Villa Emilia I Heated* pool, seaview, next to town

Stayed 6 friends. The space is excellent with 4 double ensuite rooms and a ground floor room with bathroom next door. The property is very clean, and the garden well maintained. It’s close to town, but not walkable as uphill and unshaded on the way back. Lots of food choice in town. The internet was very slow and streaming movies not possible, so keep that in mind. The listings headline is heated pool, it isn’t! Heating is at a cost of €120 per day. The view from the property is lovely and the ourdoor sofa comfortable. In the listing photos the loungers have cushion, in reality they don’t. The owner stating they’re comfortable without didn’t win me over. With the issues above fixed this property could be fantastic. Whilst we were there (day 5 of our 8 day stay) a new router arrived increasing the internet speed from 2.8 to 10 ish, so maybe a more expensive package is needed?

The villa was exceptional - exactly as per all the pictures. It was immaculately clean, lovely and spacious, fantastic inside and outside spaces with wonderful views, day and night. Holiways Villas were brilliant - we had two small issues that were resolved immediately (Stella is amazing!) Thank you for a wonderful family holiday!

We were 8 people and a baby staying at the villa for a week. Great to just hang out by the pool and have dinners together outside on the patio. Overall good standard on everything in the house, a new house built 2016 I think. Good AC in all rooms was really valuable during the hot week. Very receptive hostess (Stella from holiday villas) and owner (Mike), responded quickly to all requests. Garden and pool were great, good space for up to 4 cars. Location was good, however you should probably have rental car(s) although taxi to Chania was ~€50. Good cleaning service once during the week, swapped towels and sheets. Cons/areas for improvement; top floor bathroom didn’t have standing height shower or shower holder and the bathroom also smelled a little funky. Some stray cats were annoying me at times trying to sneak into the villa. Gardner’s showed up once and were pretty noisy during one of the days in the villa, would have been better timed/scheduled when we were not there. But nothing really serious. Overall highly recommended.

We had an incredible time at Villa Emilia, an outstanding villa in a beautiful location. The property was immaculately presented and maintained, and we were made to feel welcome and at home by all those involved in its management, especially Jennie and Stella who provided insider tips to some fantastic restaurants. We were a group of eight adults and five kids, and everyone had a brilliant time. It's worth noting that if you want to make use of the heated pool to let the owners know before you get there, as it took quite a while to heat up. We would highly recommend the villa to anyone, it was a truly memorable holiday in an incredible villa.

We stayed in this house for 8 days in September and could not have been happier with the house and the local hospitality. We were there for a family reunion with 4 siblings (in our 50s and 60s) and our spouses. The house is as beautiful as the photos on the website portray it to be. Often, photos on a website are made to enhance the looks, but not in this case. It really is as nice as it appears. Jenny and Stella were very helpful both before and during our visit, always responding to questions and requests almost immediately. The owner of the house also owns the local grocery store, and he and his family were very nice to us, making us feel welcome in a way that seems unique to Crete. Before we arrived we were worried about how to allocate the bedrooms (sibling rivalry!) but they were all very nice, with different features, and we all had different priorities so it worked out well. For instance, the one on the top floor has the best views but the shower is a handheld in the bathtub which not everyone liked, another bedroom is the most private if the windows are open because it doesn't open into the outdoor living space, but doesn't have the great views, the one on the ground floor doesn't have a bathroom ensuite, but it's right outside the door. That was the one bedroom we didn't use but it's nice as well, with a sliding door to an outside patio and play area. We had two small concerns - the first was whether or not plastic, cans, and glass are recycled. We asked about that when we checked in because we knew we would have lots of plastic (water bottles) and glass (wine, beer) but didn't get a good answer. We kept it all separate but wonder if it was all thrown into the garbage. We later learned that there are bins in the neighborhood where we could have taken it, and we would have if we had known earlier where to take it. Or, ideally we would love to know that recycling is part of what the house cleaner does, as long as it's all separated. Our other concern was that there were no instructions on how to use the washing machine, and the cryptic symbols on it didn't help us. We eventually found a manual online for a similar machine, but it would be helpful if instructions were kept in the house. There were instruction books for the other appliances in a cabinet above the refrigerator. But those two small issues don't detract from the fact that we all loved the house, the hospitality and the beauty of the surrounding area. Great vacation choice!!

Lovely villa in a great location near the town. Stella and Jenny from Holiways were amazing and so helpful. The villa is huge and great for a big family of 8 adults. The pool is lovely and clean and the BBC area is perfect. Highly recommend Holiways and Villa Emilia.

This was one of my most memorable vacations ever. When we arrived to Villa Emilia (me and my family of 10 people, 2 babies and one 9 year old) we could not believe our eyes, it was breathtaking litterarly, both villa and the wiew! The service was great, only a phonecall away if we had any questions. It was clean, beautifully decorated and with a lot of space. Really, we could not have had a better villa then this one. I highly recommend renting a car since going to Chania (nearest town) is about half an hour away. Other than that, thank you Home Away and Jennie (the manager) personally for a great holiday. Best regards, Caroline and family