Kalia Konstantinidou & Antonis Eliopoulos first met at a shipping event – he was in the family shipping business at the time and she was working in PR for a think tank. On one of Antonis Eliopoulos’ countless trips to Santorini, he decided to buy a neoclassical mansion, then a winery and finally a beautiful vineyard, all in the same village.
Initially, he planned to use it as his family’s summer retreat, before instead deciding to create the island’s first 5-star hotel, the now famed Vedema Resort. From this origin, there began a journey to create a collection of hotels, resorts & villas across Santorini and beyond, each offering a different ‘Space for Joy’.
Today Empiria Group are leaders in the art of elevated hospitality experiences. We offer personalised high-end travel experiences that awaken inner joy and take Greek hospitality to new heights.
1989 – Antonis acquired a neoclassical mansion in Santorini in the traditional village of Megalohori. A year later he bought a winery with its vineyards, all in the same village.
1993 – A beautiful hotel was created on the vineyard and became the first 5-star hotel on the island, Vedema Resort (originally, Villa Vedema).
2007 – Antonis and Kalia expanded north to the iconic village of Oia with the opening of Mystique, that immediately became Santorini’s most renowned definition of luxury.
2018 – The visionary couple transformed a legendary socialite’s abandoned mansion on the black-sand beach of Perivolos into the peaceful Istoria.
2019 – Antonis and Kalia opened their first location away from their eternal love, Santorini. On the island of Paros, Parilio is a statement hotel seen as a gateway to the real Cyclades.
2020 – The duo introduced Acron Villas, a unique collection of twenty-four villas with minimal Cycladic aesthetics.
2022 – Cosme was launched. Their third Paros property was conceived as a celebration of life, inviting guests to experience the joy of freedom and choose how they connect, imagine, and enjoy.
2023 – To coincide with the 30th anniversary of the business, Kanava Hotels and Resorts became Empiria Group. The new name and distinctive identity unites our hotels and people with a shared ethos that underpins everything we do.
“The islands’ singular aura, abundant nature, traditional architecture, indigenous culture and the deep blue of the sea that meets a clear blue sky; all of these elements together inspire us and try to always incorporate them in our hotels.”
– Kalia Konstantinidou & Antonis Eliopoulos