Let me start by saying that I would much rather be writing a 5 star review of this villa, just like the prior reviewers who motivated us to rent the villa for 10 days. Alas, in good conscience, I cannot.
The villa is quaint in a rustic sort of way (although overrun by ants, even if you are careful about putting the food away) and it lies in the town of Lefkogeia at the end of a rambling alley full of one and two story homes, some of which are in a state of disrepair or have been half-finished and abandoned. The town of Lefkogeia itself is convenient, albeit unremarkable with the exception of the excellent Taverna Stelios, where we dined almost every night. The nearby beaches are quite nice and characterized by small to medium sized coves with some great areas for snorkeling, swimming and relaxed sunbathing.
Our group was large and included many young children and while we did our best to keep the place neat, there were times when LEGO parts, books and clothes were strewn all over the floor. Since we are the sort of people who keep our own homes clean and organized, we made it a point to tidy everything up at the end of every day. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, we did not realize that the proprietress, Betty, was coming by to clean the villa on a Sunday and we were caught unprepared — we had left in a hurry to visit a monastery and then the fortress at Rethymno, so the place was in a state of disarray and we intended to put our things away upon our return later that afternoon (it was, after all supposed to be a vacation!). That evening, without so much as a phone call or message via WhatsApp (we were using it to communicate with Betty), we received the following email from the booking agency, etouri:
“Ms. Betty is terribly upset by the way she found the villa today. She has been renting her villa to clients for the past ten years and she told me she has never seen the villa in such a state. The floors were full of things thrown all over the place; toys, boardgames, clothes, undergarments, to name a few. There was so much stuff everywhere she couldn’t even clean properly.
She feels you are not regardful of her villa and has asked me to inform you to please pick up after yourself, and if she finds the villa on the 1st of Aug. (next cleaning) in the state in was in today she will ask you to leave. At that point we will refund you your money for the last days.”
Notwithstanding her 1/2 apology a week later, Betty’s eviction notice and persistent needling and strange behavior unsettled all of us, kids included, and injected unnecessary stress into our vacation. I’ve travelled the world with my family and rented homes dozens of times in dozens of countries without incident. My rating as a guest on Airbnb is excellent and I make it a point to be a considerate tourist. I only wish that the villa and its management had lived up to prior reviews.
For these reasons, Villa Pente Anemoi, Betty and etouri travel earned one star from all of us.