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Dexamenes isn’t your run-of-the-mill Grecian hotel. Situated in Peloponnese on the western coast of the mainland, the area is void of the Walt Disney World Resort–like crowds that flock to Mykonos or Santorini. You won’t find narrow streets lined with idyllic white homes and the signature cobalt dome roofs that saturate your Instagram feed. At the seaside retreat, seclusion is as integral a part of the experience as is its provenance.
Formerly an abandoned wine factory from the 1920s, the site was left untouched on an unspoiled stretch of coast. Dexamenes’s interior design team, K-Studio, was intent on preserving its Brutalist structure and history as an active trading port. And the key, according to the architects behind the redesign, was to contrast and balance the existing build with modern touches.
Seemingly free of bright colors, the hotel’s aesthetic is devised around its raw beauty and highlights materials such as iron, steel, and concrete.
The rooms and suites were built into a series of old wine tanks, each identical to one another and adjacent to the beach. Inside, minimalist design reigns. Textured glass and polished terrazzo walls and flooring subtly nod to the hues in the surrounding landscape.
Outside, plywood-canopied patios offer a respite from the sun, each decked out with built-in concrete slabs that are topped with upholstered cushions and bistro-esque seating areas in which one could easily idle away an afternoon.
With the water practically at your feet—a design intended to make it easier for the wine to be loaded onto the ships back in the day—the former factory’s rich past is an ever-present part of its current identity.
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