Another Legendary Xenia Hotel Is Getting a Second Life as Casa Cook Athos

The historic Xenia Ouranoupoli in Halkidiki will reopen as Casa Cook Athos, marking a new chapter for Greece’s legendary Xenia hotel legacy.

There is a particular kind of hotel news that makes us genuinely happy at The Hotel Trotter. Not simply because it announces a new opening, a new brand or another reason to travel somewhere beautiful, but because it suggests something more meaningful. A piece of Greece’s architectural hotel history is not being left behind. It is being brought back into the present.

This time, the news comes from Halkidiki. Domes Resorts has announced the long-term lease of the historic Xenia Ouranoupoli, with plans to transform it into Casa Cook Athos, the first Casa Cook hotel to be developed under Domes Resorts. The opening is expected within the 2027 season, following an extensive renovation of the property. And yes, we are especially happy to hear it because this is not just any hotel. It is a Xenia.

A new chapter for Greece’s Xenia legacy

The Xenia hotels remain one of the most fascinating chapters in the story of Greek hospitality. Created from the 1950s onwards, they were never merely places to sleep. They were architectural gestures, often modern, restrained, quietly elegant and deeply connected to their setting. They helped shape the way Greece introduced itself to the world in the post-war years, through light, proportion, landscape and a refined sense of simplicity.

Many of them were built in extraordinary locations. Many were designed by important Greek architects. Some were preserved and loved. Others were neglected, altered or left in a strange limbo between memory and abandonment. So whenever an old Xenia enters a new era with sensitivity and a strong contemporary identity, it feels like good news not only for Greek tourism, but also for Greek architectural memory. We have seen this before with other former Xenia properties, from the legendary Mykonos Theoxenia, whose return to the island’s hotel scene we followed with great interest, to the former Xenia Skiathos, now part of the Elivi Skiathos experience. Both remind us that these buildings still carry a rare kind of glamour. Not the obvious kind. Something quieter, more rooted, more Greek in the best possible way.

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Casa Cook Athos arrives in Ouranoupoli

The Xenia Ouranoupoli was built in 1959 by architect Periklis Sakellarios, one of the important figures of Greek post-war architecture. Its location could hardly be more atmospheric. Set in Ouranoupoli, close to Mount Athos, it belongs to a place where sea, history and spiritual resonance meet in a way that feels almost cinematic.

Ouranoupoli is not a generic summer destination. It is a threshold, the last village before Mount Athos, a place of passage, contemplation and horizon. A hotel here cannot be only about rooms and pools. It needs mood. It needs silence. It needs a sense of place. This is where the Casa Cook identity could find a very interesting expression. Known for its minimal, relaxed, design-conscious language, Casa Cook works best when it feels shaped by its surroundings rather than imposed on them. In Athos, the ingredients are already there: landscape, history, sea, stone, ritual and stillness.

According to the announcement, Domes will carry out an extensive renovation of the complex, with the completed hotel expected to exceed 80 rooms. Casa Cook Athos will also mark the first Casa Cook property developed under Domes Resorts, following the group’s move into Casa Collective, the lifestyle hospitality platform behind Casa Cook, Cook’s Club and the upcoming XIA brand. The crucial point with any Xenia revival is always the same. It is not simply about reopening a building. It is about understanding what made it valuable in the first place.

The most interesting hotel projects in Greece today are not the ones that erase the past in order to look international. They are the ones that recognise the power of what was already there: the scale, the setting, the architectural rhythm, the emotional memory. They update without over-explaining. They modernise without flattening the character. That is why the return of Xenia Ouranoupoli as Casa Cook Athos feels promising. Domes has built a strong presence in Greek hospitality by working with destinations that already have a story and giving them a more contemporary, experiential language. If handled with restraint, this could become one of those rare Greek hotel projects where heritage and lifestyle do not compete, but quietly enhance each other.

Greece does not need every historic hotel to become a museum. Nor does it need every old property to be dressed up beyond recognition. What it needs, especially when it comes to the Xenia legacy, is thoughtful renewal.

A hotel can have a second life. A building can return with a new name and still carry its old soul. And when that happens in a place like Ouranoupoli, facing one of the most atmospheric landscapes in Greece, it is very much worth watching.

Casa Cook Athos is expected to open in 2027.