature (if a little difficult to figure out - but there's an instruction booklet!) Panos recommended my now favorite beach in the world, Bali Beach - the 3rd cove. It's about a 25 minute drive east, but worth it. He lead us to the fish store (card in business card holder at house), where we bought fresh fish to grill, and there are meat markets and many mini markets close by. At one mini-market, the owner went to his house nearby and brought us back fresh oregano as we shopped for our fabulous Greek yogurt and other food items. Also he recommended Sky Park restaurant which offers FREE delivery (quickly and very good and reasonable food). In Rethimnon, I recommend the Folk Art Museum - wonderful. Also hiking the Prasano Gorge (closer than Samaria Gorge and no other people were seen on the 5 hour hike - I didn't go but the friends who went said it was not an easy one but worth it) was a highlight. We drove to little wonderful villages - Margarites, Argiroupolis, took a cooking class at Enagron in Axos, and visited the Arkahi Monestary. I'll admit that driving is not for the faint at heart - just stay to the right and it's very doable. The people of Crete were for the most part WONDERFUL. Many people spoke English well enough to help with directions. We made a lot of U turns, but got where we wanted to go - Chania, Knossos, Rethimnon were the big sites, as well as the drives to the small villages. We didn't travel to the south coast, but it is only about an hour drive. We enjoyed the comfortable house most evenings, eating on the patio, drinking wine and ouzo. We brought a set of IPOD speakers, which was great! What can I say - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED property!