Manolis Agorastakis was born in 1953 in a mountain village 20 miles from Chania, a city in the northwest of Crete. “Most of the villagers rarely had the chance to see the sea and did not know how to swim. But every summer since I was eight months old, my family would come to Chania for several months and stay in a guest house a few meters from the sea.” Now, alongside his children, Manolis runs The Tanneries Hotel & Spa, a hotel set in four historic tanneries that overlook that same sea.
Manolis studied mechanical and electrical engineering at the Technical University in Patras and married a merchant’s daughter in Chania. He slowly took over the family business and shifted the focus toward equipment for the hospitality space—using his engineering expertise to select the most high-quality and ecological brands. His son, Stefanos, is also an engineer and now runs that business, outfitting high-end kitchens. Stefanos’ wife, Konstantina, is another engineer with a talent for design. And Stefanos’ sister, Katerina, is an architect and pharmacist who brings her wellness expertise to the hotel spa.
We sat down with the family to discuss how they came to own the tanneries, how they blend their talents, and the special island they call home.
Katerina Agorastaki: Our childhood was spent in a three-apartment country house just outside the city center. These were very happy years, with three families together: me, Stefanos, and our parents; my uncle, aunt, and cousin; and my grandparents. I like to remember all of us in the big garden with the dogs running around.
Manolis Agorastakis: A hotel was definitely not the initial plan for the project. In the early 1990s, my wife and I were looking for a seaside cottage near Chania. She had the idea to buy one in the Tabakaria area, where most of the buildings were already dilapidated and very few tanneries were in operation. The strong smell of leather had stayed in the area, so it wasn’t popular. I had a tanner friend who pointed me towards the specific property. The idea was to keep the boat on the ground floor and have a home on the upper level.
MA: A friend of mine from Loutro, a seaside village in Sfakia, asked me to find one for him to buy as well. I negotiated for the tannery next door, but after I had agreed to it his wife didn't like it, so I ended up buying it myself. After the second acquisition, the property was too big for a house, but too small for a hotel. Once we bought both buildings next door, the idea for the hotel was born.
KA: Yes, I dealt with the buildings of Tabakaria in my thesis. I was curious about how to preserve the shells of these tanneries and what their potential could be beyond hospitality.
The big decision I made was to follow my mother’s profession and study pharmacy at the age of 28. During my studies, I also had the time to do design work on the buildings. This is when my father, after much patience and perseverance, succeeded in getting all the building permits to make his vision a reality.
Stefanos Agorastakis: To be honest, we are all so alike and at the same time so different. I really enjoy the beauty of complementing each other.
Konstantina Smponia: What intrigues me is how our approaches are initially different, then they begin to complement each other. By the end, our ideas fill in the others’ gaps.
SA: A group of people is always capable of producing the best product and at the same time the worst. The challenge is to continuously cooperate to try to come up with the best result.
SA: Locals feel strongly about Tabakaria. People worked for decades in these buildings—they have many memories and want to protect the historic and cultural heritage. Our goal was to respect the history while providing a luxurious experience for guests.
KS: To put it simply: Luxury, minimalism, chic, natural materials, and harmony with the region are the words that compose the interior design.
KS: The design was shaped by the foundational influences of my early studies and my hands-on experiences with natural materials. The marble in the hotel has been placed in numerical order as the blocks came out of the quarry. All the lines in the marble have been matched, which creates a sense of peace and tranquility.
Another is the leather artwork in reception. We had to reinforce the wall to take the weight of the leather. While the hotel also has works by well-known artists, the result of this project captures all eyes because of the dynamic connection between the leather and the history of the building.
KS: My family has already referred to it. Loutro has our hearts.
MA: Since about 1980, I have owned a boat. Every weekend we made trips to all the nearby places in Chania. After touring all the coastal villages of the general Chania area, we ended up in Loutro where we are still visiting today.
The amazing thing about this place is that it is not affected by the summer north winds, It has a very nice little village center without cars and busy roads. Stefanos and Katerina were both raised there every summer. Stefanos learned how to drive my boat from a young age. Later on, he got a small one of his own and he could drive by himself in the closed bay of Loutro. There, he also learned water skiing, underwater fishing, etc. Over the years we became friends with all the locals, and the village feels like my second home.
SA: Most of the memories that we share as a family happen to be set in Loutro. Sitting at a table and sharing homemade food, is something that has connected us as a family from the past till the present.
Manolis Agorastakis
SA: For sure, the best chefs in the family are my two grandmothers. One comes from a village in mainland Crete and the other from a refugee family from Asia Minor. (In 1922, refugees from Asia Minor came to Crete.) This totally different cuisine now belongs to the Cretan tradition.
SA: Raw materials from the sea that surrounds us and various cheese, meat, and greens from the mountains. Personally, I think I’ll single out the sea urchins. Please, you should find a restaurant that has them and enjoy them.
MA: Aside from the basics of honesty, humility, etc., I would like them to understand that in mind, no problem is unsolvable. No one should give up on their goals.
Image George Anastasakis