Xenia (Ξενία) was a nationwide hotel construction program initiated by the Hellenic Tourism Organisation (Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τουρισμού, E.O.T.) to improve the country's tourism infrastructure in the 1960s and 1970s. It constitutes one of the largest infrastructure projects in modern Greek history.

History

Until the 1950s, Greece featured only a few major hotels, mostly situated in the country's great cities, and a few smaller ones in islands like

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

. In 1950, EOT began a program to construct and operate hotels across the country, especially in the less-travelled areas. Locations were specially selected and the architecture combined local knowledge with standardized elements. The buildings were embedded in the landscape, but at the same time followed a modernist style. The first manager of the project was the architect Charalambos Sfaellos (from 1950 to 1958) and from 1957 the buildings were designed by a team under Aris Konstantinidis. Many private hotel projects in Greece were inspired by the ''Xenia'' hotels and the program had reached its aims in the early 1970s. In 1974 the construction program was complete. The ''Xenia'' program itself was officially terminated in 1983, and the hotels were given over to private operators or eventually sold off. Some hotels are still operated privately under the ''Xenia'' name. Many of the program's hotels have been designated as historic monuments for their architectural value. Three have been demolished, while other surviving examples have been substantially altered or are in a dilapidated state. Α special category of hotel units was created under the name "Xenia Helios" for school of tourism operate in

Anavyssos Anavyssos () is a town and a former municipality in East Attica, Greece located in the Athens Riviera. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Saronikos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an are ...

in Attica,

Parnitha Mount Parnitha (, , Katharevousa and ''Parnis''/''Parnes''; sometimes Parnetha) is a lightly forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and a summit known as Karavola (Καρα� ...

in Attica housed in the former ,

Peraia Peraia, and Peraea or Peræa (from , ''hē peraia'', "land across") in Classical Antiquity referred to "a community's territory lying 'opposite', predominantly (but not exclusively) a mainland possession of an island state" according to Karl-Wilh ...

in Thessaloniki, in

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

. Xenia Helios they were both hotels and school of tourism, as model tourist units in which students of the country's tourist schools were training with a combination of theoretical training and practical training in real time hotel operating conditions. "Xenia Helios" in

Peraia, Thessaloniki Peraia () is a suburb of Thessaloniki, Greece. It is part of the municipality Thermaikos. Peraia is located on the south coast of the Thermaic Gulf, 15 km south of Thessaloniki city centre and 4 km west of Thessaloniki International Air ...

launched in 1978 exclusively for housing the School of Tourism Professions of Thessaloniki, where in the summer it operated as a 3 stars, with a capacity of 77 rooms and the rest of the year as a model training school, where students stayed in the rooms as boarders. In 2025, as part of the general effort to upgrade state tourism education, the Ministry of Tourism is proceeding with the utilization of historic Xenia Helios hotels for their long-term lease. The private individuals who prevail in the tenders will undertake the obligation to renovate the hotels to operate them as hotels and for employing students from state schools of tourism education of the Ministry of Tourism that will be located relatively close to it.

Xenia hotels

This section lists the tourist establishments according to the administrative region to which they belong: Attica Region * Xenia

Poros Poros (; ) is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, about south of the port of Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across the strait. Its surf ...

(1964), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

Spetses Spetses (, "Pityussa") is an island in Attica, Greece. It is counted among the Saronic Islands group. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis and Corinthia Prefecture, which is now split into Argolis and Corinthia. In ancient ...

(1960), Architect F. Vokos Central Macedonia Region * Xenia

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

(1963), Architect I. Rizos * Xenia Paliouri (1962), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

Platamon Platamon, or Platamonas (, ''Platamónas''), is a town and sea-side resort in south Pieria, Central Macedonia, Greece. Platamon has a population of about 2,000 permanent inhabitants. It is part of the Municipal unit of East Olympos of the Dio-Olym ...

(1960), Architect F. Vokos * Xenia

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

(1960), Architect K. Stamatis * Xenia

Ouranoupoli Ouranoupoli (, formerly ''Ouranopolis'') is an ancient city and a modern village in Chalcidice, Greece. It is part of the municipality Aristotelis. Location The village of Ouranoupoli is situated on the coastline in the northwest part (the ver ...

(1959), Architect P. Sakellariou Western Macedonia Region * Xenia

Florina Florina (, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the Florina regional uni ...

(1958), Architect G. Nikoletopoulos * Xenia

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

(1952), Architect Ch. Sfaellos * Xenia

Kozani Kozani (, ) is a town in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas, Aliakmonas riv ...

(1963), Architect K. Levidis Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region * Xenia

Xanthi Xanthi is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided ...

(1964), Architect G. Nikoletopoulos * Xenia

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

(1961), Architect K. Stamatis * Xenia

Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki; , ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long, in size and has a population of 2,596 (2021 census). Its main industries ...

(1954), Architect K. Spanos * Xenia

Thasos Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate regiona ...

(1955), Architect Ch. Sfaellos Epirus Region * Xenia

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa () is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, connecting northwestern Main ...

(1959), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia Arta (1958), Architect D. Zivas * Xenia

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

(1958), Architect F. Vokos Western Greece Region * Xenia

Nafpaktos Nafpaktos () or Naupactus, is a town and a former municipality in Nafpaktia, Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Latini ...

(1980), P. Architect Manouilidis * Xenia Olympia (I) (1963), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia Olympia (II) (1966), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

Missolonghi Missolonghi or Mesolongi (, ) is a municipality of 32,048 people (according to the 2021 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis Mesolongiou (). Missolon ...

(1953), Architect I. Triantafyllidis Thessaly Region * Xenia

Kalabaka Kalabaka (, ''Kalabáka'', alternative transliterations are ''Kalambaka'' and ''Kalampaka'') is a town and seat of the municipality of Meteora (municipality), Meteora in the Trikala (regional unit), Trikala regional unit, part of Thessaly in G ...

(1960), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

(1959), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

Skopelos Skopelos (, ) is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands that comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island of Euboea. It is par ...

(1961), Architect F. Vokos * Xenia

Skiathos Skiathos (, ; , ; and ) is a small Greece, Greek Islands of Greece, island in the northwest Aegean Sea. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades archipelago, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia ...

(1963), Architect G. Nikoletopoulos * Xenia

Portaria Portaria (Greek language, Greek: Πορταριά) is a village and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the m ...

(1957), Architect K. Kitsikis * Xenia Tsagkarada (1955), Architect Ch. Sfaellos Central Greece Region * Xenia

Ypati Ypati () is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, central peninsular Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Lamia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 257.504 ...

(1956), Architect Ch. Sfaellos * Xenia

Karpenisi Karpenisi (, ) is a town in central Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Evrytania. Karpenisi lies within the valley of the river Karpenisiotis (Καρπενησιώτης), a tributary of the Megdovas, in the southern part of the ...

(1959), Architect F. Vokos * Xenia

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

(1953), Architect D. Pikionis * Xenia

Skyros Skyros (, ), in some historical contexts Romanization of Greek, Latinized Scyros (, ), is an island in Greece. It is the southernmost island of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC, the island was known as ...

(1955), Architect G. Doxiadi Peloponnese Region * Xenia

Nafplio Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...

(1958), Architect I. Triantafyllidis * Xenia

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

(1958), Architect X. Mpougatsos * Xenia

Vytina Vytina (, ''Vytína'') is a mountain village and a former municipality in Arcadia (regional unit), Arcadia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. It is considered a List of traditional settlements of Greece, traditional settlement. Since t ...

(1965), Architect K. Mpitsios North Aegean Region * Xenia

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

(1958), Architect K. Stamatis * Xenia

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

(1958), Architect K. Stamatis * Xenia

Mytilene Mytilene (; ) is the capital city, capital of the Greece, Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of the Aegean. It was fo ...

(1961), Architect I. Antoniadis South Aegean Region * Xenia

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. At the 2021 census, there were 10,704 inhabitants, most of ...

(I) (1962), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

(II) (1953), Architect P. Vasiliadi * Xenia

Andros Andros (, ) is the northernmost island of the Greece, Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and ...

(1958), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

Paros Paros (; ; ) is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. Part of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos (island), Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Co ...

(1955), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

(1959), Architect F. Vokos * Xenia

Patmos Patmos (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where, according to Christian belief, John of Patmos received the vision found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. ...

(1960), Architect M. Dalla * Xenia

Kythnos Kythnos (, ), commonly called Thermia (), is a Greek island and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in the Western Cyclades between Kea (island), Kea and Serifos. It is from the Athenian harbor of Piraeus. The municipality Kythn ...

(1970), Architect E. Tsiller * Xenia

Sifnos Sifnos () is an island municipality in the Cyclades island group in Greece. The main town, near the center, known as Apollonia (pop. 918 as of 2021), is home of the island's folklore museum and library. The town's name is thought to come from an ...

(1961), Architect A. Papageorgiou Ionian Islands Region * Xenia

(1955), Architect Ch. Sfaellos * Xenia Argostoli (1955), Architect Ch. Sfaellos * Xenia

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

(1955), Architects: E. Voureka; P. Vasiliadi; P. Sakellario * Xenia

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

(1955), Architect Ch. Sfaellos * Xenia

Lefkada Lefkada (, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island in the Ionian Sea on the ...

(1978), Architect A. Michalakis Crete Region * Xenia Karterou (1963), Architect A. Konstantinidis * Xenia

(1961), Architect G. Nikoletopoulos * Xenia

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

(1961), Architects: I. Tzompanaki; S. Kountouri * Xenia

Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...

(1961), Architect Aik. Dialisma

Bibliography

* * Donat, John: "Architecture of the Xenia Hotels" in World architecture, Volume 3, 1966. Page 145ff *

References

{{Reflist Hotels in Greece Greek brands