Villa Rafaella

We stayed here for 2 weeks at end of July and beg of August. Easy to find but a very steep road up to the villa itself! Could not ask for a better location in the mountains. Beautiful views, completely private with no one overlooking you and a nice breeze, cooler than the coast as not as humid. Its beautifully appointed, with everything you could need inc lots of towels for use around the pool. The owner Nikos is very friendly and nothing is too much trouble. The kitchen has every appliance you need inc a filter coffee machine, an espresso coffee machine, toaster, kettle, juicer, large fridge and large freezer, a counter top dishwasher (perfect size!), oven and electric hob. Also hidden away we found blenders etc. Comfy living area with two 3 seater sofas and an internet smart TV with amazon prime TV for films etc. Lots of books in english & games in a cupboard in the kitchen area. We purchased wifi @ 6 euros a day and air con @ 80 euros per week. Wifi was good signal. Aircon in the living room stopped working mid-second week but the owner was quick to get someone in to fix it on a Saturday which in Greece is unheard of! Nice large dining table also downstairs. Upstairs is 2 bedrooms, 1 double with ensuite bathroom and 1 with 2 single beds. Comfy with enough pillows and lots of extra bedding. aircon also upstairs which was fine. Downstairs toilet and family bathroom also upstairs. Parking for two cars (one in a roofed area). Pool is 1.6m deep all around so be careful with little ones who can't swim, no shallow end! 4 sunbeds also. Outside eating is great with 2 tables and plenty of chairs, but watch for the wasps and flies that suddenly appear when food arrives! BBQ also available and we regularly had BBQ's (just needed a bit of a clean first!). A family of cats (mu, dad & kitten plus a random ginger) arrived quite cautiously and me being a cat lover fed them every day when they arrived promptly @ 7am for breakfast and 7pm for dinner! The local village Prina is beautiful has 2 local taverna's, we tried both and food & service amazing in both! So cheap too, anything between 20 and 30 euros for a family of 3. They also love to bring you meze (like starter portions) with drinks so you don't need to order starters at all. you get to try local food not found in the tourist areas. Istron is good for lots of different places to eat (pizza, gyros, souvlaki, steak etc), and a couple of small but well appointed food shops, 20 min drive to there. Lidl in Irepetra 15 mins the other way out of Prina. Beach at Istron is OK, not a perfect sandy beach tho. Agios Nikolaos sooo busy, would avoid completely unless you want to be in busy touristy areas. We would recommend this villa to anyone and would be really happy to stay again.

The villa is located just outside the small village of Prina which is equidistant between Istro on the Sea of Crete and Irapetra on the Sea of Libya. Both are 15 minutes away by good but winding roads. Rafaela has another villa, Nicoletta close by and the former is on the uphill side and definitely in less shade from mid afternoon onwards. It is approached by a steep concrete track and has a garage in which swallows nest. Nikos the owner, welcomed us on our arrival but we only saw him again on our last day. The village has a local taverna and there is also one below the villa on the side road to Kalamafka which is a short drive away and has a number of good tavernas and the nearest mini market. The nearest Ldl shops are in Irapetra and off the main road to Krista near to Agios Nikalaos. The villa has an 8 metre pool which has a constant depth of 5 feet and it is well maintained. There is plenty of room on the terrace and great views across to the village and the hillside opposite with its pretty white church. The terrace furniture is dated with a random collection of tables and chairs. Inside the kitchen/lounge has a satellite TV and lots of kitchen appliances. The tall fridge/freezer is very noisy when running and both the cutlery and the ceramics need an upgrade in quantity and quality. There are two comfy sofas and a large dining table. Upstairs are two bedrooms, one with a double bed and a very congested one with twins, together with two bathrooms. All the rooms had aircon units and the locally payable cost was 80 euros per week, similarly WiFi was 40 euros per week. It was very easy to use the villa as a base for travelling around the area and the roads were empty and in good condition. Everybody was very friendly and it was easy to walk around the village by day and night. During the week the villa wasn't cleaned inside and the towels/linen weren't changed either. This is a lovely villa, in a lovely place but it needs some attention to make it suitable for four adults and a broken stair rail and blinds should have been dealt with.