Hi Liz,
my sister and I, along with our OH's are going to Stalis for the first time in August. We enjoy self catering hols and did much research before booking our apartments. We'll be staying at the Socrates L1 apartments which are on the beach road between Stalis and Malia. Although it's stated as being in Stalis we've been led to believe that they are actually closer to Malia. They've got some really good reviews and have won a customer gold medal with Thomson.