Have just come back from a peaceful stay at the villas. The weather was boiling hot the whole time we were there!

The villas are located about a 6 minute taxi ride from Elounda ( 3 mins from Plaka). It does take a good 25 mins to walk into Elounda going a a decent pace! There are 8 villas on the development, well spread out from each other with good privacy and fantastic views over the bay. Some of the villas at the bottom may have a view to Spinalonga, I can't confirm that. They are a little isolated but there is an electric gate and the development is fence. The grounds are starting to mature and are beautifuly kept by the groundsman who also gives the pools a really good celan every morning.

The furniture to the outside is good quality and comfortable with a large decking area and a nice size pool. No shallow end which suited us but maybe an issue with young kids.

If you look on the official website you will see the internal photos of the villas and I can confirm they are true photos - not some showhome just for the photos. They are cleaned every day.

We stayed in a 3 bed villa. The master bedroom was downstairs with an ensuite bathroom with whirlpool bath. I will say I found this quite disappointing, the bath was not very big, I would of prefered a wetroom or something. There living area was open plan with nicely equipped kitchen. The air con worked well and was a relief!

Upstairs there were 2 bedrooms both ensuite with whirpool baths. I like the bedrooms up there and would of prefered to of been up there as they had lovely views, one bedroom with a very large terrace with views again. This terrace would really lend itself to having a large hot tub out there! The other bedroom had access to the main terrace and another smaller private one.

Again everything was beautifully decorated and presented.

Nick the Villa Manager is there everyday 9 - 5 and beyond that at times and is always on call. He is a sweet helpful man, didn't bother us to sell us stuff but very organized and it was comforting to know that someone as reliable and helpful as he was would be available if needed.

And yes we did need him. As I stated the villas are quite isolated. On our first night we got broken into and had some items stolen along with a couple of the other villas. I am not going to make an issue of this as as far as I am aware its never happened before, crime is not a major problem in the area and this could of happened anywhere in the world. Please do not take this as a negative against the development or the area. Nick helped us in reporting to the police and for the rest of the holiday at night and when we went out we set the alarms. I would suggest when you arrive ask for the pin code to be reset to a number of your choice (but let Nick know what it is). Don't keep the previous number - commen sense really.

Elounda is a nice town which seems to be suffering a bit with lack of visitors which is a shame. Perhaps a town centre manager is needed to maybe give it a new image? More upmarket shops etc? We had some very good meals, mainly it has to be said at The Lotus Eater. Its situated along the from just after The Ferryman (don't go there to eat, overprice and over rated, worse meal of our holiday). So go on and walk past all of the other places and eat at Lotues Eaters, the food was fantastic, freshly cooked decent local produce. Relaxed service and great views.

In Plaka we love Palaria, great Fish and good service with great views again.

One more plea for anyone staying at Carob Tree - please feed the little Ginger cat - we adored him. Over the 2 weeks he learned how not to attack us straight away, learned how to play with us with his claws in and became a very very affectionate loving little cutie. I hated having to leave him but there was no way we could bring him home, I hope that maybe someone from the cats protection over there will get a message we have left to try and take him home and give him a proper home with someone who wants a loving little lap cat!

We have just returned from 2 fabulous weeks at the Carob Tree Villas with our 2 year old daughter.

Niko on reception was extremely helpful and arranged a cot and highchair with no problem at all

We had a 2 bed villa which was beautifully furnished and decorated and we definitely needed the air con as the weather was fabulous. The pool was great although it had no shallow end so we had to keep a close eye on our daughter and it had te most stunning views

The villas were a little bit further away from the beach and village of Elounda than we thought, we tried walking to the nearest village (Plaka) on the first day but in the heat and pushing a buggy it was too much. The closest beach also had some building work going on to improve the paving so none of the cafes were open. This wasn't too much of a hardship though as we hired a car and it was a very easy drive to Elounda (5 minutes) which had a lovely beach, great local restaurants and plenty to keep us occupied - parking was also easy and fairly cheap

Plaka also has great restaurants, especially if you like fish and the trip to Spinalonga was really good too

The only hiccup with our holiday was frm the hire car company (Budget) which was recommended by the villas, and I would recommend anyone who hires a car from here to check it VERY carefully before they sign for it. Within 30 seconds of driving our car away the glass in the wing mirror fell out but despite telling the company they still tried to charge us €65. The man sent to extract this money (plus his sidekick) were also quite intimidating.

Only other thing I would say is that maybe it's because we were being very lazy but the cleaners came fairly early most mornings (9 - 9.30) and we were still breakfasting/getting ready while they were cleaning

My wife and I spent the first week of our honeymoon at the Elounda Carob Tree villa. From the outset, Nick the manager did everything possible to make the stay thoroughly enjoyable. He met us late in the evening due to a delayed flight and escorted us there before introducing the villa's features to us. What was wonderful was the little welcome pack including fruit, a bottle of wine and a starter pack of essentials like coffee, coffee filters, sugar, milk, olive oil, vinegar etc. It made settling in very easy for us.

The villas were decorated to a high standard with all the modern conveniences. The private pool was maintained daily and the maid cleaned the villa to a very high standard also daily. We stayed at another great villa on the second week of our honeymoon but there was nothing like the service provided to us at Elounda Carob Tree Valley.

Nick also gave us an excellent restaurant recommendation in nearby Elounda and also coordinated things for us when we wanted a massage at the sister hotel Elounda Blue Bay, which has a gym that can be used by carob tree villas residents.

Elounda is an easy 5 minute drive or half hour walk from the villas so dining in town every night was easy. I think the taxi back to the villas was around 7 euros.

We found that the villas were managed very well but with light touch, which was perfect for us. If we had to criticise anything it would be the extreme firmness of the beds but we found that everywhere we stayed in Crete so is a minor point really.

We would highly recommend the villas and will definitely stay there again when we return to Crete.

We have had a wonderful, relaxing time especially enjoying the pool and the magnificent views at Carob tree valley. We have appreciated the helpful, efficient, friendly and flexible service.

The complex is an extremely relaxing place and we have all very much enjoyed Crete as a result, knowing we would return in such a pleasant villa, always fresh, clean, fully functional and spoil our selves with a breakfast or dinner served for us by our private pool.

Carob tree valley villas provided exactly what we were looking for, privacy and exclusion but with the amenities and service one would expect from a top class hotel.