Villa Janoula
Skepasti, Rethymno, Crete, Greece
Nestled amongst olive groves on the edge of the small Greek village of Skepasti, with stunning 180 degree views that include Mount Psiloritis, Villa Janoula is only minutes drive from bustling small towns and many stunning beaches. This beautiful villa has a pool and large roof terrace for all day secluded sunbathing. The villa is centrally located on Crete's north coast with direct access to the island's national road and so offers a great base from which to explore the wonderful island of Crete.
Villa Janoula aims to create home-from-home comfort, with thoughtful touches throughout. The villa sleeps up to 6 adults in 3 bedrooms, but also offers a sofa bed in the living room.
Interior
Living Room
Relax the moment you walk through the door in a welcoming, comfortable living space. The living rom provides a large L-shaped sofa with a separate three-seater sofa. Entertainment is provided by an LG Smart TV with the usual apps - Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube and others downloadable from the LG app store. Remember to sign out of any apps before you leave. We also have a DVD player and an extensive DVD library, and a now-vintage original XBox and plenty of games. We have a wooden chess and backgammon board (backgammon, or "tavlee" is the Greek national sport!) and card games (with poker chips, if you're feeling competitive). There are a range of books to read, on a take-one, leave-one basis: don't worry if you haven't finished a book by the end of your holiday, you can take it with you. The wifi signal is reliable, and since Greek houses have to be built with lots of supporting steel, there are numerous wifi range extenders plugged in throughout the house, to help the signal.
Kitchen
The villa has a well-equipped kitchen for easy meals at home, with a 4-ring halogen hob, eye-level oven and microwave for cooking. We have a kettle and coffee maker for budding baristas (takes grounds and has a milk frother). A large fridge-freezer and full-sized dishwasher complete the kitchen equipment, though we have many small appliances, including a Nutribullet smoothie maker, a 4 slice toaster and sandwich toaster. We have all the utensils, pots, and pans you'll need, and of course glasses, crockery and plenty of cutlery. You are welcome to use any dry goods, herbs, and spices you find, though of course we clean out the fridge between guests. Best of all, we provide cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, from the fruit of the villa's olive trees, harvested by our own hands - almost... we actually stood around watching the real experts Georgos, Yiannis and Baljit do most of the work, but it still tastes better when you've grown it yourself! Georgos' top tip for a healthy life is to drink a shot glass of it every day, and we concur that this year's crop is "rather drinkable".
Bedrooms
We have two double and two single beds in three bedrooms, all with memory foam matresses and plenty of sheets and pillows. We provide soft, fluffy towels and high-end bedding for restful nights. We have plenty of warm blankets and covers for those staying out of season. Blackout curtains and exterior shutters allow you to sleep late, if like us you prefer total darkness. For those on a working holiday we provide a small desk, a laptop stand, both a 16" portable external monitor and stand, and a Samsung 24" curved desktop monitor and a bluetooth keyboard and mouse - laptop not included, obviously.