«ERIA Resort» hotel is considered to be an innovative and visionary project, that runs over thirteen years in Maleme, Platanias, Chania. And this is because it is addressed to People with Disabilities (PWD), which they choose to make their holiday in Chania (Crete), having at their disposal every convenience and service, foremost with safety and free movement!
Owner of the hotel is the pharmacist – businessman (formerly Prefect and former Vice-Mayor of Chania) Grigoris Archontakis, who presents, for the first time, his hotel, in HANIA.news. This presentation followed the third reward (bronze) in hotel «ERIA Resort», in the category of best accessible hotels in Greece (Best Greek Accessibility Hotel and Resort), at Greek Hospitality Awards 2016.
Mr Archontakis welcomed us in the hotel, having at his side, hotel’s director Diamanto Apostolaki. (Mr Archontakis, Mrs Apostolaki and their partner from Sweden, Kerstin Karlstedt in the photo above).
They guided us to its spaces, they explained how it operates and pointed out that hotel guests are completely satisfied with the facilities, benefits and all of the services, which is evidenced by the number of repeating bookings in excess of 55%!
Subsequently, Mr. Archontakis talked about how an idea twenty years ago, despite the objective difficulties of the era (many of which remain to this day), took shape, and finally «ERIA Resort» hotel was born.
NORTHERN EUROPE AND THE IDEA
Mr. Archontakis revealed that “the idea for the creation of the hotel came in the mid-1990s because I had business with equipment for disabled people, for people with special needs, I often traveled in Northern Europe, in exhibitions to import these products in Greece. There, then, I discovered that there is a completely different view on how Northern Europe and how Greece sees the issue of people with disabilities.”
He emphasized that, “Northern Europe faces them as they should be treated. That a person with disability is not faced with pity and disposal of charity, but as all citizens. Providing of course, the necessary facilities – accessibility in particular, and equipment. On the other hand, however, it is required that this person is an active member of the society, is working, etc. This treatment creates a disabled person with a real normal life, including his problem and its specificity. This person will work in the morning to a job that is within its capabilities, will have dinner in a restaurant in the evening, fall in love, marry and of course, will travel. Greece is an ideal place for vacation for disabled persons, because of the climate. This is because when someone has a physical disability, the thermodynamic system is not working as it should. These persons need sun, heat, hot, not too high, but the temperatures we have in Crete. So then, Crete and Chania was, in my view, over time, an ideal place for vacation.”
“UNTHINKABLE FOR GREEKS”
While chatting with Mr. Archontakis at the exterior of the hotel, one occupant looked after her son by the pool, a child in adolescence with brain paralysis (as we learned later), with whom she had her holidays in Chania!
“Unthinkable for Greeks?” I asked Mr. Archontakis.
“Yes” he answered. “For Greeks it is indeed unthinkable. However, the culture of Northern Europeans (Scandinavians, Germans, British), on such issues is completely different from ours. The problem exists, they live with it and from there on, they live a normal life. It is very difficult for someone to understand it, but in the hotel, all these years, I have seen disabled people to meet here, fall in love, marry, live a life as all people do. They just don’t give up, “ he said.
BLIND BEGINING
Mr. Archontakis noted that when he decided to move on finally with the construction of the hotel, actually walked in… blindly.
“Slowly, without means, without guides, without technical manuals, as there was nothing like this in Greece, I began to search it. By buying books from foreign countries (Canada, USA, Australia) I began to create, in my mind, in principle, and then at the papers with my engineer, what you see today. The hotel is not a copy of another hotel in another city, in another country. It is from ground mine and my colleagues conception, construction and operation. I must say that after 13 years of operation, it’s design, made 17 years ago, works very well and with great success again in connection with holidays we offer to these people.”
THE HOTEL
Mr. Archontakis noticed that “the hotel offers holidays for people with physical disabilities and more. This means that the client who visits the hotel, has a 100% accessible to all sites environment, either in his room or in the bathroom or in the balcony or in the gym and the pool. All areas are accessible, while the hotel offers many facilities to people who want something more. For example, it offers physiotherapy program, fitness program, rental equipment (scooters, motorized wheelchair, etc.), a wide range of sports activities organized either by us or by our own customers in the sports areas – infrastructures existing and a wide range of excursions. Also, the company offers transportation with our own buses, special buses which carry seated guests in wheelchair. I must say that all these years we have registered and archived all accessible places for people with disabilities in Crete. So we know where to send our customers for a good time without discomfort. We know, for example, which restaurants and clubs have accessible toilets, where there are ramps. With all this knowledge we have made a tour program, but we operate and advisory, if someone wants to act indivitually. Thus, the customer leaves satisfied either work with us throughout his vacation or do something on his own, independently.”
The hotel offers breakfast and / or half board, has 2 suites, 11 rooms and a total of 30 beds. It also has space for breakfast – lunch, gym, room for physiotherapy, room hot tub, heated pool especially for the disabled people (access by wheelchair), elevator (suitable for disabled people), a large outdoor area with green, basketball, volleyball and boccia courts and a power generator so that there is normal operation, even in cases of power failure. It is worth to say that especially for customers and their attendants, we saw two special buses with twenty seats, “which have been modified and certified by TUV. Their characteristic is that the client is seated in wheelchair stroller. There is an electric ramp that puts the customer at the bus and from there onwards locks the stroller, with specific systems, providind safe tours” says Mr. Archontakis.
THE STAFF
Today, ten people are working at the hotel. “An idea remains an idea if you do not find the right people to implement it. I had an idea, with the technical advisors then, an architect Ilias Christodoulakis and an engineer Ada Kontothanasi, we managed to implement it. From there on, the soul of the business is the director -for 13 consecutive years- Diamanto Apostolakis. She is the person to whom I explaned what we want to do and she acted as if she was in my mind, in the best possible way, and continues to support, love and always there all day. Essentially this is the enterprise (business). I thought it myself, I implemented it with my colleagues and I have the high authority” said Mr. Archontakis with disarming honesty.
“ERIA TRAVEL” – A TRAVEL AGENCY FOR PWD
At the same time, he added that “in our effort to improve this project last year and a half we have create “ERIA Travel”. Owned by the same company, it is the company providing facilities to customers either staying at our hotel or stay elsewhere. We mediate to our client for leasing a hotel or home or villa, or whatever he wants and we also provide the entire support package. For example, one family, with one disabled member, wants to have vacation. We book the space they want, we undertake transportation and we are close advisory so that they can enjoy their holidays.The most important thing we provide to these people is security. Apart from the necessary accessibility, safety is required. And we provide it.”
“IT TAKES LOVE TO DO THIS JOB”
What would he advise a businessman who wants to invest in tourism for disabled people? “Too many people think that it is an easy job, an easy “catch”. This is not the truth in any case. It is a very difficult job, and in order to do it right you should be able to offer lovingly services to people with disabilities. You have to want it and feel that you want it. If you do it for the money it is bound to fail. There has been intense interest over the years, but no one has taken this big step.”