• stylish travellers
• On July 6, 2013

Arcus Luxury Suites & Villas present the history of the island and charm of Cretan towns. A perfect place to experience the kindness of it’s residents – the nicest and the most polite of them all were the owners of the villa: Elleni i Yannis.

It’s dark and we are late again. Because of those narrow roads, our assumptions about kilometers and time are completely wrong on Crete. Going up with our small car, we arrived at tiny town Argyroupolis built by Venetians between 14th and 15th century (it was risen at the ruins of ancient town Lappa). Instruction was clear, but going through a narrow gate to go through another, even more narrow path was a bit surprising. And stunning as well. Arcus is a complex of luxurious villas and suites, which thanks to the investment of Yannis the owner and his wife Elleni, was registered in 2005 as a relic by the Ministry of Culture. Then the renovation was started – the idea was to stop the time and capture beauty of the past. The mansions were owned by Yannis’ father – size of the property made letting it out to tourists essential – it would be too hard to maintain it. Such quality and idea is an effect of Elleni and Yannis’ passion and creativity.

Each villa is different. But the entirety is very consistent. Simplicity carries the day, but there are also luxurious solutions. You can see much wood and stone inside. Each mansion has it’s own terrace, but for guests’ needs there is a swimming pool and a magnificent garden: cicadas are well-heard, but this place’s mood, multicolour shrubs and flowers or lemon trees stop you at the pool for many hours.

We were delighted with hospitality of the hosts – they were close to us, but didn’t cross the line. They were caring perfectly – always a step behind, but clearly giving the sign that they will redeem our every need.

The stony Arcus villas are located in the Argyroupoli town, which is placed on the hill. You can contemplate there relics of the past: two Roman bathhouses, basilicas and monuments of Venus, Jove and Bacchus. Thanks to residents’ effort, more and more houses of the Venetian era are renovated. We had also found the Tavern to which special guests are coming from another villages: led by the artist, the tavern is famous for an excellent food: lamb, Greek salad or biriam…

The beach in Episkopi is not far away from the mansion – only 7 kilometers. 30 kilometers further, there is a lively city full of restaurants – Rethimno. In Rethimno it is good to go to the harbour and take a walk through narrow lanes. For dinner we suggest to ride away from the harbour in direction of a little bay – Elleni and Yannis took us to a restaurant called Prima Plora: clear and simple in it’s form, with beatiful flowers, and candles in the evening the restaurant has 3 terraces at the very seashore. Tables are set at the sea level and on the platform, and the menu: course of the day usually contains fresh fish and there are also other stunning dishes. It is good to ride away a bit from a commotion of the city centre to enjoy a full relax.

For a short excursion or for a day at the beach you should also visit Kournas lake.

Read also: TOP 10 of Crete

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