We spent a lovely couple of weeks in Betty and Elias' house in Lefkogeia. We realised October is a perfect month to visit Crete, temperature was about 25°, a couple of slightly cloudy days but otherwise glorious. The house itself is compact and very comfortable. Very comfortable bed. While we ate out a lot we also did a bit of cooking and were happy with the kitchen facilities. Lefkogeia is well placed for access to archaeological and other sites. 10 minutes by car or 40 minutes walking to local beaches. We liked Schinaria but also visited Amoudi, Damnoni and the long beach at Plakias. Further afield there are great beaches at Ligres, Agios Pavlos and others. Great walks from the village. There's a lovely 1 hour walk from Lefkogeia to Plakias. Nice friendly restaurants locally, particularly Stelios Taverna. A bit further away at Mirthios just above Plakias there are 3 or 4 wonderful restaurants. Any of the restaurants in Mirthios are worth a shot. Great traditional food. As other guests have noted Betty and Elias are wonderful hosts and delightful company. We had a lovely couple of weeks and are planning to visit again.

Sehr schönes Quartier fuer 2 mitten im Dorf, Supermarkt und Tavernen um die Ecke, sehr nette Vermieter, fuer Familien mit Kindern sei die Lefkogia Farm empfohlen, ein Paradies fuer Tierliebhaber.

Notre petit appart tout équipé à Lefkogia était de tout confort et repos. Situé dans une allée bien entretenue, étroite et typique de Crète, il était bon d’y retourner à la fin de la journée et d’apprécier le calme du quartier. Betty et son mari sont des gens généreux de leur personne, qui traitent leurs invités aux petits soins et qui n’hésitent pas à partager leurs connaissances sur les endroits à découvrir aux horizons. Notre séjour à Lefkogia fut de toute beauté.

What an adorable place! It was absolutely perfect for our holiday, away from the crowds and situated in a lovely village with a choice of cafes to eat in all serving lovely food and very welcoming. The house felt very homely and has been renovated to a great standard and very sympathetically by Betty and her husband.They also own other rental properties which they showed us and would be suitable for larger groups. They too are fabulous and have tempted me to try and get a group together and go back!Betty was very attentive to our needs and available at all times for any questions we had. We spent a lovely evening at their beautiful farm, showing us all the animals and olives etc, certainly seems like they have (in my opinion!) an idyllic life of self sufficiency but not without alot of hard work! It was great to meet them both and all their recommendations of places to go were to some of the best places that we visited during our stay. I can't recommend their hosting highly enough. I would certainly go back and staying in their lovely little Greek house would almost feel like going home! Thank you very much 😊

We broke our ethos of never going back to somewhere and we are very glad we did! Once again, Betty and Ilias extended their fantastic warm Cretan hospitality to make our holiday yet another one to remember! We were looked after in a way which no other holiday rental has ever done for us and we were made to feel part of their "extended family"! Betty and Ilias make their very hard work look very easy to ensure that their three properties are tailored to suit all tastes from the quaint and quirky at Lefkogia Prevelis to the large, multi floored family Villa 5 Anemoi and the homely farm property near Amoudi beach. Many reviews for these three properties are from those people, like us, who are returning year-on-year and do so because of the excellence of not only the properties themselves but because they offer the traveler the best of all worlds. They are situated in the most ideal of locations offering access to much of the central to northern area of Crete and provide idyllic refuge from the hustle and bustle of "Main Town Crete". A choice of excellent beaches are close to hand with the busy sea-side town of Plakias offering g a stark contrast to the quiet, secluded sun-trap beaches of Amoudi, Damnoni and Skinaria and all just minutes driving distance from the properties. At this point, I would like to say a very public THANK YOU to Betty and Ilias for making this holiday another very special one and, if bookings allow, to see you again soon! This is a place which should be placed very high on your lists of MUST-GO-TO destinations and experience for yourself the finest Cretan hospitality, the beautiful Cretan countryside and the best traditional Cretan cuisine!

It is difficult to write a review and not repeat what has been said so well by many others, but … if you want a holiday that is more Cretan and less touristy, this is the place for you. You will be living amongst local friendly, helpful people, staying in a simple, rustic and yet stylish, comfortable little house. In the village itself you can eat honest, traditional, great value food. The chattering sparrows will wake you in the morning and the chattering Cretan ladies will send you to sleep in the evenings. From the balcony you overlook the narrow alley way below, but also enjoy fantastic glimpses of the surrounding hills. The lovely beaches are just a short ride away and there is so much to explore in this area; a wide choice of beaches, some secluded but others bigger and set up for the tourists; mountainous areas and valleys; beautiful coastline stretching off into distant mountain scenery. We loved Shinaria beach and the museum in Asomatos is definitely worth a visit. It’s particularly moving to read about German occupation in WW2. Explore the monasteries at Preveli and churches at every turn in the road, especially one hiding half way down the Kourtaliotiko Gorge. And finally to our hosts - Betty and Illias. They are a major part of the experience. They are already providing unique accommodation, which is fantastic value for money but they also bring a personal touch to the visit, which makes it an inclusive experience, rather than just a touristy one. They are so friendly, welcoming, helpful and informative. Like others, we were lucky enough to spend some time with them on their lovely farm and we enjoyed very much our discussions about the lives of ordinary Cretans, as well as the Greek experience in Europe! We had a very happy holiday, not least thanks to them. … and their home produced olive oil? mmm delicious!

Trying to keep this review short will be difficult when there is so much to say about this wonderful little cottage we have just had the pleasure of staying in. As a 50-something active couple, we were looking for quirky charm, out of the way of noisy nightlife but good access to towns, beaches and Cretan history. Well, what we got was all this and so much more. Betty and Elias (the owners ) have created not just another "holiday rental " but a cottage that actually feels like a home that welcomes you back each day from your breathtaking journeys around this most beautiful of islands. Tucked away up a narrow alleyway this little cottage offers a romantic piece of Cretan village life with a stunning view of the mountains (one of which I have christened "The Giants Bike-rack") and the graceful soaring of Eagles and Griffon Vultures. Swallows, Martins, and sparrows entertained us with chattering, swooping displays as we relaxed with breakfast on the shady balcony. Together, Betty, Elias and the cottage have managed to make us break our rule of never going twice to the same place. We are now organising our next visit either later this year or around spring or autumn 2016. Our biggest decision will be not " if" we return but "which property " will we stay in? Having now seen all 3 homes, (we wanted to see them for ourselves as photos can only describe part of the whole feel of a place ), it will be a tough decision. For stunning views over the Cretan landscape to greet us every morning and to relax into with a Raki each glorious sunset we would choose the modern farm. However, we love the village of Lefkogia and the abundance of Cretan hospitality from the tavernas to the excellently stocked supermarket. So this would mean either back to the small cottage or, and this could solve our "no return " rule, choose the century-old multi bedroomed, multi-level, Anemoi-5. Whatever we choose we know with absolute certainty that Betty, Elias and Crete will once more make it very difficult to go home to the UK.

Everything you've read in the other reviews is correct - this is a great place to stay in if you want a real Cretan holiday in a real Cretan village with extremely helpful hosts (but only one of them is Cretan!).

Lovely little house in an idealistic part of South Crete. 5 minutes away from 3 beautiful beeches. Lefkogeia is a friendly place to visit and don't forget to say hi to Costas in the Supermarket. Would say car hire is a must. The apartment is made up to a high standard. The bedroom upstairs leads on to the balcony where you can sit out and watch the world go by. Betty and Ilias couldn't have looked after us better, they have a beautiful farm on the outskirts of town and even gave us our introduction to horse riding. We loved our time there. Closest beach is Almudi, a quaint little cala, which offers live music in the evening. The perfect environment to escape the stresses of modern life. You wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Where to start! We arrived after an easy flight from Bristol to Heraklion and drove the hour and a half to Lefkoyia through increasingly grand scenery. We were met by Betty who showed us the house and immediately made us feel welcome. Later in the holiday we met her husband at the farm for drinks (homemade raki and wine) and they are both lovely people and very friendly. The house had everything one needs for basic self catering, the living room/kitchen is downstairs with the shower and loo and a staircase of ten steps takes you up to the spacious bedroom and balcony beyond where we sat in the morning sun and to get cool in the evening. Lefkoyia itself has two tavernas, a small supermarket and a coffee/snack bar, all friendly and very good value. The prices in Southern Crete seem to be cheaper than on the north coast and this was also the case at the various beach tavernas in the area. Talking of which, the beaches nearby were fabulous (Palm Beach at Preveli, Skimaria, Eunda to mention a few) and the range of walks and sights to see mean that we will definitely be returning to this area as soon as we can. To sum up, I would say this is the best holiday we have ever had. I can't recommended it more than that!