Visitors Book Comments for Sophia's House

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Please note we no longer offer pool heating

October 2016
Helen, Carl, Owen, Lewis and George
Had a fantastic stay. The villa is lovely, the views amazing and the heated pool a Godsend, the kids were in everyday.
Loved the donkey walk to Gavalohori, the tavern next to the war memorial was amazing.
Hope to be back
The Frith Family April 2017
We enjoyed our week in Almyrida, the views were stunning and food was lovely. We spent in Rethymno and stayed in a hotel a night.
p.s. the pool was lovely and warm.
Hope to be back Alex aged 8
Had an absolutely lovely stay at Sophia's House. The Villa is really nice, the view is great and I am so grateful the pool is heated at this time of year!
The food is EXTREMELY tasty compared to boring English cuisine! Would recommend Rethymno, Chania and Almyrida as places to go during your visit. Really, really, really, really (etc.) hope to revisit!
Mia aged 12
Sinita and Toby, April 2017
A lovely stay in a beautiful place.
We visited Rethymno,  Knossos, Heraklion and Gavalohori (twice!)
Enjoyed canoeing, reading, cooking and being in these lovely surroundings.
The Cretan people have been very hospitable.
Thank You!
September 2016
Great views, especially from the roof terrace, good for looking at the stars at night!
Villa is a lovely spot.
Eagle watching from the patio/pool area was fascinating.
We did the donkey trail to Gavalohori and enjoyed the taverna next to the war memorial (see our map in the blue folder for the donkey trail).
Excellent food at Elpis at Plaka. Lots of trips out beaches e.g. Falasarna, Georgeopolis etc
But a must is a visit to Aptera to see the excavation/fortress.
Also go to Akrotiri  Peninsula and Agia Triada Monastery, on to Gouverneto the down the path to the bear cave and Katholiko at the bottom, down the gorge to the sea (if you are agile enough to get to the ground!!). more info


Great holiday at Sophia's House
August 2016
We've had a lovely relaxing holiday here the villa and surroundings are beautiful.
Great snorkelling with Omega in Almyrida We saw an octopus, which was the highlight.
Delicious baklava from the bakery in the town. Ate lots of it during our fortnight here!
Nice cooling frappes' with ice-cream in the place with orange chairs next door to Makis` in Almyrida. Great place to sit and people watch!
If you need a decent proper supermarket then head to the Inka store at Souda- it is larger than all the others and it seems to be the place where the locals do their shopping.
Next door to the this store is the fishmonger where we bought delicious fresh sardines and tuna which we cooked on the BBQ.
All in all a fabulous holiday.
Sarah and Mike Cornwall uk
July 2016
We had a wonderful time at Sophia's House. Fabulous villa, great weather and Almyrida is lovely.
Isobel was so helpful.
Thank you for making our holiday so enjoyable!
Sn, Jan and Olivia
June 2016
We have spent 12 wonderful days in Sophia's House!
Beautiful villa, beautiful views, peaceful and relaxing!
The heated pool is an absolute bonus!
Loved the area, loved the village, loved the restaurants and people!
Thank you Ruth for a fantastic holiday!
Hope to return one day!
Tasmin, James, Janet and Steve
Bristol

June 2016
A return to Crete and the Almyrida area but first visit to Sophia's House, hopefully not the last!
A wonderful week spending time with family who are resident locally and doing our own thing.
Enjoyable time spent in Rethymno, Chania, Kournas lake, Elafonissi beach and many others sites and beaches locally.
Excellent ice-cream can be had from the Italian ice-cream parlour next door to the Pear Tree shop in Almyrida-give it a try!
Good food at Makis in Almyrida, and tavernas in Plaka, Vamos and Gavalahori to name but a few.
Can recommend the Samaria Gorge trip if you are comfortable walking reasonable distances and have sturdy footwear plus are prepared for an early start! (it's a long day).

more Samaria Gorge info
As for Sophia's House, loved the swimming with the superb views, and breakfast on the terrace each morning was fantastic-can't wait for a revisit sometime.
Lizzy, Rob and Alec Berkshire

May 2016
We had the most lovely visit to Sophia's House, we really enjoyed the pool, and the fantastic roof with stunning views. The sunsets were amazing from up there.
We made several trips to Almirida, the beach there is really good and perfect for families.
We went to a few restaurants/ tavernas there we really recommend Makis. It has a wide range of foods and the waiters are very friendly.
For stocking up on food and goods we recommend the Pear Tree, it's got a lot of good sfae foods but can be pricey.
We made a day trip to Elafonissi beach, its a very long drive but worth it for the stunning views.
The beach itself has beautifully turquoise seas and is a must to visit.
We really enjoyed the Chania market it has a lot of great authentic Greek produce.
For the house itself, was lovely but be aware that the toilet floor had water on it and the fridge seemed to leek. But otherwise, me and my family had the most spectacular time at Sophia's House and know that it won't be our last visit to Crete


"lovely villa beautiful views. a welcome break from flooded UK! our favorite beach was kyani akti
(up the hill towards Kalami and right at the flags) park behind the taverna. buy a drink and a sandwich and the parasols are free! visits to Chania and Rethimnon a must, but we went early to avoid the heat later in the day."

March-April 2016
Wow! As our 8 year son Alex said-this has been the bestest holiday! Villa Sophia is just lovely-the views the birds the lovely pool and all the amenities you could want.
Crete itself -most glorious beaches at Elafonissi and Frangokastello-magical.
We had the latter completely to ourselves, sand almost too hot to touch, swimming with fishes.
Fabulous scenery- driving across the island fairly easy and just breathtaking!
Visit to Knossos, Rethymno and several to Chania. Yesterdays trip on Captain Nicks glass bottom boat huge fun and good value.
And the foods just fabulous-two good evening meals in Dimitris and Pharos, Cafe Francoise great for a drink and watching the world go by (fab milkshakes says Alex).
 lovely lunchtime meals particularly Kutikos in Kalives and a lovely little backstreet taverna in Rethymnon.
All in all a lovely holiday to remember. We return to the UK relaxed, tanned and very reluctantly!
Ross, Richard, and Alex, Worthing

 

 

woodhouse family

 

"Fantastic villa-superb views-lovely location, the infinity pool was a great bonus!thank you. villa well equipped for creature comforts. it's great to be back in Crete again, one of us was here first in the summer of 69 after leaving school we celebrated our silver wedding in Vamos 02 and were back in Douliana 05 our favorite eateries are taverna "Ta Douliana" in Douliana Taverna "Apospoitis" in Gavalohori and of course Bloumosit's Cafeteria in Vamos Kalives is particularly quaint. Loutraki beach on Akrotiri peninsular is wonderful, Ellafonissi beach has to be the jewel in the crown! the Caribbean of the med1 if you were here in the 60's check out Matala and try to locate cave bloke ciz zero Paul the apostle"left Tithos in Crete "what a great location thank you god for providing such a wonderful holiday for us in your Mediterranean garden."

 

McClelland family

 

"great villa with lovely views. Almirida beach was great for snorkeling on left and safe for swimming on right with huge waves when the wind got up. Polis also good snorkeling. small cove the other side of Plaka fantastic, remote,great fish, sandy but no amenities Rethymnon great shopping not just tourist things avoid taverna's on quay side as they are twice the price Chania great but hot, saturday fruit and veg market a must, behind best western hotel at top point of Chania 8-noon a visit to the re-cycled glass factory just past Plaka a must hand luggage items only! our last day today and the clouds have arrived to see us off, must be time to go home. p.s. floors in villa get very slippery when wet.

p.s. if you find a grasshopper on one of the sun loungers, his name's Fred

 

Russell family

 

"A week in this lovely spot was a treat for us all good restaurants Kalyves- "Piovlita" on the waterfront- very good food but not expensive Megalia Horafia- "Cretan corner" English run, very helpful beach front taverna at Kyani Akti beach

good walks-
1. Imbros gorge
2. from xylokalia (above Omalos) to Kallergi mountain hut

good beaches-
1. Stavros beach on akrotiri peninsular"

John, Elizabeth & Laura

 

"This beautiful villa has superb views, every morning the mountains look different
the locals of Almirida are lovely people and very welcoming. Rethymno is a great night out, down "Greek alley" and excellent
for shopping for pressies! food is fabulous, full of flavour, try the fried mushrooms. the flat roof above the villa is great for catching the sun and the pool is good for cooling off, but don't do a bomb, take my word for it!
definitely the place to come for a relaxing and fun packed holiday with the girls, absolutely amazing, definitely be returning

Toni Corden


"Had the BEST time at sophia's house. lots to remember views were wonderful and had great weather locals were very nice, food was fab. great place to relax and have fun with the girls will be back soon".

Laura Mcfaul

 

"had a great time, people are very nice (George) food is great thanks for a great time Ruth!! x"

Andrea harman



"we had a fantastic stay. its really nice here. (kali dhiaskedhaoi) have fun. hope you have a good holiday with your family
we enjoyed "Sirocas" at Rethymno , you can park down near the restaurant and it's right on the beach, brilliant sea view,nice lunches, not expensive."enjoy"
thanks Ruth"

Lynn & Chris Kasper

 


"Thank you Ruth & John for a holiday to remember, wonderful weather, beautiful views, everything for a great stay.you could wish for the villa is so well equipped with everything you could need favourite beach in Almirida, so safe for children & adults alike. will be returning soon, you can bank on it."
thanks again Ruth & John.

Eric & Margaret Broughton
we'll definitly recommend to everyone

 

dear Ruth, John & visitors
"WOW!!! you will see yourself the breath taking views from dawn till dusk, but if your free and single you need to check out the swooning views in the town paramedics,armed police and firemen MAGNIFICENT!!!!
Almirida beach is my favorite beach, where fishes swim around your feet whilst paddling, the villa is great, a lot of work & thought by Ruth & John with all the things you could need, made my stay comfortable
thanks Ruth & John"

Louise Cornwall

 


"Ruth & John, great time, wonderful villa, views are amazing, shopping in Rethimno very good villa very well equipped every need was well thought of even down to needles and cotton pool was fun and very clean all in all a home from home but with lots of sun.
thanks again
hope to come back soon with my family"

Annie Hollingsworth



"We have had a great time. villa superb, country fantastic
thank you so much
John & Ruth
we will be back"

The Carter crowd

"The last night of our holiday has arrived and we are very sad to be leaving In Crete for 2 weeks, one of them spent here in lovely villa Sophia. really enjoyed the pool, Our children learned to swim in it- so very successful, local beach very pleasant and safe for children. But definitely worth a trip to Falasarna on the western side, stunning beach, turquoise sea, found a little cove beautiful.
Too hot when we were here to enjoy Chania although it did look very pretty
Villa is very cleverly designed, great feeling of space we never got on top of each other. thanks also for the selection of books and DVD's it felt like home from home - without the homework.

MY NAME IS MOLLIE AND I AM 6 YEARS OLD
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME USE THE WORDSEARCH
I REALLY ENJOYED IT,
ALSO LOVED THE HOUSE

 

the O'Kelly family

"Be very careful of wet floors really slippy when wet. views are great the villa is well equipt with ever thing you need. the water park is a must and dunes bar down the road is the best food going, the fish is like moby dick and the staff are really friendly
avoid the greek place opposite, not good at all. hope you all enjoy your hols as much as we have.
have fun.X
p.s. for a great beach go to Georgioupoli beach. it lovely."

Harries family

"We've had a lovely holiday. the villa is fantastic, beautifully positioned, clean and very well equipped. views - stunning,
places to eat all worth trying, especially "Dimitris" in Almirida, and "Aposperitis" in Gavalahori. Our two young boys loved the pool - in fact they loved everything so much they want to live here-
so I suspect we will be back again!"
the fieldhouse family


"Oh well it's the last day of our holiday and although we have just spent the most fantastic three weeks here,
we could all happily stay for another three.
The location of Sophia's house is absolutely beautiful. stunning views, peace and quiet and a lovely villa that provides real home from home comforts. This is our second visit to Crete, and we know for sure it won't be the last. Visits to Chania and Rethymon town were great for both shopping and eating out. Lake kourna is a great day out, providing some breath taking scenery. To be quite honest there is nothing here to dislike.
Thanks Ruth and John for providing the opportunity for us to stay in such a beautiful place as Aspro.
hope to visit again in the future.


"Lovely villa, peaceful, private, with everything we needed (especially once electricity supply sorted out).we enjoyed, and recommend: any drive south over the white mountains - spectacular.
Frangokastello (fortress & beach) via the Impros gorge - the road down the side of the mountains is still under construction and a bit hairy in places, but the views over to the south are incredible. Sougia beach - again, amazing drive,(particularly great beach for "au naturel")pebbly (sandy)

Falassarna beach on west side of island - miles of sand & dunes, busy weekends.well worth visiting Chania for shopping and to eat if like us you prefer small quiet beaches & coves there are only two nearby the best one is just before Kera near the top of the hill park on the road and take the winding track on foot don't be tempted to drive down (as we did ) you won't be able to get back, even in a 4x4! the other is just past Plaka go through the town and bear left. probably worth asking for directions, but worth it.
ENJOY!!
p.s. if you want to rent DVD's in Kalyves, take your passport & driving license as I.D."

David & Hazel - east-sussex

 

"Hello John & Ruth.
Sitting at the pool in the sunshine thanks for having us over. I hope you will have a lovely time, as we did. enjoyed our stay in your intimate and quiet villa, with no cars, no noise, and the beautiful views I have tried out your kitchen equipment because I love to cook, and nobody wanted to leave Sophia's house.
I will be in touch after my return to holland.
thanks a million times again."
Hans Amsterdam