Dear Irene, Stone House December First of all Irene thanks for arranging such a lovely villa and location - we did go to Paphos once to look at the harbour after we had been walking most of the day up to Lara bay, That was enough of Paphos for the rest of the holiday, but we may not be typical British Holiday makers. The villa was lovely. Very comfortable, lovely views, well equipped for us anyway, and once we had sorted the fire to take the evening chill off, it was fine. The pool looked good - long enough for several strokes but even with the beautiful weather we had it was still too chilly to tempt us. The first night we tried the fire we found quite a noticeable level of smoke in the room. I think that this may well have been due to me building the fire too close to the front of the hearth. Unfortunately we employed two solutions at once the next night and did not test if both were necessary. We cleared the mantelpiece of decorations and using small pieces of rock as weights hung a curtain of aluminium foil across the top 3 inches of the fire opening - we used a thick stick to extend the centre of the curtain out towards the room in a curve. This prevented smoke from rolling across the top of the fire space and out into the room. At the same time I made sure that I built the fire right at the back of the hearth, and kept it there. We had no smoke in the room at all after that. However, I didn't try taking the foil away to see if it was necessary because it was rather delicate to make and I didn't want to end up having to remake it ! I should give Linda the credit for the design, manufacture and hanging of the foil hood. The only other points relating to the fire were 1. I could not find a poker or something similar to move the logs in the fire. 2. The axe was useful to split some logs to get the fire going with, but the axe head was very loose fitted and I couldn't find anything to wedge it on with. I should probably have contacted Yiote about it but it wasn't a big problem. (Note from Irene, these items are now in villa.) As far as recommendations go - the Aphrodite trail from her baths near Lakki was a superb walk as was a walk we did from Nikoklia up the valley to the deserted Turkish village then up along the ridge to Kukuklia and back to Nikoklia. The walk to Lara on the west side of the Akamas was very nice but there was a marked ignoring of the "no shooting" and "Vehicles should keep to the road" notices, judging by the shotgun cartridges and wheelie tyre tracks on the beach and walking track. All the hill villages were interesting, as were the two Monasteries up on Pano Pageia. We found the more simple looking Cafes/Tavernas were far more interesting with very friendly reception and service albeit with limited menus or none at all, than the larger more salubrious looking ones. This was particularly the case where the locals were present.This applied in all the mountain villages as well as Stroumpi. In fact the only place where we did not get an enthusiastic friendly welcome was in Dionoysis in Stroumpi. The three women serving were more interested in watching the TV in front of the fire with their cigarettes, than serving us. I had to keep getting up to ask for things. It was early I have to accept - probably 6 to 6.30 pm and there were definitely no locals in! The Villa was excellent for winter, particularly as you observed for the morning sunlight which it caught beautifully.. We had inversions below us in the valley on two or three mornings, so maybe the Cottage at Nikoklia would have been under mist at those times and so colder. We liked Nikoklia but couldn't remember exactly where the Cottage was located. I think that we managed to get its general location from the lovely Old Lady running the tiny coffee house but we didn't actually see it. Stroumpi was probably better for the winter because of more facilities in walking distance, but I would like to see Nikoklia in the Spring. (Note from Irene, Yes it's beautiful especially the wild anemones in the valley.) Sundance Villas seem to be a very well organised and customer orientated company and made our visit to Cyprus very easy. Regards and Thanks again. Tony and Linda Owens

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Hi Irene, We’ve just returned from our two weeks at Villa Quardia and I wanted to drop you a note to thank you, once again, for the excellent service provided by Sundance and crew. The villa was absolutely excellent with all of the aspects of peace, tranquillity and utter privacy that we look for. The villa is extremely well equipped and very comfortable and the ‘managers’, Dino and Vicky are just wonderful and respect your privacy with great delicacy. We spent a couple of happy evenings with them. Star gazing is such a wonderful experience here that I don’t know why you don’t mention it more in your literature. There’s nothing better than watching swallows swoop to drink from you swimming pool at dusk and then, having dined very well indeed, lying back to marvel at the Milky Way late at night, with just the noise of the crickets to accompany you. Taking this villa means that you must have a car and it is perfectly located for access to all of the ‘good stuff’ that this part of Cyprus has to offer. It’s not a bad life when the greatest stress is deciding whether to laze by the lovely pool or drive up into the beautiful Troodos! We, again, took a 4x4 from Cy-Breeze and all was as good as previously. The car developed a problem but I took it Cy-Breeze and they sorted it out there and then. For me, no company can guarantee that nothing ever goes wrong and a good company is marked by what they do when it does go wrong. Cy-Breeze were great. My only sorrow was that I hoped to meet Nick but he was away in Germany at the time. Favourite meals were eaten at: Samisen Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant in Coral Bay (details on the Web) and is absolutely fabulous. Each party gets its own, personal, chef to prepare their food in front of them (every table has its own cooking range) and it's a full 'show' with comedy, juggling, fire and participative elements. But don't be fooled! Although the 'show' is the wow factor, the food itself is excellent and even the most fussy of eaters will find something delicious on the extensive menu. I can't recommend this place highly enough. It still only cost us about £50 for two of us. Romantica Restaurante - This is an Italian restaurant on the main sea front road between Kato Paphos and the new 'tourist area'. Quite up market and the food is absolutely excellent. Paradisos Hills Hotel - Here, in this very friendly little hotel, we were offered a fairly good menu of fairly good food. But that's not the attraction here. The dining area is on a balcony overlooking the hotel pool and then right down the valley to the sea. After eating, we took our drinks down to the bottom of the garden and sat on the lovely little seat that's perched above a drop (no H&S railing here thank you), watching the sun set in beautiful peace. Very romantic. I'm sure that lots of people miss this place as it doesn't look like much more than a hotel, but it's well worth a visit. The Farmyard Restaurant - In Kathikas, this is a bit of a surprise. It looks just like any other taverna but, once inside, you find it to be much more 'up market', with nice linen, cutlery and glassware. The menu is very good and, when it arrives, the food is excellent. It's on the main road to Latchi and is well worth a visit. The new directions are perfect and could only be bettered by the provision of a native tracker. We would be very happy to stay here again. We’ll be back in Cyprus, and with Sundance, so thanks again and see you soon! Clive B

Cyprus Villas