The story of Alianthos Garden Hotel goes back to 1970 when Manolis Vardakis envisioned creating a traditional hotel in Plakias, Crete, that would cater to its guests as if they were family. Since then, Alianthos has been a place dedicated to providing you with excellent services and priceless holiday memories. The Vardakis family decided to invest in facilities and amenities that always put the guests in the centre of attention.
The hotel’s staff commits to speaking your language, taking care of your diet, and of course, boosting your mood and appetite for life by keeping the quality standards and values consistently high. At the same time, the hotel’s design and services are constantly taken care of, so that Alianthos Garden Hotel is a modern space and a hotel that feels like home!
Alianthos Garden Hotel aims to inspire you and welcome you in a warm homey atmosphere: to offer you hope and confidence to move forward and create memories of a lifetime. Alianthos Hotel promotes the idea of change and life improvement exactly like nature does - as the sea and flowers change and flourish through times, so does your mood while staying at the hotel! The family’s vision is to embrace you with a sense of friendliness in a cosy ambience.
The secret of the hotel’s success is that the guests have never been treated as “guests”, but instead as partners, as friends, and as people who enjoy quality services with genuine trust and care. As a result, the hotel’s friends kept multiplying year after year. The facilities are relentlessly revamped, and the staff is constantly available to offer you a unique holiday in Plakias, Crete, in this way honouring the long family tradition.
Now sit back, relax, and let the family members narrate their story and help you dive deeper into the hotel’s origins and transformation through times.
Our father’s story, a pioneer of the time
The foundations of Alianthos Garden Hotel were set by our father, with the help of our mother, his brother, and our aunt. Our parents were very poor and lived in Mirthios. Our father has always been a “breadwinner” and felt the need to take care of his family. He rented some land from an old lady and cultivated it by himself. He built greenhouses by the sea and grew vegetables. He also bought a boat to provide the family with fresh fish.
The use of greenhouses was a new method at the time, and our father was praised and rewarded for it. After planting successful large crops of vegetables and securing access to fresh fish, he used the money to build a taverna and offered these fish and vegetables to his friends, who later became clients. The taverna became a meeting point as well as the place that hosted celebrations and wedding ceremonies.
It was around this time that the first tourists arrived in Plakias, Crete. In the beginning, they had no place to stay as there were no resorts around the area, so they used to stay in tents. Our father instantly felt the need to host them. He used to say, “they came all this way, to admire the beauty of Crete, and we will let them stay in tents?”. So, he decided to start building the first rooms and prepared the ground for the soon to be the famous family hotel in Plakias, Crete.
The first building he made was above the taverna. It consisted of traditional rooms which could be rented only by “foreigners” and Athenians. He built everything literally with his own hands and the image of him doing it is still very vivid in our minds. Despite the disputes with the rest of the family over his unrealistic idea, he never gave up and proceeded with his plan. Over the years and as the demand kept growing, he built a second building, and then a third.
Our mother and our aunt worked hard at the taverna, cooking authentic, traditional meals, supporting our father’s vision. He had proven to be a true leader. Whenever he had an idea, he just did it, without being stopped by any obstacles or other people’s objections.
We, the three children - a brother and two sisters - grew up in the hotel and always had our parents as our role models. We decided to follow our father’s path and we all shared the same dream: we wanted to create a hotel that would proudly continue his legacy.
In Greece, family is everything. When you visit our hotel you see our father enjoying his Greek coffee at his favourite spot, watching all the guests, smiling at them, and supporting us all the way. We keep dreaming and making plans for the future. At the same time, we are fully aware of the place’s history, so we feel so proud to see it progressing and being appreciated as it should be. Our goal is to offer you a fantastic holiday experience and welcome you to a family hotel in Plakias, Crete like no other.
We help you recharge your batteries, rejuvenate, and create memories that motivate you throughout the difficult times. All the people of Alianthos Garden prioritise human contact. Communicating with each one of our guests as a separate entity is the essence of our way of thinking - our philosophy. We are truly interested when we ask, “How are you today?”, “How was your day?” “Is there anything you need?”. We deeply care!
Experience unique, heartwarming holidays in Plakias, Crete, and immerse yourself in the Greek culture. Say “Opa” with us and feel Greek, even for a little while! Make memories to cherish forever. This is what Alianthos Garden Hotel is truly all about!
Choose Alianthos for your vacation, and don’t miss out on experiencing authentic Greek hospitality. Here are 10 things you should add to your agenda when you book your holiday with us:
Take long walks on the seafront or the mountains and explore Plakias, Crete
Have a picnic in nature with goodies prepared by our talented chef
Taste some of the finest wines produced in Greece
Soak up the natural beauty of the area
Visit the surrounding famous archaeological monuments
Indulge into the world-known Mediterranean diet
Taste pure olive oil from our own olive groves
Take traditional Greek cooking lessons from our chef
Dance and sing your heart out at Greek nights*
Let your children have the time of their lives with special events and activities
Premium 10+1 Bonus:
Treat yourself to a therapeutic massage: If you seek to pamper yourself even further... We have our orthopaedic masseur who knows precisely where the ‘pressure points’ are for your absolute relief and enjoyment.
