RHODES
Rodos Palace Hotel
History
The Rodos Palace Resort and Convention Center, one of the largest of its kind in the Mediterranean, has celebrated a quarter-century of its inception and development into a uniquely combined holiday and business complex.
We take this opportunity to present the highlights of its development, ones which can also be described as a History of Innovations in the Greek Hospitality Industry.
1974 The Opening
The operation of the largest and most complete resort hotel in Greece became a reality. A brand new ultramodern tower building was constructed, almost twice the size of the historic Colossus statue, in a privileged location covering 120,000 square meters in the middle of lalyssos Bay.
1977 The largest indoor heated pool of Olympic dimensions in Greece was created. Boeing, the famous multinational corporation, provided the sun-protective special glass, used to cover the pool with a gigantic transparent perspex dome, one that is unique in Europe.
1979 A pioneering center was created for the Convention and Exhibition industry in Greece. The Rodos Palace International Convention Center was the largest ever autonomous, purpose-built Convention Center in Greece. It had a capacity of 1,500 delegates.
1987 Installation of the first satellite dish in Greece, permitting all the hotel rooms to receive channels such as CNN, BBC, RAI and SAT.
1988 The hotel's supreme event took place in December of that year, with the holding of Rhodes EC Summit Meeting of European Heads of State. During the Summit, the Rodos Palace had the honor to host six of the leaders. Over half a million dollars were invested in renovations and the creation of five Presidential Suites of superb standards, the result of an uncompromising insistence not just to create opulence but also to guarantee quality and style. Each Presidential Suite had two entire floors at its disposal, while a further twenty-five suites accommodated the Secretaries of State and the VIPs of the Foreign and Diplomatic Corps.
1992 A further multi-million dollar investment led to the expansion of the International Convention Center to an overall capacity of 4,000 delegates, within 20 meeting halls designed and equipped to meet the vigorous regulations of the EU and IAPCO (International Association of Professional Convention Organizers). This strengthened even further the Center's privilege of being the largest venue of its kind in Greece.
1993 The creation of the new, 7-storey Executive VIP Wing, embodying the Hotel Tower, was a concept of superior standards, accomplished by the Maurice Bailey Design Company. Following this addition, the Rodos Palace became the largest five-star resort hotel in Greece, with such a diversity of accommodation facilities and services. Furthermore, Greece's first digital telephone system with Voice Mail was installed, supplied by Northern Telecom. Also installed were the finest, state-of-the-art TV sets in all rooms, enabling guests to receive teletext information in 4 languages, view their bill, watch PAY TV movies and access the conference channel.
1997 The installation of a high speed on-line Internet connection offered to all hotel guests a completely autonomous web server and a full range of Internet and electronic mail services, including an Internet Corner.
1998 The Western European Union Ministerial Meetings, held exclusively at the Rodos Palace, required an extensive renovation of the Convention Center and the installation of a state-of-the art ISDN network with capability for teleconferencing.
2001 After 2 years of elaborate design and intensive construction work the grand renovation of Rodos Palace Resort Hotel was successfully completed. The entire renovation involved the refurbishment of the Main Tower rooms and public areas as well as the radical transformations of the entire Outdoor Pool area.
Today, from the top of the hotel's 18 floors, 25 years look down at you - an entire, quarter-of-a-century contribution to Rhodes' prestigious image as a privileged holiday and conference resort. Throughout these years, accommodation and conference facilities have continuously been re-designed to meet our clients' changing needs. No efforts will be spared so that we may continue on that same path, through a constant improvement in the quality of our hospitality and services.
|
