First, a bit of background as to why we chose Candia Park Village: We are two brothers with families, one (this author) living in Norway and the other in the U.K. Instead of visiting each other at our respective homes we decided to meet up on Crete. (Let someone else do the catering and washing up....)

We have five children altogether, aged from 18 months to 17 years (!) Our Mum & Stepfather were also coming along. 11 persons in all. So you get the picture – our requirements were fairly demanding. We wanted somewhere where it would be fun for the kids, safe, with a high standard (Mum is fussy…..…) and with enough to see & do for us all. So after some intense internet research we chose Candia Park Village.

As we were booking and travelling from separate countries, we had to juggle dates and flight times so that we would be there at the same time (not easy, I can tell you!). We contacted Candia Park (CP) in advance to arrange some extra accommodation for my two eldest for a couple of nights, until the U.K. gang arrived, and to ensure our total of three apartments would be placed close together. This was our first experience of the helpful and professional staff. Nothing was too much trouble for them. Mr. Christos Mittos, the Manager, answered our emails promptly and all our requests for cots, extra beds, placement and general info were met. We were put into three apartments adjoining, two on the ground floor and one above.

Lots of other posters have described the complex itself, we’ve seen the official pictures and in our mind’s eye we thought we knew what to expect. Wrong! It was even better! The gardens and public areas were superbly laid out, immaculately kept and the flowers and greenery kept watered and tended by an army of gardeners and janitors. Paths were hosed and the beach was raked and tidied every day. The cleaning ladies buzzed around in the mornings tidying up the bars and around the restaurant, as well as cleaning the apartments and changing what must be megatons of bed linen and bath towels. All with a cheery “kalimera!” to everyone! By the time the guests started to arrive for breakfast the maintenance staff seemed to fade away, leaving the place gleaming and all ready for a new day.

I strolled around the entire complex area several times and became more and more impressed each time. The area past the pools round the corner towards the seafront apartments is lovely, and the terraces down to the little swimming jetty are ideal for couples or those without small children. None of the apartments are really that far away from the shop or the restaurants, it is all so cleverly laid out and designed that once you know your way around you can use shortcuts to get to where you want.

The apartments themselves were fine (see reviews passim for details), the two that we had on the ground floor were in shade for most of the day, which suited us. If we wanted to sit in the sun outside at any time we just went upstairs to our Mum’s balcony. The standard I would rate as good, to be honest not five star but we don’t go on holiday to examine the furniture and fittings. The bathtub/shower was great for us, as our little girl is a handful and washing off sand and sun cream in the shower is like trying to shampoo a greased eel. In short, the apartment had everything we wanted and needed for our 14 days.

My brother’s apartment seemed to become the ant capital of Greece for a couple of days. The janitor man arrived with his anti-ant spray and this seemed to keep them away. Tip: No jam fights if you want an ant-free holiday. Minor gripe: We did have mosquitoes attack us at night, we tried various so-called anti-this-that-and-the-other but to no real avail – we got nibbled on anyway. On our third last night we mentioned it to the head waiter at one of the restaurants (the Taverna) and he produced almost at once, as if by magic, a bottle of the local stuff that actually works. If only we had mentioned it before…….

We dined in the restaurant and at the Taverna quite a few times. The restaurant buffet was brilliant, with something for everyone (remember we were aged from 18 months to 68 years). Some of us tried the į la carte too which was also very, very good. Try a mixed grill if you dare, don’t eat anything else before on that day though.

The Taverna was more informal and great for when we just fancied something lighter. Although they do have a special of the day and a full menu of local dishes should you want to go for the full spread. Prices for drinks and meals at the complex were of course somewhat higher than in local restaurants, but to be honest we didn’t look at the price, we got what we wanted, an excellent meal in lovely surroundings and a short stroll back to our accommodation. Sounds a bit flash but that’s not it, it’s the truth.

We also ate out in Elounda a couple of times, once at Restaurant Thea, on the left just before you get to the town itself, and once at the Ferryman in town. The latter got the “Best Meal” award from our group. Fantastic. The former was also extremely good, lovely food and friendly service. The one thing that you really notice in all restaurants is that children are made very welcome. At the Ferryman the head waiter rounded up one of the staff to rock our daughter to sleep! I thought it was a bit embarrassing but my wife said “Lerrim get on with it!...)

The pool area at CP is fantastic. The three pools were all well maintained and cleaned daily, although (as another poster has pointed out somewhere) there were some, very few, tiles that were uneven or broken. The steps down from the top pools to the bottom large salt pool were quite steep. But you can’t just let youngsters run around unsupervised in any case in such an area anyway. The three youngest in our group always had a grown up with them. There were always sunbeds available, even though we needed 8 of them for all of us - however we decided to keep away from the grassy areas due to a couple of us (allegedly) getting bitten by grass-living thingies. So we found that the corner of the lower pool, closest to the Taverna was the ideal spot, sun all day and plenty of room. And herein lies a dark confession: To ensure we got our favourite and practical spot every day we resorted to the much-reviled but often-practised technique of “staking”, i.e. going down early and putting out our towels. I offer no defence except that “needs must”, to avoid us being spread all over the place. Sorry!

To really appreciate the area and to get around easily you need to hire a car. We rented two in advance from City Cars (www citycar gr) and they were delivered/picked up at the hotel as promised by Helpful George, a true gentleman. The Sixt Car Rental agent at the hotel itself , Ms. Phaedra Hoffs, (lovely lady) also has some good deals at weekends, although during the week the prices were a lot higher. Tip: Print your reservation confirmation email if you prebook before travelling, and take it with you. We actually got two cars delivered by a company that my brother had merely sent an enquiry to. The company we had actually finally booked with took up our case, accused them of jumping the gun, and as we had all our correspondence with us it was easily resolved. The “pirate” agent had to take his cars back!. We used our transport to take us to Water City in Anopoli (brilliant, will always be remembered as the place my son learned to swim) into Ag Nik, to Elounda and to Ieropetra, Krita and up Lassithi Plain as well as lots of “nipping out” as we say round our way.

I could go on about CP all day, I was so impressed. It was by far and away the best holiday I have ever had, and I’ve been to quite a few places in Greece. To point out any weaknesses or faults would be nitpicking really, but as people want to read honest reviews and get complete information, here are a few things that we could point out:

The CP shop is only for the necessities; don’t think of getting your weekly shopping there if you are doing a lot of self catering. Prices are well high and the choice is limited. For example they don’t, for obvious commercial reasons, have cold water or beer. If you don’t drive, it would actually pay to get a taxi there and back to one of the big stores. We went to Lidl (yes, yer actual Lidl) just outside of Agios Nikolaos, a fabulous newly built discount store with a wide range of food & non-food goods, very cheap beer and wine. If we wanted even more variety or wanted something from a fresh food counter we went to the Spar in Ag Nik itself.

Re: night buzzers: ask at the reception for the mozzie oil, (they will send someone out to the chemists for you if they don’t have any and deliver it to your room) or go and see the main man at the Taverna. Effective stuff.

Don’t expect fabulous Moulin Rouge/Disneyland entertainment, it’s fairly low key and ends early enough as to not disturb guests with children. However DO watch the magician on Saturdays, Magic Tony, my 4 year old still talks about him every day – great entertainment for kids. Take a tin opener, the one provided is no good. And a corkscrew just in case. The air conditioning is noisy but you get used to it. Try and imagine it’s a waterfall nearby. Lots of people have mentioned taking a cut down store card to keep the a/c on all day. We just took our key off the fob and left it in……..keeping it on all day is a waste, or so I found, the apartments cool down so quickly once you turn it on full blast. Last tip: Smile at everyone, there’s lots of grinning going on and it gives the place a good vibe.

Everyone in our group enjoyed their stay immensely. Myself, my wife and two youngest will be going back in a couple of summers (next year is all house-building – boo!). It is ideal for families seeking a quality, safe and child friendly holiday. I won’t even bother looking anywhere else.

My only regret regarding Candia Park is that I didn’t book that third week as I had originally planned. I won’t make that mistake again.

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Candia Park Village - Aghios Nikolaos

Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice - June 2005