Villa Ippocampi

Small, family-friendly hotel near Crete's north coast, set in a walled garden with a sparkling pool

In the hillside village of Koutouloufari, with views down to Crete’s busy north coast, Villa Ippocampi makes a surprisingly blissful retreat for a family summer holiday or an off-season escape a deux. I say 'surprisingly' because it's so close to the brash beach resort of Hersonissos, but that's easily avoided, and the atmosphere here is a world away.

Laid-back and restful, the white Cycladic-style building offers 13 simple but stylish suites of various sizes, each with a kitchenette. Set in a walled garden planted with lavender, bougainvillea, geraniums and a towering palm tree, it gives onto a lovely pool and poolside café serving coffee, cocktails and light meals till sunset, after which peace reigns.

The owners are a Greek-Dutch couple. Nikos, whose parents started the hotel in the 1980s, originates from the village, while his Dutch wife Lydia has lived on the island since 1984. They have two daughters (now at university) and are great at making families feel welcome. Children will love the sociable pool, family cats and countless little ceramic and soap seahorses - Ippocampi means ‘seahorse’ in Greek - which are dotted around the suites.

With sandy beaches just a 5-minute drive away and the mountain villages of the Lasithi Plateau accessible within half an hour, there’s plenty for adults, too. And lying midway between Heraklion and Agios Nikolaos, Villa Ippocampi is a good base for visiting Crete’s top museums and archaeological sites.

Highs

• Really personal service and friendly welcoming atmosphere - many guests are return visitors
• We loved the simple but attractive blue-white décor, pepped up with pink flowers, ceramic jars and flickering lanterns
• Very peaceful and private, thanks to the hedges and walled gardens
• Lovely pool and café where guests mingle and kids find playmates
• Lying between the sea and mountains, low-key Koutouloufari offers a handful of authentic eateries and informal cafes frequented by locals

Lows

• The horribly commercialised resorts of Hersonissos-Malia-Stalida are only 5km away, but easily avoided
• No restaurant - the poolside café serves breakfast and light meals until 9pm, but for a proper dinner you’ll need to go out
• The terraces of the ground-floor suites at the front look straight onto the pool area, so lack privacy
• If you're here as a couple in the summer holidays, you might feel overwhelmed by kids