Post #766359 by kenbo-jitsu on Mon, Jul 18, 2016 2:43 PM

The Ledra Marriott hotel lost its Marriott affiliation in December 2013. Despite some predictions at the time the hotel would surely be picked up by some other large chain, this did not happen. The hotel operated independently following the break-up, calling itself simply the “Athens Ledra Hotel”.

The Kona Kai restaurant inside remained open and essentially unaltered. Its name was changed to “Quona Qai” for about six months (I love that name), and then later to “Ledra Kai”. Why the name change? I don’t know for sure, but I’m speculating Marriott must own rights to the “Kona Kai” name, at least as applied to restaurants, so the newly independent hotel perhaps lost the ability to use it.

There is now some recent sad news. The Athens Ledra Hotel closed abruptly at the end of May (2016). It had accrued debts in excess of forty million euros and its approximately 150 employees had not been paid in several months. The hotel is scheduled to be auctioned in September.

What will happen to the former Kona Kai restaurant depends on who acquires the hotel and what their plans for it shall be.

The hotel was built in 1980 and was long hailed as one of Athens’ most luxurious. The Kona Kai restaurant had been open for over thirty years.