Crete with a Toddler - Where to stay?

Traveling with a toddler has its own special set of challenges.  Gone are those blissful days when I could just strap her into my Baby Bjorn and be on my merry way, stopping only to nurse.  She slept through hours on the plane, brunches, garden parties and even open air concerts.

My daughter now needs loads of entertainment, exercise and space to explore. She also only sleeps well on her own (probably because we moved her out of our room at 6 months) and so this makes sharing a hotel room a bit tricky.

After a sleepless long weekend in Prague earlier this year, we decided that our days of staying at design boutique hotels would go the way of sleeping in on weekends - a thing of the past that seems so impossible now, that I'm not sure it ever really happened. So, its goodbye hotels and hello, holiday apartment rentals.

After we settled on Crete as a destination, I spent endless hours trying to chose a place that worked for our family. We needed at least 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, washing machine (essential because my daughter still runs through at least three changes of clothes a day), a pool and close proximity to the beach.

We had our doubts since we had never used this rental company before but it was exactly as described on the website.

Welcome to our temporary home in Plaka, Crete.

 The view from the upstairs terrace.

The Cretan sunset on our first evening in Plaka.

We debated long and hard about having a pool because well, the obvious risks with toddlers near water  but we really wanted our daughter to start learning to swim.  In the end, we brought along a portable baby gate for her room and will make sure all the doors leading outside are locked at night.  And can I just say, from the look on her face when she saw it, it was the right decision.

Fun times full speed ahead !