MADRID — From a collapsed economy in 2008 and the years that followed to arguably the strongest hotel investment hotspot in Europe today, Greece has been on an incredible journey, especially in the years since the pandemic.
During a roundtable at the recent Atlantic Ocean Hotel Investors’ Summit in Madrid, speakers said the Greek hotel market has received a significant amount of investment capital.
Greece has coastal development sites, whereas Spain no longer does, and developments on those Greek locations are positioned at the high end of the segment chain. Roundtable participants also said trends to watch out for in Greece include co-investment opportunities, the appearance of domestic white-label management firms and new feeder markets.
Artyom Perevedentsev, director of hotel investment properties for Europe at CBRE, said Greece’s economic and hotel fundamentals are very well-placed. In fact, Greece's hotel supply is one of the lowest in Europe.
Another positive is that Greeks perhaps are the toughest negotiators in Europe, said Gonzalo García-Lago, senior partner of hospitality and leisure at Madrid-based investment firm Azora.
“We face a great deal of competition from local investors. They have done great work, they have a lot of cash, and they have a different sense of how to tackle issues than does institutional capital,” he said.
In March 2025, saw shipping tycoon George Prokopiou acquired the remaining share of the Astir Palace Resort in Vouliagmeni that contains the 303-room Four Seasons Hotel Astir Palace Athens. The seller was Dubai-based AGC Equity Partners, according to CoStar, which added AGC itself acquired the hotel in October 2016, when it had 162 rooms, for approximately €443 million.
According to Greek newspaper The National Herald, Prokopiou first acquired a 33.75% stake in the resort in October 2024 for €150 million from Turkish firm Dogus Group.
Azora spent a year and a half negotiating its first acquisition in Greece and another three and a half years on the second, investing from its €1.8 billion fund, García-Lago said.
“It is time-consuming. At points I felt like quitting [the market], but we want to keep investing in Greece,” he said.
In August, Azora acquired a 50.1% stake in Greece’s Donkey Hotels for an undisclosed price from family-run investment firm Ioannou, which maintained the minority share.
Donkey Hotels' portfolio includes five hotels in Greece — four in Athens, one in Santorini — with a total of 834 rooms, and the joint venture plans on expanding across the country.
Dimitris Manikis, president and managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, said the overriding mentality is that Greeks and Greek firms are open for business. The notion behind founding white-label management firms in Greece is because of the need to find new ways of serving investors eager to enter the country, he added.
“In the next five years there will be established a dominant Greek white-label management company,” Manikis said, adding one push in this is that legacy in the Greek market is dying.
García-Lago said Greece has the same hotel fundamentals that Spain had 15 years ago. Hotel investors in Portugal and Italy might share some of Greece’s upside, participants said.
Carlos Nieto, senior acquisitions director at Mediterranean Sea-focused owner-operator Sani/Ikos Group — whose principal asset is the Sani Resort in Greek region Haldikiki — said the state of the Greek hotel market has permitted raising average daily rate.
“We have space in which to grow. We are seeing more guests from Russia and [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries,” he said.
Sani/Ikos has two brands, Sani Resort and Ikos Resorts, with a portfolio of 12 resorts and approximately 3,450 rooms in Greece and Spain and a pipeline of approximately 2,250 rooms for its Ikos flag in Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Nieto added his company sees growth opportunities in Greek destinations such as Athens, Corfu, Crete and Kos.
Back from the brink
The transformation of Greece has been notable, Manikis said.
“It was the black sheep of Europe in 2014, but now it has a gross domestic product that is higher than that of Germany,” he said.
Greece has a population of only 10 million people and, according to official Greek numbers, more than 35 million tourists from January through October 2025.
Manikis predicted that the Mani Peninsula and the wider Peloponnese area are Greece’s hospitality future, which will be boosted by planned expansion of its airport at Kalamata. He added India is a growing feeder market to Greece's tourism demand.
“[Indians] do not want to sit on the beach. They have a similar culture in that [India and Greece] are very old civilizations," he said.
One major challenge for the Greek market is climate change.
Manikis said that it is simply too hot in summer but that the change in the weather has extended Greece’s tourism season to 11 months. The U.S. also sees a stable Greece as an important policy consideration, he added.