Philippe Requin will lead Grace Hotels, whose Mykonos Grace, the first from the group, opened last year and earned top honors at the 2007 European Hotel Design Awards.

Athens-based Grace strives to offer guests a feeling of sanctuary with outstanding service, comfortable accommodations and memorable F&B experiences. The atmosphere at Grace properties is best described as serene luxury marked by discrete service and high attention to detail. “We have some 'wow’ effect that we are putting in the company,” Requin says. “The guest must feel like a million dollars. Every single one is treated like this.”

Mykonos Grace is managed by Kikhli Hotels, an in-house management company that will manage a number of other Grace hotels going forward. Requin is targeting 15 properties in the Grace portfolio by 2013, the first few of which will be owned and managed. Once the brand is on solid footing, Requin says, Grace will move toward a more asset-light model. Greece will continue to be the primary market for Grace developments, though Requin sees potential in the near-term in Italy and the Balkans, as well. The Grace pipeline stands at about 10, Requin says, although just two have been publicly announced.

In the long-term, Requin says Grace could become a regional or even a global brand, though plans for the brand beyond the next five years are cloudy. “The sky is no longer the limit, so we will see,” Requin says. “Where we go is location, location, location. Once the location is found, it is all about people, people, people, because we are a very caring company.”

Funding for future development should not be a problem. Grace is a subsidiary of First Mediterranean Investments, part of global conglomerate The Libra Group. First Mediterranean had been developing villas and residential projects for a few years, and entering the hotel market was a natural progression. “There is a lack of service in Greece, so we decided, 'Why don’t we open boutique design hotels and small luxury hotels?’” Requin says.

Grace properties will range from 20 to 45 guestrooms, with room rates between €300 and €1,000. The interior design aesthetic is modern, light and airy, Requin says. Properties will employ local chefs to create European-fusion dishes with distinctly local flavors, served in fine-dining restaurants.

Grace hopes its newly opened 28-key Santorini Grace gets a reaction similar to the internationally lauded Mykonos property. Located in the village of Imerovigli on the Greek island of Santorini, the hotel offers hillside views of the Aegean Sea.

Grace is also building a beachfront resort, Paros Grace Hotel and Residences, near the town of Naoussa on the Greek island of Paros. The 25-key hotel, which will also offer private managed residences, is slated to open in 2009. Later that year, along the Koundouros beach on the Greece island of Kea, Grace will open The Kea Grace Hotel and Residences, a boutique hotel and 25 private managed residences.

The target demographic for Grace is primarily wealthy Americans and Australians, along with the leisure markets in the UK and Germany. Asian travelers, particularly Japanese and Koreans, are also being courted, Requin says.

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