The persistent hotelier who helped redefine the Greek hospitality scene

They often accidental astir businesses that it is usually the archetypal procreation of founders that creates value, the 2nd that adds oregon simply maintains it, and the third is the 1 that destroys it. Even if this is true, Dinos Tornivoukas is the astir striking objection to the rule. He took implicit a large edifice radical with three hotels to which helium added two much emblematic hotels successful Thessaloniki and is present preparing to unfastened his archetypal successful Athens.

“We became hoteliers due to the fact that my gramps had obscurity to enactment the German tobacco merchants,” helium tells Kathimerini, recounting the beginnings of the TOR Hotel Group, when his grandfather, Konstantinos Tornivoukas – oregon Kotsos arsenic helium is remembered successful the household – created the Mediterranean Palace Hotel, famously known arsenic the Mediterranée, successful Thessaloniki – the archetypal luxury edifice successful the city. It was a edifice that, from the very archetypal time it opened, successful 1925, acceptable caller standards of prime and hospitality, charting the way that the household followed for the adjacent 100 years.

‘We indispensable similar our hotels, emotion them, and connection our customers precisely what we besides expect from top-level hotels’

Indeed, the Mediterranée was built when Konstantinos Tornivoukas, who had extended commercialized dealings with German tobacco merchants successful Dresden, realized that when they came to Greece for business, there was nary due accommodation for them. When helium built it, there was nary amended edifice successful each of Greece but the Hotel Grande Bretagne successful Athens, recalls his grandson, listing starring figures, businessmen, politicians and artists who frequented its lobbies.

The Tornivoukas household is possibly the lone 1 successful Greece and 1 of the fewer successful Europe to person started and remained hoteliers implicit 4 generations. This year marks 100 years since the opening of the Mediterranée, which unluckily suffered superior harm during the 6.5-magnitude earthquake of 1978 successful Thessaloniki. “It was a large stroke for my father, but besides for maine personally, due to the fact that I was born, raised and took my archetypal steps successful it,” helium says. He adjacent remembers his father, the 2nd procreation of hoteliers, changing the way they took to get to work due to the fact that helium didn’t consciousness similar passing successful beforehand of the square that was erstwhile dominated by the hotel.

Of course, successful 1972 Dinos Tornivoukas’ parents, George and Ismini, had already expanded the concern by opening City Hotel, a celebrated four-star unit successful the city, while successful 1973 they wrote the adjacent chapter, with the instauration of the Eagles Palace successful Ouranoupoli, Halkidiki. One of the archetypal luxury resorts successful the country, the Eagles Palace became synonymous with authentic Greek hospitality, attracting visitors from each implicit the world. A blessed antheral and by quality benignant and optimistic, Dinos Tornivoukas remembers with nostalgia however helium started the venture successful Ouranoupoli: “We had gone connected vacation with my parents connected a Lambro vessel belonging to the precocious Aristotelis Zeis, and upon arriving successful the country we were enchanted by the quality and tranquility of the landscape.”

Tornivoukas, present 64, received his precocious schoolhouse diploma from the American College of Anatolia and arsenic σύντομα arsenic helium completed his studies successful concern medication began working successful the concern successful which helium had grown up – hotels. In 1999 his begetter died and helium took implicit arsenic caput of the group. “A large work that marked maine and pushed maine to proceed with adjacent greater dedication,” helium says. So the clip had travel for the third generation. After modernizing the cognition of the concern and launching the indispensable renovations and upgrades, such arsenic astatine the Eagles Palace successful 2002, helium proceeded successful 2009 to make the Excelsior Hotel successful the larboard city. Thessaloniki’s unique caller architectural landmark rapidly became fashionable and was added to the group’s profitable hotels.

“All renovations and expansions, arsenic well arsenic the caller hotels, person been done with either nary oregon minimal borrowing,” Tornivoukas says, adding that they present each bask occupancy rates of implicit 80% year-round, while the summertime edifice successful Ouranoupoli achieves occupancy rates of implicit 85%. A fewer years later, successful 2017, Dinos and his wife Lena added the Eagles Villas to the Ouranoupoli hotel, creating the implicit Eagles Resort. “It is an internationally awarded gastronomic and luxury vacation destination, which combines unparalleled aesthetics, a unique location, and superior hospitality experiences, establishing Halkidiki arsenic 1 of the top destinations successful the Mediterranean,” helium says.

Of course, the “persistent entrepreneur” did not stop there. In 2022, successful collaboration with Grivalia, the household presented ON Residence, bringing a historical gathering successful Thessaloniki backmost to beingness and reviving the legendary edifice Olympos Naoussa, an emblematic sanction successful the past of the gastronomy successful Greece’s 2nd largest city. The boutique hotel, which, similar the Excelsior, is considered a landmark owed to its architectural characteristics, is famed for its exemplary cognition and the luxury and prime of the infrastructure and services it provides, arsenic well arsenic the past it carries. Located connected the seafront, it is 1 of the two oregon three first-choice destinations for VIPs and different visitors to Thessaloniki.

This year, the clip came for the adjacent step of the antheral who acceptable retired to dispel the story of the “prodigal” third generation. Together with his two daughters, who, similar him, grew up successful hotels, loved them, and present play a starring relation successful their absorption and operation, Tornivoukas is expanding to Athens. Having emerged arsenic the highest bidder successful a nationalist tender for the lease of a listed gathering astatine 4 Kolokotroni Street, where the engineers’ κοινωνικά information money (TSMEDE) was housed, helium is preparing to transform it into a edifice and marque it a starring subordinate successful the capital’s prime hospitality market. 

When asked if helium ever wants to run successful buildings of a special character, helium says, “We indispensable similar our hotels, emotion them, and connection our customers precisely what we besides expect from top-level hotels.” The gathering connected Kolokotroni Street intelligibly appealed to the family, which has present created the 5th procreation – the children of Tornivoukas’ daughters.

This exemplary of edifice improvement and absorption seems to beryllium successful, judging by the practically zero borrowing, the vigorous summation successful the group’s turnover and the robust profitability it shows, according to Tornivoukas, who, successful summation to being the CEO of the group, is besides the vice president of the Thessaloniki Hoteliers’ Association.

So what is it that worries the experienced businessman, we ask? “I spot a de-hellenization processing some successful the Greek onshore successful wide and successful entrepreneurship successful bluish Greece successful particular,” helium says, adding that Greek businessmen tin make the system of the portion and the full country, perchance amended than foreigners.

And what helps him relax? “The sea,” helium replies instantly. “I person the oversea successful maine and I wouldn’t want to unrecorded acold from it.” In the fewer days helium tin steal for vacation, helium prefers to spell “to authentic places that service Greek cuisine and person remained arsenic unscathed arsenic imaginable by passing fashions and the crowds of summertime visitors.”

Tornivoukas is simply a antheral arrogant of his family, his wife – of whom helium says, “We built the hotels together” – and his daughters, who work with their husbands successful the business. He is 1 of those uncommon types of radical who tin successfully run astatine a sustainable gait but besides dedicate clip to enjoying beingness and being bully institution for his friends. 

So, what is simply a hotel, for him? “For us, they are a way of life.”

Vellidis and the Ferrari

Growing up successful the lobbies and corridors of the hotels built by his gramps and father, Tornivoukas has galore stories to tell. He remembers steadfast Ioannis Vellidis, 1 of the richest, astir almighty and important Thessalonikians of the 20th century, coming down to the reception areas of the Mediterranée each time with Derire, his beloved Yorkshire terrier, which helium would assistance into an armchair and from there let it to leap onto his enarthrosis so that they could caput together to his Rolls-Royce.

Vellidis, you see, was a imperishable nonmigratory of the Mediterranée. 

He besides remembers the Swarovski household arriving astatine the Eagles Palace successful Ouranoupoli done the ungraded roads of the clip successful a sparkling reddish Ferrari successful 1975. The impermanent publication of the edifice successful Ouranoupoli was signed, among others, by Maria Callas successful 1976, a year earlier she passed away.

The large Greek creator Giorgos Gounaropoulos painted the portraits of the founders of the family, Constantine and his wife, Erta, which today adorn the walls of the Excelsior.