Guest manual · Plaka, Crete

🌴Welcome

Welcome to Villa Serenity! We are so glad you are here.

We built Villa Serenity as a home for our own family, together with a local architect, and we love sharing it with guests. Make yourselves at home. This manual explains how the house works, from the lights and cooling to the pool and the pizza oven, and shares a few of our favourite places nearby.

If you only read one page, make it the Quick Reference below. Everything else is here when you need it.

We wish you a wonderful stay!

⚡Quick reference

The five things that matter most:

1. Only toilet paper goes in the toilet. The villa has a natural septic system that is easily damaged by wipes, hygiene products, chemicals and hair.
2. Wipe the hair off the shower drain filter after every shower (see Bathrooms).
3. Fold the parasols every evening and never open them in strong wind.
4. Set the air cooling to 22.5–23 °C and leave it there. Keep doors and windows closed while it runs.
5. Never leave food or rubbish out. Ants, cockroaches, rats and cats will find it.

🗺️Map of the grounds

Tap a dot or a place below.

🔑Arriving and getting started

A short checklist for your first hour in the house:

• Connect to the Wi‑Fi using the card by the entrance.
• Locate the fire extinguishers, fire blanket and first aid kit (see Fire safety and first aid).
• Switch on the air cooling in the rooms you will use and set it to 22.5–23 °C.
• Check the fridges: there are two in the kitchen, and the freezer is in the lower part of the smaller one.
• Find the closet by the entrance: it holds the roller‑blind remote, tennis rackets, basketball, chess and backgammon.

💡Lights

Inside the house

Most rooms have smart light panels. Each pair of buttons is labelled with the area it controls. Press the left button to switch on and the right button to switch off. Hold the left button to dim up and the right button to dim down.

Some toilets and bathrooms have a dimming knob instead: push the knob to switch the light on or off, and turn it to adjust the brightness.

The downstairs bathroom/laundry room and the gym have ordinary on/off switches.

Switching off everything at once

On the panel to the left of the main entrance door there are buttons that switch off all smart‑controlled lights inside or outside. Handy when you leave the house or go to bed.

Please do not touch the switch labelled EAST ON/OFF on this panel. It controls the three lights on the wall facing the road, which switch on and off automatically with the sun.

Outside and garden

• Garden lights: the buttons on the entrance panel. Note that here the right button switches on and the left button switches off, the opposite of the indoor panels.
• Entrance path lights (the uplights along the stone wall from the gate): a standard switch on the stone wall next to the outdoor electrical box.
• Barbecue area: two spotlights in the nearby trees, each with its own switch on the same tree.
• Tennis court and outdoor kitchen: switches to the left of the outdoor kitchen bench.
• First‑floor terraces: switch in the first‑floor hallway.

📶Wi‑Fi

The network name and password are on the Wi‑Fi card by the entrance. Scan the QR code on the card to connect without typing.

The villa has a fast internet connection delivered by radio link. In very strong winds the connection can become unstable for a while; it normally recovers on its own.

❄️Cooling

The villa has a central cooling system that circulates cold water to cool both the air and the floors. Air cooling is the easiest and fastest way to keep the house comfortable, and it is all you need on most days.

Air cooling

1. Touch the bottom of the glass panel to switch it on. The display shows the current room temperature.
2. Use the up and down arrows to set your target temperature. We recommend 22.5–23 °C all day.
3. Touch the fan icon to choose the fan speed. One bar is silent mode, good for night‑time.
4. That is all. No other settings need changing.

Floor cooling

Floor cooling is available in the bedrooms and the living room. It is only worth using when the outdoor temperature is above 35 °C.

• Press the sun/moon button to switch on. Use the arrows to set the temperature.
• Always set the floor temperature higher than the room air temperature, and never below 23 °C. A cold floor in humid air causes condensation.
• If you see moisture on the floor, switch the floor cooling OFF.

🧯Fire safety and first aid

Please take a moment on arrival to find the extinguishers, fire blanket and first aid kit.

Emergency numbers

112 works from any phone, even without a SIM card. The operator answers in Greek; reply in English and you will be transferred to an English‑speaking operator.

Fire extinguishers

• Basement: in the gym, behind the white bench.
• Ground floor: in the small toilet, under the sink.
• First floor: by the door to the small outdoor terrace.

Fire blanket and first aid kit

Both are in the kitchen drawer to the right, under the stove.

Emergency exits

All emergency exits are marked with green signs on the walls.

🚿Bathrooms and the septic system

The villa is not connected to a sewer. Waste water goes to our own natural bio‑decomposition system with a BIOROCK filter, and the cleaned water is used to irrigate parts of the garden. It is sustainable and works beautifully, but it is sensitive to chemicals, plastics and hair. Two small habits keep it healthy.

Toilets

Only toilet paper, used in moderation, goes in the toilet. Please put everything else in the bin: wet wipes, sanitary products, cotton pads, dental floss, medication, cooking oil, and so on. Even products labelled “flushable” will clog the system.

Bidet shower

Each toilet has a hand‑held bidet shower. We recommend using it before toilet paper; it is more hygienic and gentler on the septic system.

1. Lift the sprayer from its holder.
2. Turn the knob on the wall a quarter turn (90°) anticlockwise to open the water.
3. Press the lever on the sprayer to rinse.
4. Turn the knob back a quarter turn clockwise to close the water, then return the sprayer to its holder.

Showers: wipe the drain filter

Hair is the number one enemy of the filter. After every shower, please:

1. Pull the long tile lid at the back of the shower towards you with two fingers, then lift it off.
2. Wipe the hair from the front and back of the filter with a finger or a piece of toilet paper.
3. Put the paper and hair in the bin, not in the toilet.
4. Put the tile lid back.

It takes ten seconds and makes a real difference. Thank you!

🍳Kitchen

• Fridges and freezer: two fridges to the right of the cooking area. The freezer is the lower section of the smaller fridge. Please make sure the doors close properly.
• Dishwashers: one on each side of the sink. If you can, run them between 10:00 and 16:00 so they use electricity from our solar panels.
• Ovens: the lower oven is a standard oven; the upper one is a combined oven and microwave.
• Induction hob: pots and pans can be placed anywhere on the surface. The extractor fan starts automatically.

Waste and recycling

There is a small bin under the sink and a larger container just outside the kitchen. Please never leave food or rubbish out, indoors or outdoors, as it quickly attracts ants, cockroaches, rats and cats.

The nearest public waste containers are beside the graveyard just outside Plaka square, and on the road out of Plaka. Recycling on Crete is limited, but please sort glass into the yellow container. Blue containers are for paper, plastic and metal; green containers are for everything else.

🪟Windows, blinds and ventilation

Roller blinds

Bedroom blinds are manual: pull the cord straight up or down. The living‑room blinds are electric; the remote is kept in the closet next to the entrance door.

Opening the large windows

The floor‑to‑ceiling windows in the living room and kitchen slide fully open and disappear into the wall. The handle points down when the window is locked. Turn it upright to unlock, then take hold of the window frame and slide. The corner windows are heavy and need a firm push even when unlocked. Please do not pull on the small handle; it is not made for moving the weight.

Some first‑floor windows can both tilt and swing open. When the blind is down, only use the tilt position. Swinging the window open will damage the blind.

Ventilation

The bathrooms and the basement laundry room are ventilated by natural draught and cannot be closed. Keeping the doors between rooms closed helps maintain a comfortable temperature.

🧺Laundry

The laundry room in the basement has a washing machine and a tumble dryer. In summer, the drying racks on the first‑floor terraces work just as well and use no electricity. They are weighted with stone tiles so the wind does not carry them off.

The iron, ironing board and vacuum cleaner are in the closet on the right as you come down the stairs to the basement.

🏊Pool and garden

Pool area

Please use plastic glasses around the pool, never glass. Broken glass on the terrace or in the water is very hard to clean up.

Parasols and sun loungers

The wind on Crete can pick up without warning, so please:

• Fold the parasols every evening and whenever you leave the terrace.
• Do not open them at all in strong wind.
• The parasols stay in their bases at all times, also in strong wind. Please do not lift them out or lay them down.
• If very strong wind (over 15 m/s) is forecast, lay the sun loungers flat on the ground beside the windows.

Outdoor kitchen and dining

The outdoor kitchen and dining area is in the garden, one level above the tennis court. Cushions for the chairs and stone benches are in the storage box on the second garden level; please put them back after use.

Barbecue

1. Fill the containers with charcoal.
2. Turn the gas knob from ○ to ● and press the ignition button.
3. After about two minutes, when the charcoal is burning, turn the knob back to ○. The gas is only used to light the charcoal.

Outdoor fridge

Hold the button for three seconds to switch the fridge on or off. The red switch is only for the light inside.

Pizza oven

Start a small fire with thin pieces of wood and add larger pieces as it grows. The oven needs about two hours of continuous fire to reach pizza temperature, so light it early.

🎾Sport, games and music

• Tennis court with basketball hoop on the lower garden level. Rackets and a basketball are in the closet by the entrance.
• Gym in the basement, ready to use.
• Table tennis in the basement.
• Chess and backgammon in the closet by the entrance.

Please put all equipment back in the closet before you leave.

Sonos speakers

There are three Sonos speakers, controlled with the free Sonos app on your phone. Their names in the app are in Norwegian:

• Kitchen = kjøkken
• Living room = spisestue
• Gym (basement) = kjellerstue

🍽️Local tips

Beach

The nearest beach is in the small town of Almyrida, an easy 15‑minute walk downhill. The walk back up is steeper, but taxis are available near the beach.

Restaurants

Our favourite is Elpis in Plaka. Mention that you are staying at Villa Serenity and show them a card with the owner’s name, Jack, and they will look after you. Plaka, Almyrida and Kalyves all have a good choice of restaurants for lunch and dinner.

✅Before you leave

• Fold the parasols and bring in loose items from the terrace.
• Return games, rackets and cushions to their places.
• Empty the bins and take rubbish to the containers in Plaka.
• Empty the fridges of anything perishable.
• Run and empty the dishwashers.
• Close all windows and lower the blinds.
• Switch off the air cooling and all floor‑cooling thermostats.
• Use the “all off” buttons by the entrance for the lights.
• Return the keys as agreed with the property manager.

Thank you for looking after Villa Serenity. We hope to see you again!