Hotels & Accommodations

Dionysis Bozikis, a cardiologist by profession, has created a little lodging gem hidden in the center of downtown Athens. His “Magna Graecia Suites” hotel was created from a three-story building designed and built by the German architect Ernst Ziller in 1898. This exemplary building now houses 12 unique suites with a very homey yet museum-like atmosphere.

Greece’s biggest hotel chain, Grecotel with 24 Grecotel Resorts and affiliated City hotels, placed the finishing touches on its Grecotel Kos Imperial Thalasso luxury resort complex recently.

Peter Van der Vliet, general manager of the Hilton Athens and Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, president of the Athens 2004, signed an agreement last month whereby the hotel becomes an official International Olympic Committee headquarters hotel during the 2004 Olympic Games here in Athens.

There are a plethora of complaints coming from Greece’s hotel sector regarding difficult times, desperately low room rates and a severe drop in business. Perhaps so. Figures released recently by the ICAP Data Bank, however, tell a different story. These figure show that 2001 was perhaps the most profitable year for hoteliers since 1996. It was definitely a good year for hoteliers in the Attica region.

The dream of most Greek small business owners is for their children to follow in their footsteps and expand the family business. In most cases, however, their children follow their own dreams. In rare cases, all of the children’s dreams follow that of the founder. One such dream lives and thrives on Myconos.

Greek hoteliers are turning to domestic travelers in order to cover the loss of foreign arrivals expected this year. Many hoteliers already are working with local travel agents to create package programs with an enticing pricing policy. Travel agents and hoteliers expect to work with banks (credit cards) so as to ensure quick payment and cheap prices.

Panhellenic Hoteliers Federation President Vassilis Minaides believes that the Greek hotel sector, even though it has made major improvement strides over the past couple of years, is not competitive enough.

The luxury hotel unit Athenaeum Inter.Continenal has completed most of its 23.5-million-euro renovation plans designed by some of the world’s leading designers. The only project left yet to complete is the full remodeling of the unit’s Premiere rooftop restaurant.

After a multi-million-euro refurbishment and expansion program, the Athens Hilton reopened last month to the cheers and admiration of employees and special guests. The “new” unit takes on a complete new look inside and out with a particular emphasis on a modern style with lots of natural lighting effects.

Loutraki’s Poseidon Resort is now a member of Premier Hotels and Resorts and of The Charming Hotels of the World. The international recognition comes as a result of a major investment in upgrading both the unit’s services and amenities.