Villa Zeus 1

Zeus 1 is one of the Zeus villas at Kounali Mountain Resort: two floors, 120 m², and a private pool set against the terrace where you will not meet another guest all week.

Downstairs the house is one open room — kitchen, dining table, sofa — with glass doors that fold the inside into the outside. Upstairs, two bedrooms with queen beds, each with its own bathroom, and a guest WC on the ground floor. It is more room than two people need, which is precisely the luxury: one suite to sleep in, one for the suitcase you never unpack properly.

The pool is the reason you booked it. Yours from the moment you arrive, with sun on the water from mid-morning and the mountains turning pink behind it at the end of the day. There is a barbecue on the terrace, a table for two that seats four if the neighbours behave, parking behind the gate, air conditioning, Wi-Fi and a kitchen that works properly for two people.

There are stairs between the floors. Worth knowing, and worth the view.

A private pool changes the shape of a holiday. You swim before breakfast because it is three steps from the door. You come back from the beach at four, rinse off and get in again. You sit on the edge at eleven at night with a glass of something cold, and the valley is utterly silent.

It is not an Olympic pool and it does not pretend to be. It is the right size for two people, a book and a float, maintained by the resort team through your stay. The larger saltwater infinity pool is a short walk away if you ever fancy company.

The villa, its private pool and a parking space behind the gate are yours alone.

Shared with the other villas and included: the saltwater infinity pool with sunbeds (open May to October), a padel tennis court, a basketball court, a small gym, a children's playground and a snack bar.

Check-in from 15:00 with resort staff; check-out by 11:00. Linen and towels are provided.

We are a family who have rented these villas for ten years, and between us we know most of the tavernas between Milatos and Agios Nikolaos. Message us for the things that matter — a table worth booking, a cove nobody uses, the quickest way to the airport on a Sunday — and we will answer within the hour. Resort managers are on site if anything needs fixing.

Kounali is a village of a hundred houses, a church and one taverna, high enough above the coast to be cool at night and far enough to feel properly away from it.

Two hundred metres down the lane, Kounali Family Taverna has been run by the same family since 1921. Dinner takes three hours because nobody is rushing you, and the raki arrives whether you asked for it or not.

The coast is ten to fifteen minutes by car: the harbour at Milatos with its fish tavernas, the little waterfront at Sissi with a handful of very good tables, and long beaches either side. Malia, twenty minutes, has supermarkets and pharmacies. Agios Nikolaos, half an hour, has the marina, the lake and a proper dinner out. Heraklion airport is fifty minutes.

You will want a car. The last six kilometres climb through bends that look dramatic in the headlights and become ordinary by day two.

Milatos 6 km · Sissi 10 km · Malia 17 km · Agios Nikolaos 23 km · Heraklion airport 49 km. Parking behind the gate.

Two queen bedrooms, both en-suite, plus a guest WC. The house has stairs.

The private pool is yours throughout your stay; the resort's shared saltwater pool opens May to October.

Quiet after 23:00 — poolside conversation at holiday volume, please, not festival volume.

Pets are welcome with prior agreement.