First, the good: the outdoor space pictured with the large eating table is beautiful, and the views from there are amazing. I do think the owner attempted to be nice, in a way, and he dropped off pastries the first morning we were there. But it was all downhill from there. First, this house is NOT in Platanais Town as listed. It is in Pano Platanais, which is a village HIGH above the main shopping/hotel/tourist area, and a far (& incredibly steep walk back from) the beach. We didn't even attempt the walk. When we asked for the address after arriving in Crete & trying to get there, the owner just told us the name of the village - as in, come to the village & figure it out yourselves. Ugh. The "private parking" is a TINY gravel space secured with a chain you have to put up & down to get in & out of the spot. Our 7-seater rental would not fit into the spot without a huge headache, and in fact we had trouble even getting the car up to the house on the village streets. My husband is Greek and can handle the driving there; but this was a SQUEEZE even for him. The house itself is VERY cramped, cluttered with furniture, & uncomfortable. The stairs in the house (which of course aren't pictured in the listing) are treacherously steep & not suitable for children, older people, or anyone with mobility issues. The sheets & towels were clean, but the blankets obviously hadn't been cleaned since prior guests. The floors were dirty and left behind a residue on socks. The advertised "washing machine" is tiny & weak even for a European machine. Can MAYBE wash 4 items of clothing. Stuck on scalding hot water. Essentially unusable. There is zero privacy at this house. It is divided in two, with the owner right next door. That beautiful outdoor space I described? The owner's porch is right next to it with only a flimsy divider in between. We could hear the owners over there, and he even talked to us over the divider. We felt like we had zero privacy in everything we did and said. Similarly, the "private pool" is not private. It is shared with the owner. The first morning we were there we found him cleaning the pool deck and letting the dirty water run into the (not chlorinated) pool. Needless to say, we didn't let the kids use it in our brief time there. Beds are like ROCKS. Might as well sleep on a board. We were so miserable in this house, we left our 10-DAY RENTAL in less than 36h - as soon as we could find other accommodations.
