Essential Reading

Low Occupancy Discounts

Unfortunately the system calculates the single couple or 2 + 1 discount based on the number of people entered and the start day of your rental. There are 2 problems with this:-

a) If you are 2 people but not a single couple, or 3 people but not 2 + 1, the system will have automatically calculated a discount when it is not due. Please make use of the "additional notes" box on the booking form to tell us and we will adjust the price accordingly before we confirm your booking.

b) If your rental overlaps from a discounted period to a non-discounted one (or vice versa), the discount calculated will be wrong. In these cases we have to make the adjustment manually. You can still book on-line but we will need to change the price on receipt of your booking request. If the price increases we will contact you to confirm the new price before we confirm your booking and take your deposit.

Please don't let either of these issues put you off making a booking. The discounts are genuine and our villa owners welcome couples and smaller parties out of high season. We just can't fine tune the booking system to account for these 2 circumstances - sorry.

Change-over Days

Change-over days are totally flexible but are subject to existing bookings taken either side. If a booking means that the owner would be left with too many "void" days we might not be able to accept it. If this is the case we will contact you without delay to discuss alternatives.

Deposits and Balance Payments

To make a confirmed booking we will need a deposit of 10% of the rental (minimum £50 gbp per week).

Balance payments are due no later than 10 weeks prior to the rental starting. If booking within 10 weeks of the rental start date the full rental will be required at the time of booking.

Payment can be made by sterling bank transfer or debit / credit card. Card payments can be made on-line during the booking process or by this secure payments page. You will need your booking number and email address in order to log in. Alternatively, you can call us on our low cost calls number 0330 111 0061.

Prices Include

air conditioning - where stated (99% of our villas are fully air-conditioned)
all linen with the exception of beach and pool towels unless otherwise stated. Some owners do provide beach and pool towels. Please refer to the prices tab on the villa page for further details about beach & pool towels and frequency of linen changes.
a welcome pack of at least basic items to get you started. Some welcome packs will have a local flavour and will include such things as fresh fruit, olive oil and wine but not necessarily T bags.
end of let cleaning. In some of our properties maid service will be provided more frequently. Details can be found in the information for each villa under the prices tab.

Equipment In Villas

Please refer to the features tab on the villa page to check the features applicable to your chosen villa. However, generally all villas will have:-

a good proportion of bath/shower rooms to bedrooms.
hairdryers are usually provided.
there will be plenty of wardrobe and drawer space.
kitchens will normally have full cookers, fridge/freezers, washing machines (may be in the shower or bathroom), kettles, toasters, irons and ironing boards. Some villas will have dishwashers.
TV reception - note that satellite TV is only with SKY reception if stated. All other satellite TV is freeview with channels from Arabsat + Sky and CNN news. You will not or be unlikely to receive "normal" channels from the UK or any other Northern European country as there is little or no satellite connection for that on Crete.
Cots and high chairs - we can provide these at most of our properties at NO EXTRA charge (one set per villa). Please note that many of these will be bought locally and they may not be of the same standard you would expect to find in the UK. You will need to supply all cot linen and pillows which are not supplied by our owners. If you need a cot or a high chair please request these at the time of booking

Sofa beds - please note that these are bookable later in the booking process. If sofa beds are a chargeable item at your villa, once you add a sofa bed or beds to your booking, the price will be adjusted for it/them.

Extra Persons In Villas

Many of our villas will accommodate one or two extra persons on sofa beds or Z beds. If this is the case the villa details will say so. The additional charges are approximately £70 per person per week to cover the cost of the extra bed linen and towels but sometimes sofa or Z beds are provided at no extra charge. Full details of any charges can be found in the prices section of each villa's page.

Please note: whilst the villas may have the capacity to sleep one or two extra persons, the ideal number is likely to be the number we have indicated on the villa description.

Arrival and Departure

Your villa will be booked for you from 16.00 on the day of arrival until 10.00 on the day of departure. If your flight times don't fit in with this you will need to speak to the property manager to request either an early arrival and/or a late departure. Kindly note that changes to the normal arrival and/or departure time are entirely at the property manager's discretion and these requests CANNOT be guaranteed to be agreed to under any circumstances. Also, requests cannot be agreed when there are outgoing / incoming guests - same day villa changeover.

Contacts In Crete

All of our owners are either resident in Crete or have appointed English speaking property managers who act as a point of contact in the event of a problem with the accommodation.

The directions to the villa that we will send you once you have paid your final balance will contain the telephone numbers for the owners or property mangers.

All of our villas contain a detailed villa information book with suggestions about places to visit and a list of emergency contact numbers for police, fire, ambulance, consulate etc.

Keys

Detailed directions and information about where to collect or find the keys will be sent to you approximately 14 days prior to your villa rental starting.

Property Descriptions

We have tried very hard to make sure that the information given on this website is accurate. We will have inspected all the properties that we feature before we agree to include them in our portfolio. Our inspection is of a general nature to get a “feel” for the villa and its location; we do not carry out a detailed inspection for instance to count the number of sun umbrellas but we do ask owners and property managers to confirm facilities and amenities on a regular basis.

Pool and Garden Maintenance

Pools need to be cleaned on a regular basis in order to maintain them in a hygienic state, the pool maintenance company are likely to call at your villa several times during your stay in order to check and clean the pool. This is necessary maintenance work and we ask you to be accommodating. Similarly the gardens have to be maintained and the gardeners may also visit the villa during your stay.

Linen Changes/Maid Service

Regular linen changes and sometimes maid service are carried out for your comfort if you see this as an intrusion and would rather launder the linen yourselves and not have maid service during your stay please notify us no later than when you pay your final balance. We will notify the owner/ property manager of your request so that you are not disturbed.

Building Works

Western Crete has become very popular with Northern Europeans buying villas for permanent residence or for a second home. This has led to a boom in construction and from time to time building work and the associated noise is unavoidable. We do not control such work and we do not receive advance notification of when such work will commence. We will notify you as soon as we are made aware of any building work that may seriously affect your holiday however please note that no compensation can be offered (paragraph 5.3 in our terms and conditions of booking).

Complaints

Complaints should be notified to the owner or property manager straight away so that they can endeavour to rectify the problem. 99% of the time complaints can be settled by the owner or property manager on the spot. Where necessary and in accordance with our privacy notice, owners contact details will be supplied. If complaints cannot be settled by the property manager and /or owner then Crete Escapes, acting solely as an agent, may act as arbitrators on a goodwill basis, with no legal responsibility to you for any refund or compensation. If you have a complaint whilst you are in Crete where you feel you are not getting a satisfactory answer then please call us on our low cost calls number in the UK - 0330 111 0061 to advise us of the problem. Out of office hours please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We cannot deal effectively with your complaint if you leave things until you return to the UK.

Security/Damage Deposits

We will not be able to leave you the keys to the property unless we are holding valid card details for the damage deposit at the time the rental begins.

1) We are instructed to take a damage deposit for:-

a) any damage or loss to the property during your stay which is not recoverable through an insurance policy or

b) to recover the costs of any unusual or extra cleaning required at the end of your stay.

2) Instead of asking you for an upfront payment which has to be returned to you after your holiday, we ask you to provide details of a valid debit or credit card from which we can take a payment should the need arise.

3) You will be asked to pre-authorise a maximum sum of £250 (£500 for all our premier villas).

4) By booking and accepting our terms and conditions you authorise us to deduct payment from your pre-authorised card in the event of either 1a) or 1b) above. Please note that we will not take any sums from your card without first contacting you.

5) Authorisation can be by either:-

a) Balance paid by card - if you paid your balance by card we will automatically use the same card for the damage deposit. You will need to ensure that this card is still valid on the day before your villa rental begins otherwise we will not be able to set the damages deposit and will need to contact you for new card details. If your card will have expired by the day before your villa rental begins then please follow the steps in para b) below.

b) Balance paid by bank transfer or if you need to supply different card details - please call our low cost UK calls number 0330 111 0061 to give us details of a card we can use. Never email card details to us.

Please note: the card you use must be valid for a period of at least 30 days from the start date of the villa rental. We usually set damage deposits the day before your rental begins so that we can contact you if we encounter any problems.

6) Our card processors, Sage Pay, will:-

a) ring fence the sum of £250 (£500 for all our other premier villas) on your card. That sum will not be taken off your card but during the period of 30 days, starting with the first day of the villa rental, that sum will, in effect, reduce your credit limit eg:-

Normal credit limit say : £5000

Spending on card say : £1000

“Ring fenced” sum for damage deposit : £250

Remaining credit limit : £3750

b) at the end of the 30 day period the ring fenced sum will be reinstated to your credit limit providing we have not had to take any payment off the card.