About Us

We are a small privately owned limited company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 5207604.

The company was started in 2002 by Janet when she began renting her own house in Kokkino Chorio, near Chania. The company has grown gradually since then and in April 2013, Jan was joined by Julie, who also has a house in Kokkino Horio. We aim for very high standards and therefore we check out every villa before it's featured on our website. 

A personal message from our managing director

Our ethos has always been to offer a high quality personal service and to provide you with a well equipped, well maintained holiday villa. We know all of the villas that we feature on this website and we are in regular contact with the owners, many of whom use their villa as their own holiday home. You can therefore expect a house or villa that is furnished and equipped to a much higher standard than you might expect in a “standard” rental property. You can normally expect to find a full cooker, fridge/freezer, washing machine, iron, ironing board and hairdryer in all of our properties. If we say that the villa is in the premier category this may be due to its location, magnificent views and/or additional facilities offered.

December 2011 - we have recently introduced full on-line booking with secure on-line payment facilities to help those clients who prefer to book and pay on-line. This does not change our attitude to providing a personal service for our clients who prefer to communicate with us directly, whether by email us at or call us on our low cost calls number 0330 111 0061.  You will find that we are still here!  

Reasons to Book with Crete Escapes

Peace of Mind -  in Greece it is illegal to rent out an apartment or villa to holidaymakers without first obtaining a licence or registering the property with the tourist authorities. All of the properties we feature are fully licensed or registered. Many owners who rent their properties directly are not licensed/registered. Renting unlicensed or unregistered holiday accommodation puts you at risk with health and safety issues and, because it is forbidden to rent holiday accommodation which is not licensed/ registered, those properties can be closed down at a moment's notice. Being licensed or registered is cumbersome and costly with vast amounts of record keeping required which is why many owners do not want to "join the club". Our prices may be a little more expensive than renting direct with an owner but that is down to the very high standards we insist on. If you want to be sure of your villa in Greece you should always ask for the property's MHTE or AMA number. This is the licence or registration number which we show on our web pages. The EOT symbol and a statement saying that the villa is approved by EOT is not enough.

We personally make sure that all the necessary arrangements are made for your arrival. Your booking is entirely safe with us. We are a fully insured, UK registered company working directly with our property owners. As a small company, our managing directors are responsible for selecting the villas featured on the website. Most of our owners have been with us for years and you can be assured that your holiday villa will be booked for you and will be available for you on arrival.

Read about this family's experience when they booked a Crete Villa using the holiday lettings website. It nearly went disastrously wrong. We are pleased we were able to help them - https://www.facebook.com/roland.mclainsmith/posts/1157507480932100

Specialists -­ we are specialists, only renting villas that we know in the area around Chania in North West Crete; you can talk to us about the specific property you want to book.

Quality -­ we have high standards for our own properties and ensure that these standards are reflected in all the houses and villas we feature. You can find holiday reviews from those have stayed in our Crete villas here.

Inclusive Prices - prices on our web pages are inclusive and are free from hidden extras ­ the price includes all local taxes including VAT, use of the air conditioning, all linen except for beach and pool towels * , a welcome pack of at least basic items to get you started and end of let cleaning* .

* In some villas the owners have thoughtfully provided beach and pool towels and regular maid service is offered. Full details are given with the villa description.

Emergency Help if you need it -­ even though you are “independent” and won’t be hassled by a holiday rep trying to sell you excursions, all owners have to provide details of an English speaking contact in case of emergencies. Most of the villas will contain our villa information folder which includes a comprehensive list of useful / emergency telephone numbers

Friendly, informal but informed service ­ we hope that you are able to find answers to your questions on this website but if you need more information please do ask, we will be pleased to help - email us at  or call us on 0330 111 0061.