Superb location in the heart of old town Rethymno, we stayed here for one night as part of a honeymoon and weren't disappointed. The hotel itself is a beautiful, 600-year old structure, with great stonework and recently renovated throughout. We stayed on the top floor in the Cristina suite, which was a huge room with a four-poster bed and french doors out onto a private balcony. The location cannot be beat.

The bathroom was sufficient, although you have to hold the shower head in your hand as there's no hook, but hey, there's always something small. The bed was sufficiently large, although the sheets/comforter were very thin (a common theme on this trip). The room itself was quite huge with great stone walls and 13' ceilings probably. There was a super loud party going on on the rooftop next door that night (on like a Tuesday!) until 2 AM so that made it difficult to sleep, but it wasn't the hotel's fault. The provided breakfast is actually quite huge, with tons of bread choices, coffee, hard boiled eggs, yogurt with honey, etc. There was also free wifi, but it didn't work in the room, so I had to go down to reception to get the signal.

In the end, La Strada was a good choice for a short stay as the location was superb and the historic nature of the building was quite cool. The service was also adequate and the room was huge - all for a reasonable price based on what I saw in the area.

As this was our first time in Crete we decided to split our week between the old and new towns of Rethymnon. We had seen La Strada on these pages and chose the hotel partly based on the reports we had read. Our taxi transfer from the airport had a bit of trouble finding the place but it was well worth the wait. We were eventually guided to the hotel by a young boy (the son of the family who own the property) and he checked us in and took us to our room, the Cristina Suite, on the top floor. Our first impression was "fantastic". The room was dominated by a four poster bed, it had the original stone walls and high ceilings giving it real character, the sun shining through the blinds on the windows filled the suite with a golden light which was most relaxing, it was also furnished with a comfortable two seater settee. There was a small balcony overlooking the street at the side of the hotel. The bathroom was of a reasonable size though there was no bath, but an adequate shower. There was plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, a fridge that came in handy and free air conditioning. Breakfast consisted of boiled egg, pastries, meats, cheese, bread, preserves, cakes, a bowl of fruit and as much coffee as you could drink. Service was always with a smile and very pleasant. It was a really nice place to stay. The hotels selling point is its olde charm so don't be expecting to find swimming pools, spas or computers, what you will find is a comfortable, friendly, laid back place that is more than pleased to meet you.
The old town was a wonderful area with a laberynth of narrow streets filled with shops selling all sorts of souvineers, leather goods, clothes, shoes and jewellery. There was an abundant choice of bars and resaurants. Two I would recomend were the Lemon Tree Garden and the Melody Garden, both serving great food in really charming surroundings and again the service was brilliant. There was a lovely harbour surrounded with resaurants and a short stroll up the hill led to the fortress. There was a very friendly atmosphere around the whole place and we were made to feel more than welcome everywhere we went.
All in all we loved our holiday in Crete and I would have no hesitation in recommending the La Strada Suites and Rethymnon to anyone.

We stayed at La Strada Suites for 6 nights and had a wonderful time. The location is very central in the old town so made a perfect base. Our room 'Cristina' on the top floor was spacious with high ceilings, well appointed and had a small balcony overlooking the rooftops of the old town towards the Venetian fort. At sunset we were treated with swallows circling in the sky above! I really was delighted with the room which was great value in comparison to other places I checked online. The staff are all very helpful friendly and low key. The breakfast was fine - standard continental (ham, cheese, pastries, boiled eggs, breads and jams, coffee etc), personally I would have preferred a simple greek yogurt, honey and fruit - but I like a light breakfast.
Recommendations for things to do. Hire a car and head off to some great beaches. Prevelli Beach (about 40 mins) on south of the island is well worth a visit. Great for swimming and very picturesque. Be prepared for the steep walk down and back up to the carpark!
Balos Beach (west tip of crete, about 1h.30m by car - not recommended for a nervous driver as there is a half hour drive on a very bumpy dirt track - or you can get a boat). Beach/lagoon is stunning but again be prepared for long walk down and back up.
Local restaurants in rythemnon. Fountain Taverna - great food, great value and very friendly staff - highly recommended. We had one of our best meals here and ended up chatting to the owner and drinking Raki until 3am!
Castelo - very pretty setting, good for a romantic meal in their garden area. Our best meal. We had fish of the day (seabream baked in the oven) and large prawns in creamy ouzo sauce - it was superb & presented beautifully.
Avli - a very well known restaurant (next door to la strada) with an inventive and delicious menu. I had a fava bean, caramalised beetroot and squid starter - it may sound strange but it was great!

We loved La Strada. The location was great, right at the center of the old town, busy but not too noisy. Breakfast was minimal but very good, room was clean (they dont change your towls everyday, maybe you need to ask for that).
Very friendly staff, we didn't hear from them at all, only when we needed something.
Great places around to eat local food, within seconds walk.
Perfect for a romantic getaway. Great value for money.