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Elounda Island Villas

Elounda, Crete

Kids

All children are welcome. Toddlers go free (cots are available). Children sleeping in normal beds count as adults, in terms of room pricing.

  • Family friendly accommodation: Cots Available, Extra Beds Available
  • Baby equipment: Baby cots available on request

More family-friendly hotels in our »

  • Budget Apartments

  • 10

    Why?

  • No

    Why?

  • Limited restaurant

  • All ages welcome

  • 11 Jan 2012 - 14 May 2012

Print Elounda Island Villas Guide
EssentialsReviews
Save to favouritesPrintMailElounda Island VillasThe Gulf of Mirabello is one of the most picturesque stretches of coast on northern Crete, and one of the busiest. Elounda is hotel central, bustling with 5-star resorts and all manner of watersports within its enclosed lagoon. But just offshore, connected to the town by a causeway and an old stone bridge, is a little island which feels a world away. In Minoan times, this was a wealthy port: you can still see traces of the stonework beneath the surface of the clear blue sea. Now there's hardly any traffic at all: just 3 ruined windmills and an open-air taverna where, over delicious courgette cakes and tzatziki, you can watch fishing boats chug home through the canal. On this islet there is just one proper building – and there probably won't ever be more, given the strict planning laws that came into force after it was finished in the 1970s. It's a cluster of 10 interconnected apartments in cubist Greek style: whitewashed and boxy, with paved patios, fragrant gardens, and olive and carob trees for shade. It sits 100m from the bridge, with a small, safe, sandy beach in front, and a bank of photovoltaic panels behind (it's entirely solar powered). Not only is it family-friendly, it’s also family-run: you're warmly welcomed by artistic Lida and her parents Kiki and Ilias, who run the place with a laid-back, English-speaking ease. If you want action, nearby Elounda offers bars, shops and boat trips to the former leper island of Spinalonga; and bustling Agios Nikolaos is only 10 minutes' drive away. This spot makes a delightful, friendly base for an undemanding family or couple wanting to relax by the sea and explore some of eastern Crete, without spending the kind of money demanded by other Elounda hotels.

Book this hotelRates from 70EUR

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