DERMATAS RESIDENCE HERAKLION CITY CENTER

The ad on booking.com of this apartment is misleading so please read through this ad before finalizing your booking. To start with, the beautiful terrace advertised is not so beautiful: it was very neglected and not clean when I arrived, but mostly it can only be reached through a very steep and uncomfortable set of stairs. Additionally, there was no mention at all in the ad that in the flat there there were two sets of stairs to reach the bedrooms: I was travelling with an elderly person, and this was quite inconvenient. Further, in the listing parking space was mentioned but actually this is not true: parking was technically available for free in the road but since the house is located very close to the centre it was almost impossible to find a spot, not even a temporary one just to unload/load the luggage from the car. As if this was not enough, the apartment was humid with spots of mould on the wall, as the pictures below show. In one of the bedrooms the wall was literally coming off as again documented in the pictures below. I just can't understand how it is possible to rent to people an apartment in these conditions. The windows of the bathrooms were sealed so it wasn't possible to open them which is very bad from a hygienic point of view. The kitchen utensils were very sparse, and the dining table was shaking. I also found very cheap from the owner part to share a picture of one of those armchairs that provides massages while hiding that you had to pay for that. Finally, although this is just my personal taste, the house was full of horrendous plastic flowers and very ugly pictures all over the place.

The apartment itself was nice. A nice layout and great to have 2 bathrooms and a washing machine. The rooftop terrace with sea view also very nice. Walkable to lots of restaurants, coffee shops and grocery stores. The hosts were not overly friendly but did respond to questions in a timely manner.

The parking was horrible. The description states free parking nearby but that is only in the highly unlikely event that you can find street parking. We ended up paying for parking at a nearby parking garage and it was fine because it felt safe but was not free. The kitchen is also missing several key items such as peeler, large knives, corkscrew, bottle opener, pizza cutter. We bought a corkscrew and a peeler to use while there. Lastly this is not a nice part of town and we didn't find heraklion in general to be a friendly or welcoming city. If I go back to Crete would stay someplace else.

The house is right in the center, we were able to see all the main attractions without any issues. There are various restaurants max 10min away. The house is much bigger than we expected with a lot of space for everyone. The terrace at the top was a great addition. The host was helpful and let us leave our luggage inside before the check in hour. Overall, it is an amazing place for a vacation stay.

Sometimes there were some issues with water pressure in the shower.

The location is very convenient, close to everything

A great location, just a 15 minute walk to the ferry, the archaelogical museum or to the fountain. Very quiet area and some good restaurants nearby.

We arrived on Easter Sunday and didn't realize that even the mini marts would be closed. So we had no bread, milk, cheese, fruit or snacks available to buy for two full days. It would have been a great help if we had been given a basket of fruit to have something to eat. We could buy meals in restaurants but they were also mostly closed.

Great apartment and location. Also Ria was really kind and let us use the apartment for the full day on day of checkout for free.

A reserved parking would make this unit perfect

It was vast; there was a balcony and a great terrace on the roof, all just for the two of us. The sea view from a terrace was so nice with a morning coffee. It was a walkable distance from a city center. The owner- very patient lady!

noises from the street