UK tour operator Thomas Cook on Wednesday announced the opening of four hotels in Greece – on Crete, Kos and Rhodes – in summer 2019.
The new hotels in Greece are among the 20 own-brand hotels – Casa Cook, Cook’s Club, SENTIDO, SunConnect, Aldiana,and Sunprime – the company has confirmed to open between now and end of 2019, also including six in Spain and three in Turkey.
The new openings include the company’s first Casa Cook in its biggest market, Spain; the first family Casa Cook in Chania, Crete; and seven confirmed Cook’s Club hotels, including two on Kos.
According to Thomas Cook, further new openings are set to be confirmed within the coming months, which will take the company’s portfolio to 200 , around 40,000 rooms. This makes it one of the top 40 largest hotel groups in the world.
The expansion is part of Thomas Cook’s strategy to deliver sustainable profitable growth through a carefully-curated portfolio of own-brand hotels that have higher customer satisfaction, more repeat guests and deliver higher margins than the holiday company’s broader selection of hotels.
The hotels to open in Greece in summer 2019 are:
Crete: Casa Cook Chania – the first family-friendly Casa Cook is a 106-room hotel offering an alternative approach to the traditional kids club with more of a focus on learning through play, art, and local culture. Each of the seven-room types – ranging from Superior Double Rooms to Family and Presidential Villas – are designed as private sanctuaries. Each room is fitted out with luxuries, both little and large, and tailored with sophistication and convenience.
Kos: Cook’s Club Tigaki Kos – a 63-room beachside hotel in Kos’ popular resort town of Tigaki. The hotel is centered on the pool and restaurant offering Greek classics alongside street food and vegan dishes. Guests can enjoy beach volleyball moments from the hotel or hire bikes to explore the local area.
Kos: Cook’s Club Lambi Kos – the brand new, 250-room hotel, will have three pools at its centre steps away from Lambi Beach. Poolside and beachside cabanas offer guests the perfect place to soak up the sun during the day or more active holidaymakers can choose from watersports including paddleboarding or scuba-diving.
Rhodes: SunConnect Cyprotel Faliraki – a 356-room family resort in Faliraki, with an aquapark on site as well as extensive gardens for everyone to find their perfect place to unwind. A rooftop bar is one of two bars and there are two restaurants at the resort as well as two swimming pools and a dedicated baby pool as well as waterpark with multiple slides.
The addition of four hotels in Greece, bring the number of the company’s total own-brand hotels in the country to over 50.
Thomas Cook is also expected to confirm another Cook’s Club property in Greece in the coming months.
“Expanding our own-brand hotel portfolio is central to the success of the whole business,” Enric Noguer, chief of Hotels & Resorts, said.
According to Noguer, Thomas Cook has ambitions to take on more management contracts for hotels around the Mediterranean.
“Operating and overseeing a group of well-managed and high-quality hotels that our customers recognise and turn to for the better service and reliability they experience is an important part of our strategy as a group,” he added.
In addition, Thomas Cook has also removed a further nine hotels that did not meet brand quality standards.