Tender for Xenia Hotel and Thermal Spring on Kythnos to Launch April 2

Kythnos Island, Cyclades. Photo @ Maria Theofanopoulou

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF, also known as TAIPED) on Friday announced that the tender process for the Xenia and thermal spring property and other facilities of the hotel complex on the island of Kythnos will launch on Monday, April 2.

Kythnos Xenia & Thermal Spring property. Photo source: etasa.gr

The Kythnos Xenia & Thermal Spring property is a plot of 7,018,40 m² with two thermal springs and building plants of the hotel complex Xenia Kythnos, which includes a hydrotherapy center and other incomplete spa facilities.

The tender concerns the transfer of the property’s surface right for 99 years to the preferred highest bidder. It will launch on April 2 with an invitation on the fund’s website and a deadline for submitting bids set for June 11.

The announcement is part of the fund’s strategy for the promotion and exploitation of its real estate assets that include thermal springs.

“With the exploitation of the hydrotherapy center on Kythnos we open a new chapter in attracting fresh investments, by highlighting unknown beauties of our country and upgrading historic buildings, while we become a magnet for quality tourism and give development a new perspective,” HRADF Executive Chairman Aris Xenofos said.

The loutra settelement on Kythnos. Photo © Facebook – Greek Islands

The island of Kythnos has a long tradition in thermal springs and spa therapy. In the modern era, it took its second name Thermia (Warmth) from the thermal springs that are located in the picturesque bay of Loutra, on the northeastern side of the island. Historically, the royal architect Christian Hansen arrived on Kythnos in 1836 planning the thermal bath complex with marble bathpools, with Queen Amalia visiting the island for hydrotherapy from 1845 onwards.

Xenia history

The logo of the Xenia hotels.

From 1950 to 1974, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) carried out a program of hotel and motel construction to boost Greece’s tourism development. Over 40 Xenia properties once constituted a unique network of complexes that boasted excellent architecture and construction. Today, surviving examples of the Xenia hotels have been substantially altered or have fallen into disrepair.