My wife and I are planning to take our two kids (who will be 12 and 10 years old) to Crete next August. Are there beach homes available or should we be looking to stay at more traditional hotels or bed and breakfasts?

There are masses of apartments, tho for reasons that escape me, there are fewer houses as such.

We stayed in the little village of Megala Chorafia (as I remember the spelling?), near Chania, in an apartment we rented thru Pure Crete. Think their website is www.purecrete.com Another such rental co. is Simply Crete. We were not on the beach, but on a high hill overlooking the Bay of Souda.<BR>You will love Crete, esp. the western side, west of Heraklion.

two other pages / straight from the owner / are:<BR><BR>http://www.beepworld.de/members/vassilisdeftereos<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>http://www.beepworld.de/members36/tersanas<BR><BR>the first at the sandy beach near Rethymnon in non tourism area<BR><BR>the second at the pensinsula of Akrotiri near Chania

If money is not a problem then one of the Elounda resorts is THE place for families.<BR>My favourite is Elounda beach memeber of the leading hotels of the world and 5 stars AAA award.<BR><BR>A 5 star option ,much cheaper with outstanding service is one of the Grecotel resorts www.grecotel.gr.<BR>Excellent family rooms,superb breakfast,and all of them have kids village with fun activities.<BR>Try to book them via TUI for the best deals.

Thank you, this is s a big help. I am not familiar with "TUI". What is their full name? Do they have a a web site?

Not meaning to contradict jef-europe, but the Elounda area is so unlike the true Cretan experience you would have in western Crete. Elounda reminds me of any posh resort area anywhere in the world, and nearby Agios Nicholaus (sp?) is very touristy. It just depends upon what you're looking for in your travel experience.

Hi Art,<BR><BR>TUI is a major european tour operator .<BR>I am sure that you may ask your travel agent about, for better rates as at the same time they are as well major shareholders of Grecotel.<BR><BR>An other big name is KUONI.<BR><BR>I suggest you to try to book any resort in Greece through their services(not before april) as on line bookings or advanced bookings are usually more expensive in Greece.<BR>At the same time you can get an added value with your package like an uprgading or free stays/breakfast for one of your kids.<BR><BR>By the way ,the last 5 years we spend our vacations in Crete with our 2 kids now 12 and 7.<BR><BR>It is definitely one of the best locations for family holidays in Europe<BR><BR>- excellent resorts/beaches and sightseeing...and the best food as the cretan diet is one of the most renown.<BR>-3 international aiports and many harbours.(at any time you find a plane in case of an emergency).<BR>- oustanding medical/hospital services(for us a key factor to choose our destination with kids)<BR>-many cruise oportunities(you can visit santorini on a same day cruise...)<BR>-for the kids village in these major resorts with plenty fun/sports and art activities for the little ones.<BR>At Grecotel,while the kids are preparing a big show creating their own costumes etc..., they even organize a camping evening with an overnight (in the kids village) ,to give some 'freedom' to the parents