Please Note: Although this is a newer listing recently joining Villa Koukouvayia Farms' first property, you can see more reviews from our long history as Premier VRBO hosts by checking out Villa Koukouvayia's Guest House (VRBO #858887.)
Secondly, as you may have been told 2024 is a year where Greece has added a nightly "Climate Resilience" tax to current mandatory lodging taxes we must collect. This is a targeted tax to create funds that can mitigate climate-change events and protect tourists during those events, and will range only from €10/night for larger accommodations during the high-season, to only €.50/night for smaller lodgings in the offseason. While other providers might collect this tax upon your arrival, we want you to know that we have incorporated this responsibility into our rates, and so you will not be surprised by any sudden fee after reviewing your costs during the booking process.
The Villa sleeps 6 comfortably. For those parties who want to take advantage of the Villa's maximum capacity of 7, there is a small supplement of €10 per night for an extra guest.
Also, although VRBO does not allow this option to be posted within their pricing mechanism, we often offer discounts for stays of 14 days or longer in addition to the posted discount offer of 28 days or more. Just ask us about it and we'll fill you in on the details!
PROPERTY DESCRIPTION:
The Main House at Villa Koukouvayia Farms is the largest of three fully equipped and separate rental homes on this beautiful estate. The Main House shares the villa estate and small olive farm with the farm’s Garden Suite, VRBO listing #3096792, and Guest House, VRBO listing #858887, each of which can be rented as an alternative to the Main House for larger parties (the Garden Suite sleeps up to 13) or at a more economical price (the Guest House sleeps up to 4--or 5 with three children.)
And for larger parties celebrating weddings, holding family reunions, or gathering for a purpose-driven retreat, the entire estate can support up to 25 people, and is available via VRBO listing #3087102.
The Main House sits on the first foothills of olives above the Gulf of Kissamos and below several dramatic gorges and Crete’s White Mountains--located at the end of a quiet farm road and entirely surrounded by olive groves. Removed from heavily touristed areas yet five minutes to a variety of beaches, tavernas and the lovely town of Kissamos; 25 minutes from the historic Venetian city of Xania, and only 45 minutes from air transport—Villa Koukouvayia offers a rare combination of authenticity, convenience, privacy, and luxury.
The villa’s Main House is a large, modern home built in 2015, with three bedrooms and accommodations for 5 to 6 adults (typically two couples and one or two single guests/children) and can easily host larger groups of 10 or more by adding the villa’s Guest House (as noted above).
Blending modern design with traditional stone construction, the Villa's Main House has a sunken living room with a hand-hewn stone fireplace, a sliding glass door that opens onto an expansive covered veranda furnished for socializing and meals, and windows that embrace a spectacular view of the Aegean seashore below. From the living room, guests step up beneath a dramatic stone arch to an 8-person dining area and then to a modern, wrap-around kitchen. Fully equipped, the kitchen is large enough to allow multiple chefs, and the Main House’s open plan ensures that not only dining but meal preparation times are social and fun.
Both upstairs and down, the Main House’s interior spaces are intimately appointed with reading, music & video libraries; original artworks, oriental carpets, and other collections from the owners’ 20 years of travel and living in Europe and the Middle East; and large comfortable furnishings conducive to casual relaxation during social and quiet hours.
The upper floors have a large master suite, isolated from other bedrooms and providing an en suite bath with shower and a separate, large tub where you can soak with a glass of wine while looking across the Tyflos Valley to the lit, mountaintop chapel of Agios Ioannis. The bedroom is surrounded by windows wide enough to watch the day’s sunlight cross the Aegean below, and tall enough to follow (from a king-sized, hand-carved teak bed) the night’s constellations cross the Cretan sky. A reading area and stone fireplace lead to large glass doors opening out to the suite’s private furnished balcony, with an outdoor shower and access to the spiral stairs that reach the Farmhouse’s roof terrace, where comfortable seating and a fully stocked wet-bar encourage guests each evening to join for sunsets and stargazing.
The Main House’s second bedroom is intimate and cozy, also accessing a private wrap-around balcony through large French doors that offer a perfect view for guests watching from bed or balcony as the morning sun or evening moon arrives and spotlights the villages and mountains rising to Villa Koukouvayia’s south.
The third bedroom, also a guest favorite, has two floors set into a stone turret overlooking the western edge of Crete, with a spacious lower study & library connected by spiral stairs to a sleeping room above, and both commanding views across acres of olive groves toward Gramvousa Peninsula and the Gulf of Kissamos.
Villa Koukouvayia is only a short drive from historic Venetian cities, famous natural gorges, and the stunning beaches featured on many Greek calendars and in many a traveler’s fantasy. But if you want a vacation more removed from other tourists, simply grab the villa’s extensive recreational equipment and explore the nearby coast with our kayaks or snorkeling gear, ride the villa’s bicycles to lesser known but nearby gorges, historical sites or secret beaches; and by merely putting a single foot through the villa’s gates you will step onto one of the most beautiful and unheralded hiking networks in Crete.
Better still, for days when a car ride even to nearby sites or town seems more burden than joy, simply relax at your new home. Outside the Main House, a wide covered veranda joins the open terrace. The sound of falling water invites adults and children to plunge into the villa’s deep pool, and tempts toddlers to splash beneath the waterfall that cascades into a shallow children’s pool just below. Regardless of which hour the Main House’s antique clock might strike, you can find sun or shade outside, where the barbecues and a host of outdoor furniture will encourage others to join you for dining or discussion—unless, of course, they’re having too much fun playing lawn games in the yards and gardens.
And inside, entertainment & game-room facilities, pantries, laundries & extra baths will ease the time for adults and let guests of all ages sip from the slower cup of Cretan culture, relaxing so you can all enjoy that nap, good book, game, movie—or that great conversation—at the heart of every successful vacation.
And if you prefer the quieter more authentic off-season, then leave the colder northern latitudes behind and take advantage of the region’s winter hospitality and lower rates. From November through February the sun may shine less constantly, but it’s brighter, and rarely tolerates rainclouds for more than a handful of hours before warming the valleys, splashing the sky with spectacular rainbows, and forcing one’s sweater off. On every beach the summer crowd of sunbeds disappear and make room for shoreline walks. The air fills with the bustle of the olive harvest, and traffic changes from rental cars filled with sun-glassed tourists to tractors laden with bursting burlap sacks. As if shy of summer’s tourist crush, wildflowers and clover reemerge and recarpet the groves, and the landscape turns as green as Ireland. The views of surf and snow-capped mountains in winter’s brilliant air make photographers gasp by day and astronomers gasp by night as stars dance sharp and clear above. The days are spent on mountain hikes, and bike rides, and the evenings spent in local tavernas reading or playing cards, with glasses of wine in hand and a warming fire nearby. It’s a less known but precious time on this amazing island, and the best museums, shops and restaurants remain open and share the most authentic of Cretan culture, gifts and food.
But at whatever time you come, you will soon know what other guests have discovered to their pleasure: that we love sharing this special villa, special region, and special Island with our guests; and that you secured an ideal place to explore, create and celebrate the Cretan life and yours, together with those you love.
