A false start at Lentas

We had wondered if Lentas might be another secluded little cove with nothing much happening like our previous stop. We drove for a few hours [some dirt roads]. Situated at the bottom of a [not so good road] at the sea, was a small [not sure if it is a village in it’s own right] place called Lentas where we decided to stay for a calm, peaceful, and relaxing day and night….nope, it just wasn’t meant to happen!
We were a little concerned when we saw cars lined up outside the center, double parked in the small parking lot at the center of town…nope…just did not seem right! The small beach was crowed with people all vying for a place to sit or lay in the sun. It seemed liked this might be a great spot for families as there were many parents and children on the beach and in the small town.
We followed the signs and found our apartments and then followed the ‘Reception’ signs to end up at a patio with no indication of any ‘reception’ area. We waited…we knocked on doors…we waited. The sign said to call a number for reception…so… you have to show up, [if you have a cell phone] call the ‘reception’ number and then wait for some one to come to allocate your suite to you. This was not helpful to some one who does not have cell service . In discussing the situation with booking.com we were told that we should have made arrangements for our arrival some 30 days before we left home! We have corresponded with apartments by email before and used the telephone provided by hotels without a 24 hours reception to call for our key. It seems it has all worked out beautifully for more than 40 years but this time…not so much! We are travelling by car and try to be at the reception at the correct time as listed in the hotel’s conditions. But, it is almost impossible to predict the exact time we would arrive at a place a month prior to check-in, especially if we have car trouble, flat tire, bad roads, or any other hold up. Sorry, not the right place for this travel spirit.
We went to a small restaurant [of which there are many stacked upon each other] to get an internet connection to check and see if there might be a message from the reception about our room. There wasn’t! We had a small snack of dolmathes [which were tasty] and a glass of wine and decided to go on to our next destination…Heraklion.
We have no problem not staying in a place that does not suit us or our travel style. So glad that we decided to ditch the Lentas ‘experience’ and continue on to Heraklion.