M ykonos has long been known for its hedonistic nightlife. But when the fun-loving shipping magnate turned hotel entrepreneur Elias Papageorgiou came to the island and bought a plot in 1979, all that existed on the land was a small house, a windmill, a pigeon box and the Santa Marina chapel. Recognising the value in its spectacular setting — on a sandy peninsula south of Mykonos town, with the archaeological site of Delos nearby — he built a house, and then a hotel, which became one of the hot party spots of the island.
It was here that his only child, Christiana, spent her childhood, and here she returned with her two daughters when Papageorgiou died in 2012, to set about transforming the Seventies-style Santa Marina hotel into one of the island’s most gorgeous art-filled beach retreats..