After the Second World War and the Greek Civil War, Greece sought to recover and rebuild, turning to what it had already been oriented toward since the early 20th century: tourism. Thus, following the end of the Greek Civil War and with financial assistance from the Americans (through the Marshall Plan), the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) was re-established in 1951 (its original foundation dates back to 1929).
This marks the first—or early—phase of the initially pilot Xenia Programme, which would last until 1957, with Charalambos Sfaellos serving as Director of the Technical Service. The Organisation’s first initiative was the construction of four guesthouses in distinctive locations across the country. These locations, however, had to meet two requirements: the promotion of the surrounding historic environment and the immediate generation of revenue in order to further finance the programme.
The sites proposed by the GNTO were: Delphi (study by D. Pikionis), Mykonos (known as “Hotel Leto,” study by Pr. Vasileiadis), Nafplio (study by Kl. Krantonellis), and Kastoria (initial study by Ch. Sfaellos and Marika Zagorisiou), each selected for different reasons.
The second phase of the programme—during which it was established that all buildings would uniformly bear the name Xenia—began in 1957 and lasted until 1967. During this period, the architect Aris Konstantinidis served as Head of the Studies Department. In July 1967, he resigned from the Service in reaction to the coup d’état of 21 April and the establishment of the military junta.
The name of the “Xenia” Programme clearly derives from the epithet “Xenios Zeus,” attributed to Zeus, the supreme god of the ancient Greek pantheon. Zeus was the protector of strangers at a time when hospitality was considered a moral duty and the foreign guest was regarded as sacred. The word “Xenia” is grammatically feminine in Greek; thus, in the plural they are referred to as “the Xenias”.
Initially, each hotel of the Organisation had its own distinct name. The place of installation was, in principle, the source from which the hotel derived its name. Myths, local heroes, particular landscape or climatic features (lakes, mountains, winds), and toponyms constituted the reservoir from which characteristic names were drawn. Thus, the first hotels were named “Leto” in Mykonos, “Delphi” in the homonymous area, “Amphitryon” in Nafplio, “Alkyon” in Thasos, “Limni” in Kastoria, and “Artemis” for the guesthouse on Delos. Konstantinidis’ first hotel in Andros (1958) was named “Triton.”
From 1959 onward, and alongside the spread of Abstract Expressionism in the arts—where painters such as Pollock and Rothko liberated themselves from the necessity of literal representation and extended this logic to the naming of their works (I, II, and so forth)—Aris Konstantinidis adopted a similar approach. He began naming the hotels simply “Xenia,” followed by the respective toponym.
A fundamental prerequisite and starting point of each project was the privileged location of the Xenia to be erected. Konstantinidis ensured that each building harmonised with its surrounding environment and landscape, while also employing local materials.
The colours used were the so-called Polygnotian palette (deep red, ochre, white, and black).
A key characteristic of the Xenia hotels was the absence of differentiation among the rooms. All were equal in status and designed to offer the same view and identical amenities.
The remaining buildings have been designated as preserved monuments of modern heritage status, owing to the uniqueness of their post-war modernist architecture.
Good news! You can still stay at a Xenia (designed by Nikos Valsamakis, no less) that remains almost untouched: the Amalia Hotel at Delphi.
Although it was a privately owned hotel and not a state-owned one, it’s still a Xenia and it remains largely unchanged to this day. In fact, it is the only operating Xenia that has not undergone an insensitive “modern” renovation.
The best part of our visit was that, during breakfast on a random weekday in December (while we were almost alone at the hotel) the soundtrack was the Twin Peaks theme by Angelo Badalamenti. I don’t know who curated the playlist, but whoever you are, I see you.