Anidri Eco-cottages

Facilities

• Dining: Most guests self-cater, using the shared kitchen. The nearest shops and restaurants are in Paleochora (5km); there's also a seasonal cafe in Anidri (500m). If you don't fancy making your own breakfast, ask Mario at the time of booking and he may be able to arrange it.
• Communal areas: Each cottage has a simple kitchen-dining room with a table for 5-6, plus outdoor furniture.
  
  There's also a seminar / yoga room (50m2) with underfloor heating, hi-tech function facilities (LCD projector, DVD, sound system), ISDN internet, bathroom, and its own dining terrace.
  
  You are free to roam the 8000m2 of land, and pick from the olive, orange, mandarine, guava and grapefruit trees which shade the grounds.
• Internet Access: ISDN internet in the seminar room
• Swimming Pool: No pool
• Meetings/Functions: Anidri Eco-cottages is fully geared up for small group conferences, offsite meetings and creative courses. It can sleep 12 in 6 rooms, and has a superb seminar room seating up to 20.
• Disabled Access: No
• Pets: Welcome by prior arrangement
• Languages Spoken: English, German, some Greek

Also...

• Transfers to Paleochora are available for non-drivers
  
  
• A clay yurt-like meditation room is being built for 2011

Environmental Policy

The houses are built around a wooden framework, filled with mud and straw, and strengthened by local stone. The clay surfacing is from Chania, the gateway city on the north of the island. A slightly surreal touch is the tilting balcony guardrail, which on closer inspection turns out to be a huge solar panel. Water is supplied from a mountain spring, which means no shortages in summer (unlike other parts of the island). The sewage, in case you’re interested, is treated in a 3-chamber reed bed, so you can be sure your stay is having a minimal impact on the environment.

When to go?

Every season has its charm, but don’t underestimate the elements. Summer (late June- early Sep) is the busiest, with loads of sunshine, barely a drop of rain, and lots of people on the beaches (esp. August). Spring (April-May) and autumn (Sep-Oct) are deservedly popular, with clear days, colourful flowers and a few tourists (esp. hikers). Early April is best for flowers, early October for quiet swims. Winter (Nov-March) is cool and occasionally very windy, but it's typically several degrees warmer than continental Europe, and barely another tourist in sight.

Author's tips

If you're into hiking, get the Anavasi map (at the time of writing, there's a 1:50,000 showing the White Mts to the east of Anidri, and a 1:100,000 showing all of western Crete). Armed with this and the ferry timetable, you can do at least 4 day hikes: the E4 from Paleochora to Souyia, the Ayia Eirini gorge from Souyia, the Samaria gorge from Ayia Roumeli, and the path from Anidri to Azogires.

For some background reading, you can't beat Christopher Somerville's The Golden Step, a honest, humorous and at times poetic account of his hike across the length of Crete, starting at Chrysoskalitissa monastery.

Features include:

• Organic produce
• Vegetarian menu
• Breakfast
• Dinner by arrangement
• In house cook
• Garden
• Towels & Linen provided
• Laundry service
• Internet access
• Meeting rooms
• Function facilities
• Pets welcome by arrangement
• Off street parking
• Airport Transfers