Folks, please indulge me for a moment, because I can’t help but think about this every few weeks, and I imagine someone out there can give me a definitive answer as to what’s going on…
In this post:
My unforgettable stay at the Aegon Mykonos
Some long time 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, though my stay ended up being much more memorable than expected.
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, basically suggesting I couldn’t complain because I was staying for “free,” and then offering to compensate me with free breakfast, which was already included on account of my status.
And that was only the start of the problems, as eventually the owner of the hotel came into the driveway to ask “are you OMAAT,” and then 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…
The Aegon Mykonos disappeared without a trace
Long story short, some time in 2022, the Aegon Mykonos just vanished into thin air. The hotel was no longer listed on Marriott’s website. The hotel’s own website — aegonmykonos.com — started returning 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 just closed, which made no sense for a hotel that was only two years old in one of the world’s busiest summer tourist hotspots. Now four years later, it seems absolutely nothing has changed.
For what it’s worth, I suspected that something strange was going on with the hotel back in 2022, before it officially closed. 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 the Marriott portfolio.
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 long term, since that also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
What could explain the hotel closing?
I can appreciate why the hotel might have wanted to rebrand, but it appears the hotel just closed, and has remained that way for four years. What could possibly explain that? I’m trying to come up with theories, and have just two possible explanations:
- There were financial issues; maybe the owners were in financial trouble, or something along those lines
- There were structural or safety issues; maybe the hotel just wasn’t in a position to accommodate guests, didn’t have correct permits, etc.
What made me most recently think of the Aegon Mykonos is that I just wrote about the opening of the Four Seasons Mykonos, which is also located near Kalo Livadi Bay, the same area as the Aegon.
I’m not sure how current this is, but it appears that Pima Group may have purchased the Aegon Mykonos at some point in the past several years. It sounds like there might be some controversy surrounding that, but I can’t find enough sources to be sure this is accurate, vs. something that’s being blown out of proportion.
So yeah, this ultimately doesn’t matter, I’m just shocked to see a new hotel sit abandoned in Mykonos for years on end, given the insatiable demand for tourism. Obviously something went very wrong to cause that outcome.
Bottom line
In 2022, the Aegon Mykonos closed, and sort of disappeared without a trace. I know all of that might sound random, but I had a very “memorable” hotel stay there in 2021, and obviously found the whole owner situation to be very strange.
It’s one thing for there to be a dispute between Marriott and the hotel owners, but to see the entire property just be shuttered and (seemingly) abandoned for years is something I can’t make sense of. Presumably there were some sort of financial or structural issues, or something.
If anyone has more details and can indulge my curiosity, I’d sure love to know what happened!
What do you make of this Aegon Mykonos situation?
Why? Who was President in 2022? There's your answer. All Biden's fault.
Wasn't it Mrs Sakellaropoulou?
We must all have a crazy hotel situation. We had one in November in Brussels Belgium.
The Cardo hotel is an Autograph under Marriott. Previously was the huge Sheraton at Place Rogier. That hotel was closed down around 2016. Supposedly was for asbestos. We think the real story is mold and fungus throughout the hotel.
We experienced it first hand. We changed several rooms but nothing was better and we had to leave...
We must all have a crazy hotel situation. We had one in November in Brussels Belgium.
The Cardo hotel is an Autograph under Marriott. Previously was the huge Sheraton at Place Rogier. That hotel was closed down around 2016. Supposedly was for asbestos. We think the real story is mold and fungus throughout the hotel.
We experienced it first hand. We changed several rooms but nothing was better and we had to leave after 2 days.
In one junior suite room with a nice view of the city, water was leaking, not only from the ceiling, but from the walls and the floors. In the middle of night I was sliding on the floor, so much water, there was none when I went to bed.
There is mold thru out. We heard from a sister Marriott property there it was going to be closed again, as half of the rooms were closed as we were leaving.
Marriott did not care one bit.
The Aegon Mykonos was built as a backdrop for the new episode of Jury Duty: Luxury Resort but the one real guest they had turned out to be a travel blogger that was fed up with them much more quickly than they anticipated. As a result he left in a fury before the staff was able to introduce him to the main plot of the season. Subsequently they shut down the "hotel" looking for a more reliable unwilling participant postponing the production of that season.
I think you should consider the alternative. In theory they could run it not connected with a big brand but should they and why.
This aerial/satellite photo doesn't make me want to visit Mykonos. It looks kinda drab.
I know a large amount of people who regularly visit the Cyclades islands (I've only ever been to one of the smaller ones and that was 20+ years ago), they all agree that Mykonos is among the worst for beaches, plus it clearly doesn't have much to offer in terms of greenery etc.
The consensus seems to be that the island isn't worth visiting unless you're into a specific sort of nightlife/beach club vibe...
I know a large amount of people who regularly visit the Cyclades islands (I've only ever been to one of the smaller ones and that was 20+ years ago), they all agree that Mykonos is among the worst for beaches, plus it clearly doesn't have much to offer in terms of greenery etc.
The consensus seems to be that the island isn't worth visiting unless you're into a specific sort of nightlife/beach club vibe (in which case it's excellent both in terms of service levels and the opportunity to mix with like-minded visitors).
Agone Mykonos
Malaka!
Closed in 2022…wouldn’t be surprised if it was laundered Russian money or owners under sanctions, as the war in Ukraine started.
The property is owned by Pima Group, a Greek company, led by a guy named... Thanos.
*snaps finger*
OMFG... that's why it disappeared.
Thanos snaps.
More likely bought by one of Zelensky's friends or any other corrupt Ukrainians flush with EU and US money.
@Steve
Proof?
Aegon Mykonos is going to be the set for White Lotus season 5. It's closed because they are starting to film there this summer! Part of the storyline is going to be similar to season 1, a feud between the manager and an american point blogger about an unexpected suite downgrade. Let's hope nobody gets killed this time
At the end, the blogger leaves for CAI.
And ends up leaving CAI like in Die Hard 2, the airport blew up.
There would be no other explanation - except that somehow, somewhat - somewhere along the line of financial trace, some relations to money laundering is in the equation. I am not surprised that is the case of this property.
I guess until someone with lots of $$ come along with the right connections, the property will be back on the hotel scene.
Mr. Schlappig, Do you miss me?
ooh.... and who might you be, GM Pavlos? And do we really want to know?
One of my favorite OMAAT stories, alongside the fatwa issued by the Egyptian government. Please keep finding yourself in these situations Ben!
And more importantly, safely finding your way out of them!