History
Present
The island of Rhodes is located on the southeast side of the Aegean Sea, approximately 10 kilometres from the coasts of Asia Minor.
Being one of the most beautiful Greek islands, diamond-shaped Rhodes is the biggest and the most populated island of the Dodecanese, approximately 80 kilometres long and 40 kilometres wide and with 120.000 inhabitants.
The mountain of Profitis Ilias rises about 700 meters high, in an environment where the rocky island’s interior blends in harmony with the chaotic forests of pines and Cypresses that deluge the area and preserve the rare and unique species of Dama Dama deer.
Elafos hotel is an imposing building, of Italian structure and finesse, which preserves all the influences and colours of its history, while offering the ultimate resort experience with the services you dream of, followed by recreations and various cultural events.
Recently refurbished with absolute respect, so not to alter its special physiognomy and aesthetics, the hotel has acquired all the necessary comforts and infrastructures that make it an ideal “shelter” for those seeking alternative forms of trips and holidays. With extraordinary views to the sea that literally cut one’s breath, with images of the forest that come up from the windows and the room verandas, as if taken from a fairy tale, with sounds and scents from the intact nature, hotel Elafos provokes and simultaneously seduces the senses!
The sights and the multiform open spaces that surround the hotel are linked together with a vast network of paths, where the visitors have the opportunity to combine the authentic and qualitative hospitality with walks, mountain and street cycling, countryside archery, orienteering and more.
History
Hotel Elafos is situated on the edges of Profitis Ilias Mountain, next to the byzantine monastery of Profitis Ilias, 45 kilometers from Rhodes town and 30 kilometers from the airport, at an altitude of 780 meters and almost in the centre of the island, in a green environment with rare vegetation, high pine trees, perennial plane trees and the unique cedar species of “Atlas Cedar”.
The Italians, famous for their aesthetics and the timeless architecture of their buildings, created this lodge in 1929, in order to accommodate Italian army officers. It was named Albergo del Cervo (Deer’s Hotel), after the beautiful, rare and strictly protected deer species of Dama Dama which inhabits in the majestic forest that surrounds the hotel.
The building follows a mixture of masonry and frame of reinforced concrete. The roofing consists of very steep wooden rooftops covered with special corrugated sheets, while the hotel’s exterior is thoroughly decorated with wooden details.
During World War II, it was used as lodge for the Italian officers and later as military German hospital. In 1932, a new independent wing, named Elafina (female deer), was built next to Hotel Elafos, making the complex known as “Elafos-Elafina”. Thence forward it runs as a hotel attracting visitors from all over the world, that wish to admire in close the buildings’ special identity.
