How Dreams Became Reality

George returned from military service with large dreams, including that of winning the hand of the young Eleftheria from Delos. To support them, he drove a bus that transported men and materials from town to the barite mines. He convinced his brothers to invest in a vehicle, and before long, with a fleet of 25 buses, they ran the island’s only public transport network. “As kids we sold tickets on our dad’s buses, which was a little boy’s dream”, says Marios.

George decided that it was time to build the first hotel on Mykonos outside of town. Markos recounts: “He came home one day on a Caterpillar 920 that he had picked up second-hand. It dug the foundations to our first four hotels and was his favourite set of wheels, long after he could have any car he wanted.”

He became the island’s third hotelier when the 25-room Kohili opened in 1979. Set high above Alefkandra habour and looking directly onto the famous 16th-century windmills on the edge of Chora, it commanded sweeping views of the Aegean and was an instant hit: Korali was built a year later doubling the room count.

Sacrifice and Hard Work

Success was built on the back of hard work. Eleftheria made breakfasts for all the guests, did the housekeeping and laundry, and provided meals for the 40 construction workers busy erecting the new hotel. She was also raising four sons. During their summer break, they were expected to help out at the hotel, serving breakfast trays, setting and clearing tables and learning the trade. “I can still smell the cake she baked in our kitchen for the hotel”, Vangelis recalls. “She gets emotional when we talk about those times; they hold bitter-sweet memories. Our parents sacrificed everything to create opportunity for us. Dad worked from morning to night and invested all the profits back into business, and our mother had one good pair of Sunday shoes that she only slipped on before she entered church.”

Personal touch and attention to detail resulted in a loyal clientele and a reputation that spread by word of mouth. Six years later, Kyma and Kalypso joined Kohili and Korali. “Our father’s original plan was to give each of his four sons a hotel when he retired,’ says Marios, ‘but he loved driving that Cat so much that he went on to build six more, starting with the first five-star hotel on the island.”

In anticipation of growing demand for luxury destinations, George bought land in 1986 on the south coast. The best plot had sweeping views of Platis Gialos Bay but was dominated by large granite boulders. These were integrated into terraces to ensure sea views from every room. This hotel, the first luxury establishment of its kind on the island, is of course the Ambassador.

Guests enjoy a unique taste of the island through the hotel’s exceptional relationship with suppliers. “In our father’s day, our fresh fish came from Nico, whose sons now supply us. The best of fresh local produce is grown exclusively for our gourmet restaurants. Many are informal suppliers, like our father’s old friend Panagiotis who catches octopus in the waters around Delos solely for his family and our chef. And naturally, the lamb and pork are our father’s own.”

“There’s a real sense that we are all connected. As locals,’ says Markos, ‘there is a mutual dependence with the people and the land of Mykonos, and with the rest of the world through our guests.”

Many guests return year after year, not just for service excellence, but also in anticipation of the element of surprise. “We need to keep moving. Great hospitality is like sustaining the romance in a serious relationship.”

Therein lies the secret: true luxury cannot be conveyed by exclusivity, precision and aesthetics alone.

To experience the real thing, you need to encounter family connectedness and a shared ethos.

“We need to keep moving. Great hospitality is like sustaining the romance in a serious relationship.”