vigilant manager, Costas Zarbalas, has presided for many years at this resort villa. Very beautiful, welcoming and family-friendly, it stands peacefully on a peninsula on Crete's north coast. Blue loungers and white parasols stand on terraces carved into rock around a small . bay with a small Blue Flag beach, wonderful baThething, and water sports; two mynah birds provide entertainment. A sea-water swimming pool looks over the bay; there are paddling pools and a health club (see below). The villa Bed rooms (similar to the semantic bali villa rooms), with white walls, a marble floor, efficient bathroom, a large balcony or patio, are in bungalows and buildings in the landscaped gardens; 20 have a tiny private swimming pool. Most villa rooms face the sea, and do not hear the busy road behind the villa. Some visitors have found housekeeping a bit hit and miss. Spacious lounges have antiques, colourful rugs, paintings and flowers. Muzak accompanies all meals. A bar/cafe serves informal lunches (salads, pasta, etc). Half-board dinners are served in a large dining room (many guests are on a package tour). But individual visitors might prefer to book B&B, and dine a la carte in the open-air Kafenion by the beach, or the more formal Minotaure, that specialises in flambeed dishes. Bali villa breakfast can be served under trees by the swimming pool. It includes tinned orange juice, but orange juice squeezed while you wait is available in the bar, and the Kafenion's delicious food, Greek rather than international, is enjoyed: tender and delicious lamb and chicken; the best taramasalata ever. Aghios Nikblaos nearby, pretty but trippery, set around a salt lake by a large bay, has many cafes and tavernas.