Mandraki Apartments

First time we've gone independent! We booked the apartments on the internet and paid into our local high street bank. Everything was as good as when we went with a tour operator but the difference was the transfer only took an hour (in a Mercedes taxi - dead posh). The apartment was quite big and had a huge balcony looking out over the marina and the beach was about a two minute walk away.
The weather was fantastic considering it was October and the sun shone every day. Next time we're going to see more of the area and perhaps hire a car for a few days. Will definitely be going back to Mantraki though. Excellent value for money and worked out cheaper than a package.

I found this company surfing on the web and they honestly treated me like gold ! The apartment is spot on. Close to the middle of the town and the restaurants and beach but still peaceful. simplycreteholidays are a small company who treat you like a person instead of a number. Got a private taxi from the airport and back and the whole thing cost me less than the big companies were charging. O.K, I saved on the flights as I booked them off the net but it still worked out cheaper by about 150 quid.
The apartment was lovely. Not 5 star luxury, but a huge balcony for me and the missus and fantastic views. The little bar downstairs had friends of the owners in and out all the time and we got to know loads of new people, most of them lived in the town and were really helpful about where to go and what to see. One of them even took us out for the day - free! You’ve got to try this simplycreteholidays lot, they're brilliant. I know who I'm booking with next year.

We have just got back from our 6th trip to Agios Nikolaos and we are already planning our next one!
Whenever we can we stay at the Mandraki. We first met Steve and Vikki when they ran the Fluffy Duck pub and were really pleased to find out they were taking over the Mandraki. The apartments are very well maintained and furnished and they are HUGE! The location is fantastic, 30 seconds to the beach and 5 minutes into town.
The best thing about staying at the Mandraki though is Vikki and Steve, they are so friendly and have fantastic local knowledge, what ever you want to do, they can tell you how! They do weddings. Cooking holidays, walking holidays, villas, you name it, they’ll do it!
You can get some great flight only deals with BA, especially if you book early. So booking independently works out much cheaper. Steve will also to your airport transfers for a small fee, even if you arrive in the middle of the night! (thanks again Steve!)
While you’re in town, make sure you go to La Strada and order Steak Balsamic!
For the best night out go and visit the guy’s in Aquarius (on the left hand side of the harbour) ....
Good bye to Vikki, Steve, Scott, Chicken Poo, Manolis and everyone else, have a great winter and we’ll see you next year!
Trudy, Dan, Mark & Nat

We arrived on Boxing Day and we were picked up at the airport by Steve the manager, which was a really nice touch. We booked over the internet, and were worried that we wouldn’t find anywhere open in December with Crete not being a big winter destination, but we were really pleased with our choice.
The apartments were very clean and near to all the town amenities, and the weather was glorious. we have already booked again for late May, and would recommend these apartments to anyone.
You can contact them at www.mantraki.4t.com and say hi to Steve and Viki from us!!

We have stayed at the Mantraki apartments before, when it was a Manos accommodation and when we heard that it was now run independently we were thrilled. We love the fact that we are so near town that we don’t need taxis, but it is just off the main road and quiet enough to sleep in. The beautiful Ammos beach is so close it makes up for not having a pool, and the sea is so clear and clean its hard to get out of it!
The hotel has new managers now, Steve and Vikki, who are both British, and made us feel totally welcome. We booked the hotel over the Internet, it was as easy as that.
the apartment we stayed in this year had a huge balcony that overlooked the marina and the endless blue sea, and the apartment itself was very clean and well equipped. It even had a freezer with plenty of room for food and ice cubes.
There were lots of new features like sky TV and internet access, and we found the bar cheaper than the bars in town, with a great selection of snacks available.
We would definitely recommend a stay here and will be booking our flights for 2005 shortly. I believe that British Airways are doing cheap flight only deals to Heraklion beginning in January, which will be perfect. We hope you enjoy Agios as much as we do.