The hotel is based on a hill and we found it to be in an excellent location near all needed amenties.
Stalis beach is a great clean place with lots of shops and bars.
I would definately visit Crete again!

Koutouloufari itself was lovely: ideal for couples as it had a relatively traditional Greek feel and in the shops and tavernas people were charming and helpful. For me and my partner this gave us many romantic evenings! It is a fairly large village with a large number of tavernas and of the ones we used the food and service were uniformly excellent. Also there were refreshingly few shops selling tacky rubbish of the kind seen in places like Hersonnisos. There are a couple of bars playing loud(ish) music but that aside the atmosphere was generally tranquil and welcoming with one major exception: there was a large number of quad bikes and mopeds travelling along the narrow streets and they could at times be quite an irritation, particularly when a ban on motorised traffic between 7pm and 11pm was constantly being flouted.

Just along from Koutouloufari with hardly a discernible break is Piskopiano, another village in a similar vein but with an Irish bar, shops selling more in the way of fake designer clothing and generally more to appeal to young people than Koutouloufari. A further 10 minute walk takes you to Old Hersonnisos with its village square and even more traditional feel. The one evening we went there we saw Greek dancing in a packed square. The atmosphere was wonderful and we had a fantastic evening in one of the nearby tavernas.

Hersonnisos itself is a different beast entirely. As always, it's a case of horses for courses so I'm not going to knock it but will say that if you are under 25 and out for a good time that doesn't involve peace and quiet, you will probably love it. The rest of you might just find it's not to your taste. This also goes for Star Beach. If you are young, enjoy being in extremely close proximity to other young people, drinking and listening to dance music (complete with in-house DJ), you will love it. Otherwise, it's best avoided. As this is the only beach within walking distance - and walking back up the hill is fairly gruelling - we preferred to take a taxi to the beach at Stalis which was 2-3 miles further but very pleasant with some decent tavernas and cafes adjacent to it. There were large numbers of sunbeds to be hired, for 4 Euros a day a pair, complete with parasol which to me represented good value. The taxi fare ranged between 8 and 10 Euros each way (apart from one kind chap who ripped us off by charging 15).

We didn't see much of Crete as we were looking to relax and unwind. If relaxation is what you are after then I don't think you can go too far wrong with the Petra Village apartments and I would thoroughly recommend them. In fact we are already considering booking again for next year.

The studios are on the top a hill, which towards the top is very steep, especially with a pushchair. If you're after a relaxing holiday i would suggest walking into Koutolafari and Pisko Piano but you are close enough to walk to Hersonisoss for a more lively evening. A week was certainly enough for us, but an enjoyable week. We didn't visit the beach as was too warm for our little one and is about 20 mins walk.

Koutouloufari was a really nice more traditional town to be staying near and it had some great places to eat...the waiters at Galini were excellent! It also had some good shops selling less of the usual tourist stuff! Hersonissos was walking distance from where we stayed which was a much more lively town both throughout the day round the beach areas and had some good night life! The beach at Hersonissos was not the best ever, would recommend going to Stalis instead which is very cheap to get to by taking the bus.

The hotel is 20 mins good walk from the centre, but it was clean, but very busy with cars, quads and bikes through the day. Star beach is for young singles who want to pull i'd say, plus there are only rocky beaches in hersonissos, but there is stallis and malia with beautiful sandy beaches. I thought the overall cost of things were very expensive, but it doesn't help the pound is much weaker now.

Koutouloufari very nice as are two other small villages close by. Excellent restaurants and bars - especially recommend Casa Nostra. Walked to Star beach every day as best area for sunbathing. Hersonissos was awful - the very worst of old commercial Greece

Old Hersonisis is really nice as is Piscipiano also Koutoloufari. If you want the quiet but within easy reach of the busy this is the place to be. It is really nice to walk through the villiages to see how the locals live, everyone was very friendly. The beaches were all very clean, the walk to Malia along the coast was particularly good. If you find it too much you can always get the local bus back. We took the local bus to Agios Nicholas then a guided boat trip to Spinalonga, strongly recomend the guided tour, the Scottish girl is excellent well worth it. The bus for two only 7 euros. Much cheaper doing it yourself as opposed to the organised trips.

koutouloufari is a fantasic place to visits lots of Taverna,s and bars.Our favoutite restaurants we,re Pegasus,Gallina and Steki the food was excellent.Star Beach is a must place to visit right on the beach,great for famalies.

The village of Koutouloufari is a 10 minute walk away and has numerous tavernas and shops selling traditional Greek crafts and souvenirs. The taverna Esperos provides and good quality meal and service but for a real treat try Gallinis,the best service we have ever come across,just allow yourselves plenty of time.The shops stay open until midnight in the village but if you require a later night Hersonnissos is a 15 minute walk down hill but taxi back! Star beach becomes very busy and is only small,there are quieter beaches but these require a car or bike.One last thing beware of the mopeds and quads in koutouloufari.

If your looking for an 18-30s holiday this is the place for, quad bikes & scooters everywhere the only real beach is crammed with sunbeds sun worshiping 18-30s.
In the village not the town there are some nice restaurants and shops but thats just the village.

If you want to swim the only place you can do so is a rocky area away from the main beach.