About Us

Theodore Spordilis as the third generation of his family in hotel business is running Hotel Kyma since 1983 when he took the flag from his father Vanias Spordilis. Vanias Spordilis bought the villa “To Kyma” in 1960s and turned it into a hotel. Being a member of a family living in a hotel, Theodore was always service minded and with his experience today he makes his guests feel at home. The itineraries he plans for his guests, non touristic but beautiful restaurants he recommends and his –always ready fresh coffee and tee makes your holiday an unforgettable one.

Theodore met Guher and they got married in 1999. Guher, as she understood that being a chemical engineer will not help much with the hotels, completed travel guide courses in Turkey and became a licensed professional tourist guide. As the Hotel Kardamyla is closed in the winter time the family is working at Hotel Kyma, but as the high season starts Guher begins working at Hotel Kardamyla. It was not one of the easiest relations on earth as Theodore is from Greece and Guher is from Izmir- Turkey but they still think that they’ve done the correct thing finding each other and  they keep each other’s hand tight. Ayla in 2004 and Vanias in 2010 joined the family and now it is four couple of tight hands. 

About Kyma

1917, The Beginning
Its name in Greek  means the” Sea Wave” and it is situated on the South East side of the Port of Chios, overlooking the Aegean Sea and the  Erythraea peninsula; built with red stone -extracted from the Chian mountain Korakaris- and Black Sea pine wood, has stood aristocratic Kyma since the beginning of the 20th Century. The construction of villa Kyma started in 1917 and finished in 1922; Kyma, belonging primarily to Ioannis Livanos, a rich ship owner, descendant of the Greek ship owning family, was an exact replica of the Italian “villa Romana”. The two-storey villa, in accordance with that time period, was equipped with a conservatory, a kiosk and an orchard in a total of 850 square meters of property. The original Kyma is characterized by rooms with high ceilings, crystal chandeliers and a handmade white marble staircase to the right of its main entrance, all of which boast the nobility of the building. Furthermore, in the Living room, a unique fresco preserved to date depicts predominantly the image of Livanos’ wife as well as the family crest.

Historical Significance
Upon the building completion starts an era of  military and political struggle  in Greece. In 1922 Chios Island welcomes Greek soldiers and refugees in large numbers as a consequence of what Greek History refers to as the “Asia Minor  catastrophe”, otherwise the defeat of the Greeks to the Turks.  In September of the same year Greek  Colonel,  Nikolaos Plastiras seizes Kyma and  uses it as his headquarters. In Kyma Plastiras forms a Revolutionary Committee opposed to Gounaris, (head of the governing Greek conservative party at the time) an  inadequate leader- according to the Colonel’s opinion. One of the decisions Plastiras made in this very place was the infamous in Greek History “the condemnation of the six” which led to the execution of those who were “politically responsible for the Asia Minor catastrophe”.
During the dark period of World War II, Kyma due to its strategic position, is seized again, this time by the Germans  and it is used as their Command  Centre and barracks. The area around Kyma was called  “Diikitirio”  (Greek for Command Centre)  due to this.
The invaders install heavy machineguns on  the building’s terrace, causing damage to  the marble staircase at its narrowest points.
Kyma was a landmark of Chios- no doubt- but the end of the war in 1945 finds it heavily wounded.

The After Years
The year is 1961 and Kyma stands almost ruined, deserted, with flooded basements. Its owners had long given up the idea of using it as a home. In its nearly 40 years of existence the house had had historical tenants but hardly a family. It was then when a Chian born in Odessa, Ukraine, a 2nd generation hotelier showed interest in it. His name was Vanias Spordilis and he changed the ownership and the destiny of Kyma. It opened its doors in 1963 and never closed them up to this day. It becomes the first privately owned hotel in Chios, initially with 17 rooms with private bathroom, balcony and telephone. In 1968 Vanias’ brother Athanasios Spordilis, a civil engineer is put in charge of the project of Kyma’s expansion. In 1973 Kyma appears at its present form, a four storey hotel connected to the original but modified villa. It consists of 59 rooms fully equipped, numbered from 1 to 60 (excluding the number 13). Since then New Kyma has looked after many guests who talk enthusiastically about the family environment and personal attention they get in the House –Hotel of the Spordilis Family.