The visionary of Elounda as a luxury tourist destination, Spyros Kokotos, has breathed his last at the age of 92.

The creator of the luxury hotels Elounda Beach, Elounda Bay, Elounda Mare, Porto Elounda and Elounda Peninsula is widely known and recognized for creating the luxury hotels and resorts of Elounda in his native Crete.

The news of his death was made public by his son with a touching post on social media. “Captain Spyros loved sailing. This year he didn’t have time to go fishing with his friends like he did last year on days like this. The day before yesterday afternoon, at the hospital, we shot a video together talking about the trip we were going to take “with our girls” on his beloved boat, “Eliana”. Mom was by his side. He went quietly,” she says.

Who was Spyros Kokotos

With vision and creative daring, he envisioned and implemented projects that radically changed the country’s tourist map. Elounda, whose name became synonymous with luxury and authentic hospitality, bears his indelible stamp. With Elounda Beach and Elounda Bay Palace, he highlighted a new model of hospitality, where luxury met natural beauty and architecture respected the landscape and tradition.

Even while attending university, Spyros Kokotos worked as an architect on the Hilton Athens project, so since his graduation, he has worked mainly on tourism projects, having built more than 40 hotels throughout Greece.

In close collaboration with his brother, civil engineer George Kokoto, they designed and built a series of hotels on the island of Rhodes, including the Esperia Hotel (200 rooms) and the Aura Hotel (150 rooms), culminating in the design and construction of the Rodos Bay Hotel (now known as the Amathus Beach Hotel) with 260 rooms and suites and 60 bungalows.

Other early hotel projects in the early 1960s include the El Greco Hotel (120 units) and Emmanuel N. Fountoulakis’ Esperia S.A. Hotel (53 units) in Heraklion, Crete, the Hermes Hotel in Agios Nikolaos, Crete (250 units), and the Arcadio and Olympic Hotels on the island of Corfu.

The Arcadio Hotel and the Arcadio Hotel in Corfu and Corfu Island in Corfu.
Having established himself as one of the best hotel architects in the country, Spyros Kokotos also designed in the late 1960s the Club Med Hotel on the island of Kos, the Poseidon Hotel in Loutraki and the Minos Palace Hotel in Agios Nikolaos, Crete.