Hotels & Accommodations

Negative data for the months of May and June, and a severe lack of bookings for the peak summer period, have forced lodging units outside of the Athens/Attica area to slash prices in an attempt to entice Greek holidaymakers.

The Eridanus is the latest in luxury hotels to open its doors this summer in time for the Olympic Games. Although comparatively small, 38 rooms in all, this unit displays some high quality service personnel and luxurious style and furnishings.

AKS Hotels says it will open its new conference center at Porto Heli in May of next year.

After almost a decade and one-half of silence, the historic King George II hotel on Syntagma Square opens its doors to the world’s most demanding of hotel guests under the “Leading Hotels of the World” banner. The five-star unit, following radical renovations, is now more luxurious than during its days of glory some 150 years ago when its halls rang with laughter as the meeting place for King George II’s court.

Local hoteliers refuse to go out on a limb and suggest they experience anything close to optimism for 2004, but there was a slight optimistic tingle with the release of April’s overnight statistics, which came on the heels of disappointing first-quarter.

Tourism Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos officially opened Greece’s newest Holiday Inn, which sits on prestigious piece of property on Attikis Othos. The new five-star unit is expected to entice business people from the capital’s Marousi-Kifissia suburbs as it’s easy and quick to reach.

Hotel Terra Maris, next to the Creta Maris, hosts the first international tourism school on Crete. Markos Komninakis, director of studies for new Trinity International Hospitality Studies says three-year programs begin this October. Accredited studies range from hospitality and tourism management to culinary management to convention and event management.

It may have taken four years, but the total rebirth of the historic Xenia Hotel on Mykonos is complete with a new name, a new owner and a completely new look. Andreas Antoniou, general manager of Louis Hotels Greece, says his company leased the property from the Hellenic Tourism Organization but that bureaucratic red tape kept progress at a very slow pace.

On average, Athens area hotels so far have kept overnights at last year’s level and look forward to a good summer. Not so with hotels outside the area. This season’s holiday bookings are down 15 to 20% against last year, according to reports from Hellenic Tourism Organization offices abroad.

Owners of Athenian houses did not exactly rush to offer their apartments for rent to foreign visitors to the Olympic Games, but what is on offer may still vastly exceed demand.