Blue Boutique Apts

For the price, especially outside the season, this was a really nice place to stay. The listing on booking com said breakfast was included; since it isn't a hotel, that meant they left bread, butter, marmalade, cheese, ham, croissants, milk, and juice when we arrived. Both rooms had AC. All in all, it was really OK.

The apartment was very clean and tidy, with a well-equipped kitchen, washing machine, two TVs, and air conditioning included. Being able to check out at 12.00hrs was a bonus. It's well placed for the beach, nearby shops and restaurants, and buses to the airport and town. The owner has a shop close by and greeted us very warmly. It's a ground-floor apartment in a residential block, so you hear people getting up and heading to work, though things settle down and become peaceful later. There's a small patio beside the building's rear carpark, so it's not the prettiest spot. For an inexpensive snack or meal near the beach, try The Havana. We'd book again. Kelvin and Julie

I travel a lot and have never run into problems like these. The apartment itself might have been fine, but the owners handled things in a completely unprofessional way. I wouldn't recommend staying here in winter, paying in advance, or relying on the owners to be friendly. It was extremely cold, with no heating. The heaters shown in the photos were just decoration, and we got one fairly thin blanket. We tried using the AC for heat, but it barely warmed the place. We planned a 14-day holiday, but after a sleepless first night wearing sweaters, several layers, and jackets, then another cold night in the downgraded room they offered, we couldn't stay. After that, the people who'd seemed nice stopped responding and acted selfishly. On the first night, right after we arrived, they charged the full two weeks plus the agreed extra-person fee. They told us it would warm up and not to worry. The next day they marked my Booking.com reservation as a “no-show.” They then refused to refund the nights we didn't stay, despite the cold being a problem I'd raised several times. I had paid an extra 110EUR for a third person on top of the booking, offered to cover any other costs they might have had, and told them on the second morning that we were leaving because we couldn't keep freezing there. They did offer an electric heater, but it tripped the whole electrical system even after we turned off the AC inverter and the lights, so it was useless. If I had cancelled late, less than 5 days before arrival, the cancellation fee should have been only 195EUR. They kept much more. Now they say they'll refund 200EUR “from the goodness of their hearts,” which is still less than what they took. It isn't as though they lost another booking; they had no other customers, and not many people come to Crete in winter. I'm incredibly disappointed.

Room 101 felt ready to move into, with everything needed to cook for yourself. It was also close to the sea, and the complimentary breakfast was a nice touch.