News:
As winter sets in, and I'm forced back indoors by wind and rain (we seem to specialise in that in Plymouth) my thoughts are never far away from sunny Plakias. Before I get down to some serious updates, I grabbed a day off to do some minor tidying up - more to come as the winter progresses!

Site:
Looking through the list of things I wanted to add in, I found the material for a few additions to the People section - more regulars to Plakias, who would like to hear from other people.
Should YOU be there?

4 November 2001

Seven weeks today and we'll be setting off for our second visit this year. As I'm sitting here looking out on the rainswept garden, I'm sure you'll understand when I say 'I can't wait!'

Site:
A few minor updates - largely as a result of slowly working through my emails. There are four new, and very interesting links, which was the main reason for the update - I have tidied a few things up as well, changing the message on the message board screen etc.

Talking of the board, I'm really pleased that it is getting a fair bit of use - and find it so much easier to get quick answers to questions posted. In the winter, I intend to go through the messages and add in all the points that the board covered, hoping to make even more information readily available.

15 July 2001

News:
Plakias is as lovely as ever. We had our first holiday there from May 15th this year, and what a great fortnight it was. The weather was good most of the time - sun every day, and no rain. We had a couple of windy days - but it wasn't too bad, and it didn't stop me getting to the beach every day! The accent was on relaxing this time - we didn't do any excursions, long walks or anything - just took it easy.

Everyone's asking for the gossip - but Plakias doesn't change a lot! However:

• The resort's looking clean and tidy - lots of effort having been put into sprucing it up for the summer. In particular, the beach is looking good, and has been improved - particularly in front of the town.

• Kelly's resigned as Olympic rep. Having taken our last few trips with Olympic, and been well looked after by Kelly, we were all sad to hear this - but she wants more time with her son, and will no doubt be helping her husband Zak out with his taxi business.

• Ostraco has been refitted downstairs - looking good too. It was quite a shock walking into the downstairs Ostraco bar. The whole area has been renovated, with a new bar and seating. Yannis and Sharron have got it looking really smart - and the decoration is excellent, using art and craft obtained in the village. The Internet PC is still available here, in it's own corner now, giving a little more privacy. Lot's of folks are using it to keep in touch with home!

• SunMed seem to be doing well - lots of guests in Lamon. It's good to see options growing for the choice of tour operator. SunMed's first year seems to be quite a success. One of their properties, the Lamon, seems to be back to the bustling place it used to be. Over the winter, their bar area was also refitted, with a trendy modern look. We used the Lamon a lot for coffee after dinner - and their Baklava is a great favourite with me!

• Costos & Chrysoulla is a popular place to stay, featuring in several brochures. We used the pool area there a lot again this year (though the sea was warmer!) It's also a great place for a snack - try the cheese pies with honey! Costas has had the swimming pool area re-tiled: it's almost non slip now.

• The Hexagon club has changed hands and has also been refurbished. Early days yet, but it was very quiet when we went in there. I didn't find out much about it - but guess there is a connection with Platia, as some of the staff were the same. (Job for you here Tina!)

• Pavlos at Kyma now has beermats! We took out some - including a batch from Tina! So now you can enjoy his icy draught Mythos. Kyma is a great place for a snack and a drink. This year we also discovered the home made apple pie! Pavlos gave us a bottle of his own olive oil to bring home with us, which reminded me to mention - buy your own oil in the village and bring it home. I've been doing this for years, and it's certainly worth the effort. You can't get taste like that in the supermarkets here!

• Last year, we stayed at Ariadne Apartments in September. These are spacious and well kept, with lovely large balconies. We tried to get there again this year, but they were already booked. So we settled on Dora apartments - new to Olympic, but Kelly had told us they are good. She wasn't wrong. Set back from the village on the road running up past the Sophia hotel (so very near Ostraco), they are close to the Secret Nest taverna. Typically Olympic, the apartments are very well kept, again spacious and very quiet. The lovely Dora lives downstairs, and looks after all the rooms herself. We're happy to be going back there on August 28th.

• Meltemi is still open and doing well, although it was a little quiet the night we went in. A new innovation this year is draught Mythos - and at 500 drax. It's a good deal! All the regular staff are there, and it was a pleasure to see them again. Manolis is looking happy - I guess because his girlfriend Patricia is spending the summer in Plakias. I bumped into her on the beach - collecting the money for the sunbeds and looking very tanned and happy.

Summer 2002 brochures are beginning to appear already - and there are some good early booking deals around. I've got a copy of the SunMed brochure - the prices up on last year, so look out for discounts and deals. As this year, they are featuring Lamon, Santa Maria and Nicos - all places I'd be happy to stay at again.
I'm hoping to get the Olympic brochure soon and have started looking around for the others. Gossip in the village suggests that Olympic will have more on offer in Plakias next year. We had difficulty in getting the rooms and dates we wanted for May this year, so we will be doing our 2002 bookings very soon.

Site:
It's good to see that the bulletin board I added recently is getting good use, and that people are asking questions and getting the help they need. Because I sometimes am too busy to answer mails, I hope this will be a quick and easy way for visitors to get their questions answered. Many thanks to the regular visitors who have provided information so far. I hope that mail exchanges and meetings will also result.

I also wanted to say sorry to anyone waiting for a response to an email. I am working through them slowly, but since I got home I have had a lot of catching up to do at work, and haven't managed to get a lot of time on the PC. I will get there - eventually!

17 June 2001

Site:
Lots of little changes around the place - go on and hunt them down
Two new main pages added:
PEOPLE: - to replace my previous Regulars page. There are still a few things to add in, but the basic idea is designed, so let me know what you think - and send your contributions please.
MESSAGES: - a bulletin board to enable everyone to share news quickly : I can't test this until everything is live - so let me know how (if) it's working please!

News:
SunMed have just published their latest brochure - the prices are well worth checking out.

Personal:
Thanks to everyone for their good wishes following my recent ear operation: everything is healing up well now, and I can start swimming again.
The timing was good too - as I'm off to Plakias on May 15th for 2 weeks sunshine. I'm looking forward to catching up on what's going on in town - updates soon after I get home - promise!

31 March 2001

News:
Another UK Holiday company has included Plakias in their 2001 brochure. More news here

3 March 2001

Site:
New popup windows added: Kyma and Platia on the Town page
New Meltemi popup from the Town page - but I would like some more pictures for it - anyone got some inside shots?
Further information added to the Busses popup on the FAQ page.
Logo added for the Top 100 Cretan Travel sites - Please give Plakias a vote - just click on the logo! You'll also find an interesting list of Crete links there.

News:
Yannis from Ostraco has sold on his lease for the Hexagon. It opened under new management on 3rd February and is apparently opening every night. I am looking forward to checking it out in May

Part of a mail from Chris at the Youth Hostel: 'Out painting at the hostel in a T shirt, and I don't take my jumper off until it goes over 20 deg.'

22 Feb 2001

About the site:
Welcome to the third version of the site. It is now in a different format - the idea behind the design being that it should be easier for me to update, and add in further information as I receive it.
I first put up a Plakias site in December 1998 - and after a slow start, it has received over 12,000 visits. No doubt many of them are repeat visitors, but it's good to see that people do check in. I have always encouraged contributions from readers, and they have provided some of the current content. I hope there will be more in future!
However, this reflects one of my problems - the site was generating mail asking all sorts of questions about the resort - and I was spending a lot of time finding answers and replying to mails (instead of working on the site!). I am hoping that in it's new form, there is more information here, and many questions will be easily answered from the pages. This is also the thinking behind the Frequently Asked Questions page - much of which was generated from email over the past year. All the topics there stem from questions I've been asked recently - and as I get other questions, I'll post the answers.
Another change: Steve, one of the Plakias regulars who will be with us again this year, bought me a rather unusual present at Christmas - a domain name! Which is why we are now more easily found at www.plakias.co.uk. That's a lot easier to remember. Thanks again Steve!

I've tried to keep it simple, and welcome comments, criticism - and any further input. Please mail me with anything you feel would add to the information about our favourite town.

Summer 2001
Looks as if this is going to be a good summer for visitor numbers. We've got our holidays booked now - but not without some difficulty! Accommodation with the larger tour operators - Olympic and First Choice is booking well. We wanted dates in both May and September, and our selected accommodation was already booked - we had to take our third choice! If you are still in the planning stage, get a move on!

Youth Hostel
Chris at the Youth Hostel has got the new hostel site live. And it's much improved too - the bulletin board is a good way for the hostel crowd to keep in touch, and he has a growing photo gallery. Check it out HERE

There are also many new links on the LINKS PAGE - including a site about Plakias in German. If you've found any others, please share them through the site.

11 Feb 2001