Holiday rentals near Fortezza Castle

My family and I had the most incredible time at Thomas and Kiki’s home. Our hosts were so welcoming (loved Kiki’s moussaka and baklava). The home itself was very comfortable. Incredible sunsets on the front balcony, lazy days spent beside the pool, great restaurants and supermarkets close by. We really hope to be back one day - we all absolutely loved it!

Having read previous reviews, our expectations were high and we weren’t disappointed. We were a group of six - my husband and I and four late teen/adult children. I was after a villa that would provide a cool, comfortable and welcoming base for us as we explored Rethymno. I can only repeat what other reviewers have said - the villla was terrific. We also wanted to be located somewhere that would be easy for everyone to experience a bit of local life outside of the tourist traps - buying food from the local shops, taking the bus to and from Rethymno, having a coffee in one of several coffee shops and watching the neighbourhood. For this, the location was brilliant. George also helped to arrange a day trip to Samaria Gorge which was a highlight of our entire trip to Greece.

My family loved our stay at Villa-Gonia. We wanted to stay somewhere quiet and peaceful so we could relax but also stay in a location where we could access all the places we planned to visit in Crete. Villa-Gonia ticked all those boxes and even more!! To start, the owners, Marianna and Nikos are the most kind, helpful, generous and friendly people you could ever hope to meet. We were treated like family and we felt so genuinely welcomed and looked after. We loved eating at the fantastic taverna they own down the road, and the food was delicious. Next, the house is absolutely immaculate and has everything you could possibly need on holiday. The house is spacious and it works well for a small family or a larger family. The pool was beautiful and our children had a great time mucking about in the water. We hired a car and had planned to travel to lots of different places in Crete. The house is about 15 minutes away from Rethymno - a great old town to explore and it is about an hour and a half from Heraklion airport. We went to some beautiful beaches in the south of Crete and they took about 45 minutes to get to. We loved basing ourselves here and driving around Crete through lovely little villages and through truly amazing landscapes. We saw so many amazing things on our adventure around Crete. And at the end of the day, we returned to our lovely house, where the sky was full of stars and we could rest our tired bodies in absolute peace and quiet. We loved staying here and I highly recommend it as a great base for your adventure in Crete. Thanks Marianna and Nikos for making our stay so wonderful and memorable. We had a wonderful time in Crete and it has a special place in our hearts. Much love, Rachel, David, Xavier and Olivia