Capsis hotel complexes win favor for congresses and environment
Two hotel complexes of the Greek chain Capsis figure in the list of the French hotel group Accor of the nine most popular resorts with big conference facilities worldwide which it controls or collaborates with. The Capsis Beach Hotel and Sofitel Palace Hotel complex in Crete, Sofitel Capsis Hotel Rhodes and Convention Center Marika Capsis, and another seven facilities located respectively in London, Paris, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Budapest, Bangkok and Costa do Sauipe, presented in a special brochure by Accor, were picked among a total of 3,700 hotels in 90 countries, with a total capacity of 415,000 beds. They belong to several chains, such as Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns in the US. The recently inaugurated Marika Capsis conference center, built next to the hotel at a cost of 20.6 million euros, is the biggest in Greece, with about 100 conference rooms of various sizes and a total capacity of 8,000 people and exhibition areas totaling 1.5 acres. Its biggest conference room, constructed so as to have natural sunlight, has a capacity of 3,400 participants. The adjacent 691-room luxury hotel operates throughout the year. The complex has been booked to host the European dermatological congress in 2006, which will require its full capacity. The other Capsis complex in Aghia Pelagia, Crete, recently was the first Greek hotel ever to win one of the Hermes Awards for the World Lodging Industry for its pioneering infrastructure and environmentally friendly facilities. The event was organized in Paris by consulting firm MKG Consulting and HTR magazine, and 150 hotels competed in 13 categories. The natural environment of the Capsis Cretan complex falls under four themes: One is the hotel’s botanical garden, which includes small rivers, ponds and a waterfall; another is a zoo, Greece’s biggest; the third includes three greenhouses which enable the complex to be almost 80 percent self-sufficient in the production of fresh produce, herbs and flowers; and, finally, its environmental protection program. This places emphasis on energy savings, recycling paper and glass in the complex, a biological water-treatment plant, and the use of electric-powered vehicles.
