I can’t for the life of me make sense of what happened to the Aegon Mykonos…
In this post:
My unforgettable stay at the Aegon Mykonos
Many OMAAT readers may remember my summer 2021 stay at Aegon Mykonos, a Marriott Autograph Collection property (well, at least at the time). This was a new points hotel I was excited to check out.
Long story short, I used a confirmed suite upgrade, but was downgraded. Fair enough, stuff happens, but the general manager was a complete jerk about it. And that was only the start of the problems, as eventually the owner of the hotel came into the driveway to yell at me for my “bad energy.” We ended up checking out after four hours, because we just weren’t comfortable staying there.
Anyway, you can get the play-by-play of what happened in these posts, if you’re interested:
- Marriott Bonvoy Confirmed Suite Upgrade Downgrade
- I’d Like To Speak With The Marriott Manager!
- I’m Speechless: My Awful Marriott Check-In Experience
- My Four-Hour Stay At Marriott’s Aegon Mykonos
- Aegon Mykonos Responds To My TripAdvisor Review With Lies
- I Received An Apology From The Aegon Mykonos…
Aegon Mykonos disappears without a trace
If you look online for the Aegon Mykonos, you’d assume that the hotel vanished into thin air. The hotel is no longer listed on Marriott’s website. The hotel’s own website — aegonmykonos.com — now returns a domain error. The hotel hasn’t updated its Facebook or Instagram since 2022. And when you search “Aegon Mykonos” online, you won’t find the hotel bookable anywhere.
It seems that the hotel has just closed, which makes no sense for a hotel that’s only two years old in one of the world’s busiest summer tourist hotspots.
For what it’s worth, I suspected that something strange was going on with the hotel last year. In the summer of 2022, I wrote about how the hotel was no longer accepting reservations through Marriott’s website. I assumed that there was some sort of a dispute with Marriott. Nonetheless, when I reached out to a Marriott spokesperson, they claimed the hotel wasn’t leaving Marriott.
Even with that statement, I assumed that the hotel would either become fully independent, or join another one of the major global hotel groups. We all know that just about all hotel groups are looking to expand their footprint in Mykonos. What I didn’t expect is that the hotel would just shut down, since that also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
What could explain the hotel closing?
I can appreciate why the hotel might want to rebrand, but it appears the hotel has just closed. What could possibly explain that? I’m trying to come up with theories, and have just two possible explanations:
- There are financial issues; maybe the owners are in financial trouble, or something along the lines
- There are structural or safety issues; maybe the hotel just isn’t in a position to accommodate guests at the moment
Interestingly I brand new hotel named Yi Mykonos opened this summer, very close to the Aegon Mykonos. However, based on everything I can see, it doesn’t appear to be the same hotel, even though it has the same management company that the Aegon Mykonos had.
I am still curious what ultimately happened that caused the Aegon Mykonos to leave Marriott. I’m not so full of myself to think that my situation is the reason that the hotel left Marriott. Rather I assume there was some other major dispute, and the parties couldn’t come to an agreement. I’m not sure if that had to do with reimbursement for points stays or elite benefits, the owner’s disdain for Marriott Bonvoy members, or what. Or perhaps it had more to do with bigger picture financial or safety issues, as I theorized above.
For what it’s worth, the former general manager of the Aegon Mykonos now seems to be the general manager of a limited service Marriott property in Greece. I think that’s probably a better fit for him.
Bottom line
The Aegon Mykonos has seemingly closed. The hotel stopped accepting reservations, shut down its website, disappeared from social media, was removed from Marriott’s website, etc. I can’t help but wonder what caused the hotel to fully close. It must be financial or safety issues, right? What other explanation could there be for a hotel in Mykonos just shutting down altogether?
What do you make of this Aegon Mykonos situation?
I will always remember "Are you OMAAT?"
I don't understand. It's all Greek to me.
Im also curious to know what happened to the Aegon. Like you , my husband and I booked a points reservation the first month of their opening, back in 2018 I recall. Like you, I had a suite upgrade confirmed. Like you, my room was not the suite I was expecting. I will say that they went to great lengths to make me happy as a Titanium Bonvoy guest. The manager came out and met...
Im also curious to know what happened to the Aegon. Like you , my husband and I booked a points reservation the first month of their opening, back in 2018 I recall. Like you, I had a suite upgrade confirmed. Like you, my room was not the suite I was expecting. I will say that they went to great lengths to make me happy as a Titanium Bonvoy guest. The manager came out and met with me, and he seemed sincerely apologetic and eager to help. But ultimately, like you, we checked out the morning after we arrived disappointed by the room, the food, and the view of the grassy field and dilapidated old home between the hotel and the beach. They promised to return my 7 night hotel cert (remember those?) but it took me months and months of wrangling with them and Marriott to get it back.
I fear that they suffered from creating expectations of a beachfront resort that they could never live up to, and try as they might, I think the manager and owner must have suffered many check outs like ours to the point that it hurt then financially. Although a beautiful place, it was never as advertised.
If you recall, the property left Marriott shortly after the sanctions were levied against Russia by USA for invading Ukraine.
It could be a conincidence but I bet money that a majority sanctioned Russian owner was why the hotel left Marriott.
If that’s the case the Greek sanctions could have caught up to the US
That's not true. It was bookable on Marriott two weeks ago - I was looking at it.
This is fake news from Kiwi
Reports in local news outlets suggest that both Mykonos and Santorini have seen visitor numbers slump by around 15% this year, while other Greek islands have seen an increase of around 15%. Overtourism and sky-high prices are blamed, and it seems that visitors are looking for a more authentic experience on other islands that have retained more of their own culture.
Perhaps the hotel has been a victim of market forces. To be honest, it's...
Reports in local news outlets suggest that both Mykonos and Santorini have seen visitor numbers slump by around 15% this year, while other Greek islands have seen an increase of around 15%. Overtourism and sky-high prices are blamed, and it seems that visitors are looking for a more authentic experience on other islands that have retained more of their own culture.
Perhaps the hotel has been a victim of market forces. To be honest, it's hard to imagine why anyone would travel to Greece to stay in a chain hotel unless they have points to burn - the locally run alternatives are far more attractive in most cases.
Looks like the developers are marketing the property
https://www.pima-group.com/portfolio/aegon-mykonos-autograph-collection-mykonos/
Lucky! They may prepare for White Lotus Season 3, perhaps. :)
3 is wrapping in Thailand now, always a Four Seasons.
There's a ready-made script waiting for Season 4 !
Which actor will play Ben?
"For what it’s worth, the former general manager of the Aegon Mykonos now seems to be the general manager of a limited service Marriott property in Greece. I think that’s probably a better fit for him."
Savage! Hahah.
They turned it into condos and sold it to Russian oligarchs. Germans got to buy time shares.
Christ, give it a rest man.
I disagree, the “personal travails” type of posts are what make this blog worth reading, and differentiates it from a generic travel website.
I'd count two years later as a rest, man.
I think we found the former manager's burner account
Caught me. Moved from Greece to the Midwest.
How about phoning a nearby hotel or restaurant?
What happened? Tax breaks ran out so they close the place down to reopen with new tax breaks.
That's why boots on the ground or 007 in the field has extra capability that a google search lacks. You need a mileage run to see the site again.
Seems that maybe, it was sold to the Pima Group or something like that. https://emea.gr/insights/joker-emea/702110/joker-katar-mykono-pima-group/
Im not saying that this is the case with Aegeon Mykonos, but many establishments in Mykonos are notorious for bending the law. Many hotels, bars and restaurants have been known to disappear overnight because they were caught building on public land (all beaches in Greece are public land according to the constitution; you can’t build on them nor limit access to them in any way) or for tax evasion and had to close. In fact,...
Im not saying that this is the case with Aegeon Mykonos, but many establishments in Mykonos are notorious for bending the law. Many hotels, bars and restaurants have been known to disappear overnight because they were caught building on public land (all beaches in Greece are public land according to the constitution; you can’t build on them nor limit access to them in any way) or for tax evasion and had to close. In fact, these days, in Greece a “Free The Beaches” movement has begun and the country’s public prosecutors have started to locate and close down establishments that block access to the country’s beaches. Most of the beach bars in Mykonos are illegal. But tourists don’t know that, so they just go wherever it’s trending on social media.
This is what I would suspect as well - either someone did build or operate with the required permits/did not pay taxes and got caught or the whole operation was converted into permanent stay apartments for Russians.
Come on Ben. Do a Google map search and it shows you the YI to be a total of 2.7 kms from the Aegon… I know you aren’t an investigative reporter but I mean… that’s easy to cross out.
If you look at drone pictures on the YI website you can clearly see that it's not the same hotel as Aegon. It's not even on the beach and the pool is between the rooms.
This is the picture: https://www.yihotelmykonos.com/sites/default/files/2023-06/Yi_10%20%28Large%29.jpg
Curiosity? Sure, Jan.
Clearly it was your bad energy that did this
ahahahahaha
Isn't it obvious? You drove them out of business!