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My Inspire Project is an award-nominated independent media and advisory platform exploring luxury travel, culture, design, and the people, places, and experiences shaping modern travel. Through THE INSPIRED and MY CIRCLE, we connect travelers with trusted insight, better access, and curated journeys worldwide.

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LATEST FROM THE INSPIRED

THE INSPIRED is our editorial platform featuring curated travel guides, hotel reviews, cultural insights, & destination stories from around the world.

Markos Chaidemenos of Canaves Collection on Evolving a Santorini Legacy

For four decades, Canaves has evolved alongside Santorini. In this Inspire Conversation, Markos Chaidemenos reflects on inheriting a family business, earning the freedom to change it, the people behind its hospitality, Santorini’s responsibility to manage success, and what Canaves Collection will carry forward as it moves beyond Oia.

THE INSPIRE CONVERSATIONS

Aug 20

Markos Chaidemenos of Canaves Collection on Evolving a Santorini Legacy

THE INSPIRE CONVERSATIONS

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Passalacqua — Beyond the Beautiful

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Boris Messmer on The Florentin and the Frankfurt We Thought We Knew

THE INSPIRE CONVERSATIONS

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THROUGH OUR CURATED JOURNEYS, WE EXPLORE THE WORLDS OF LUXURY TRAVEL, CULTURE, GASTRONOMY, DESIGN & GLOBAL EXPERIENCES.

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<Syros> Back to the collector’s house in Syros!

I first discovered Aristide (@aristidesyros) shortly after it opened, while living on Syros, and returning several years later feels particularly special. Set within a restored neoclassical mansion in Vaporia, this intimate nine-suite hotel feels closer to a private art residence than a conventional Cycladic stay. The original proportions and ornate architectural details are layered with nine varieties of Greek marble, sculptural lighting, contemporary furniture and an evolving collection featuring artists including Christy Lee Rogers, Igor Skaletsky and Riccardo Vecchio. No two suites are alike, each composed with its own materials, colours and personality. The owners’ highly individual eye can be felt throughout, from the art-filled salons and gallery spaces to bathrooms conceived almost as rooms of their own. In a region so often defined by whitewashed minimalism and Aegean blue, Aristide offers something wonderfully unexpected: a richer, more cultural and expressive interpretation of Syros and its grand architectural heritage.

What has changed since our first visit is how complete the experience now feels. The rooftop has evolved into a destination of its own with Leo Restaurant @leorestaurant_at_aristide) where Chef @ioanna_andrianou brings Cycladic produce together with international techniques, complemented by a thoughtful cocktail program led by @konstantinos_.k._ —his Signature Negroni, built around four layers of gin and vermouth, became a particular favorite. From its art and deeply personal interiors culinary, cocktails and an exceptional position overltoooking Vaporia and the Aegean, Aristide has matured beautifully while preserving the individuality that first made us fall for it. 🖼🖼🖼🗝🗝🗝🏛🏛🏛🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

Stay tuned for our upcoming Syros Island Guide on THE INSPIRED. Plan your stay with insider guides and benefits through MY CIRCLE via link in bio. 🔗🔗🔗

#aristidehotel #Syros #DesignTravel #greekislands #Myinspireproject

<Travel> A few days in Paros left us with more questions than conclusions, perhaps exactly as a first encounter with an island should.

Long familiar to Greeks as one of the Cyclades’ most spirited summer destinations, Paros is experiencing a new wave of international attention. New hotels, restaurants and travelers are arriving quickly, bringing opportunity alongside inevitable questions about how the island grows while preserving the character that made it compelling in the first place.

The frequent comparison with Mykonos tells only a fraction of the story. Beyond the energy of Naoussa, we found fishing harbours and whitewashed lanes, rugged northern coastlines, secluded coves, old churches and mountain villages, and landscapes that changed remarkably as we moved across the island. There is a rawness here alongside the polish, and a distinctly local rhythm that deserves to be understood on its own terms.

Maybe that was our strongest first impression: Paros resists a single identity. It can be lively and social, yet remarkably still; increasingly international, yet deeply rooted in Cycladic life. We have only begun to understand those different layers, so rather than rushing to a definitive verdict, we are giving the island a little time to sink in.

For now, here are a few of our favorite frames from our first encounter with Paros. Stay tuned for our full Paros Travel Guide in the future — there is much more of the island we want to discover. 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🏝🏝🏝🧿🧿🧿

Join MY CIRCLE via link in bio to learn more of our insider guides for Paros and many more Greek Islands! 🔗🔗🔗

#paros #visitparos #greekislands #islandlife #Myinspireproject

<Travel>

Rather than following the usual island circuit, we explored Paros by ATV with @paros_happy_bikes, following Georgi's carefully curated route along backroads and ancient tracks that revealed a very different side of the island. We began around the Valley of the Butterflies, particularly scenic and intensely green during our visit, before stopping at a monastery and climbing towards Profitis Ilias. From the summit, Paros seemed to spread out beneath us with villages scattered across the landscape, the coastline tracing the island’s edges and, on such a clear day, Naxos, Antiparos and other Cycladic islands visible along the horizon. It was an extraordinary perspective to understand the island as a whole.

From there, we descended through the countryside to the charming Lefkes village and the must-visit @stratis_bakery_lefkes, before reaching one of the day’s most fascinating discoveries: the Ancient Marble Quarries at Marathi, where luminous Parian marble, one of antiquity’s most prized materials, was extracted for centuries. Yet much of the pleasure was in everything between these places: valleys, terraced hillsides, stone paths and stretches of countryside we would never have found from the main road.

Guided and thoughtfully paced, it gave us a wonderfully local perspective on Paros and became one of our most memorable experiences on the island. 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🏍🏍🏍🧿🧿🧿

Planning Paros? Discover our favorite stays, places and experiences through MY CIRCLE, or let us curate your own journey through the Cyclades. Check out link in bio for more info! 🇬🇷🧿🏝️

#Paros #atv #greeksummer #bestvacation #Myinspireproject

<Paros> A quiet design retreat in Paros. 🌿🇬🇷

Just minutes from the buzz of Naoussa, Cove Paros (@coveparos) offers a compelling counterpoint to the island’s more social side.

Set by Agioi Anargyroi beach, clean white volumes sit among lush trees, towering reeds and dry Mediterranean gardens. Pathways disappear into greenery before opening toward the long pool and the sea, while the sound of the Aegean and breeze through the grasses become part of the experience.

We enjoyed this contemporary design retreat where pale stone, warm wood and natural textures extend the architectural language indoors. For more privacy and space to spend outside, we particularly recommend the Cove Signature Suite and its private pool tucked within the gardens.

The beach is only steps away, while Rada Restaurant (@radaparos), led by chef Gikas Xenakis, brings contemporary Greek and Mediterranean cooking to the waterfront.

For us, Cove Paros captures a particularly appealing way to experience this island: considered design, curated landscape and the sea, with Naoussa close enough to dip into whenever the mood calls. 🇬🇷🌊🥂

Plan and book you next journeys and stays with us and enjoy exclusive benefits and insider access, learn more on MY CIRCLE via link in bio! 🔗🔗🔗

#Paros #CoveParos #luxurytravel #greekislands #myinspireproject

<Stay> Our first time in Paros brought us to an island known for its lively energy, particularly around Naoussa. Yet only minutes from its busy harbor, we found a very different rhythm at Cove Paros (@coveparos).

Located on Agioi Anargyroi beach, Cove is defined as much by its landscape as its architecture. Clean white volumes sit among palm trees, towering reeds and dry Mediterranean gardens, creating a contemporary interpretation of Cycladic living. Pathways disappear into greenery before opening toward the pool and sea, with the Aegean breeze moving constantly through the landscape.

We love both the Junior Suite and Cove Signature Suite with Private Pool, where natural textures, pale stone and warm wood continue the contemporary design language.

You can easily move between the garden-framed pool, the beach and lunch at @radaparos, where chef Gikas Xenakis brings a fresh perspective to Greek and Mediterranean cooking with seasonal Cycladic ingredients.

Perhaps that is Cove’s greatest appeal: Naoussa is close whenever you want its energy, yet here you have a quiet, beautifully designed retreat by the sea.
🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🌴🌴🌴🏖🏖🏖

Plan your journeys and book your next design stay with us through MY CIRCLE via link in bio. 🔗🔗🔗

#Paros #CoveParos #DesignTravel #greekislands #Myinspireproject

<The Inspire Conversations >

A full-circle conversation in Santorini. 🇬🇷

Canaves Collection (@canavescollection) was part of My Inspire Project from the very beginning. Eight years later, I sat down with Markos Chaidemenos (@markoschaidemenos) to reflect on 40 years of family hospitality, evolving a legacy beyond Oia, the people behind great hotels, and the responsibility that comes with Santorini’s extraordinary success.

From what makes family-owned hospitality irreplaceable to why the future of Greece depends on thoughtful development, this is a conversation about what should evolve—and what is worth carrying forward. 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🧿🧿🧿🙏🙏🙏

Read our latest The Inspire Conversations with Markos Chaidemenos of Canaves Collection, now on THE INSPIRED. Link in bio. 🔗

#TheInspireConversations #CanavesCollection #Santorini #executiveinterview #Myinspireproject

<Stay> Living between volcanic rock and the endless Aegean.

At Canaves Epitome (@canavesepitome), Santorini feels different and open. Set beyond the caldera, the resort trades the island’s familiar cliffside density for space, privacy and uninterrupted horizons, from expansive pool villas carved into the landscape to one of the most extraordinary sunset views in Oia.

This is Santorini, beyond the caldera. 🌅🌅🌅🧿🧿🧿🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷 @canavescollection

Plan your stay and future journeys to Santorini through MY CIRCLE via link in bio 🔗🔗🔗

#canavescollection #CanavesEpitome #Santorini #luxurydestination #myinspireproject

<Stay> Santorini, with room to breathe.

Eight years after Canaves Epitome (@canavesepitome) opened above Ammoudi, what still sets it apart is something rare in Oia: space. Away from the compressed terraces of the caldera, the resort stretches across volcanic stone and Mediterranean gardens, facing west towards Thirassia and the open Aegean sea.

Our Two Bedroom Pool Villa captures this best. Set across separate levels with generous indoor and outdoor living spaces and a large private pool, it feels closer to a private Santorini home. Downstairs, the bedroom and bathing area sit directly alongside the pool, with an underwater window creating one of the villa’s most unexpected architectural details.

Epitome has grown considerably since opening with 24 villas in 2018, yet it has retained the sense of openness that made it distinctive from the beginning. Today, two expansive infinity pools meet the horizon, while dry gardens have softened the volcanic landscape around them.

With eecent recognition as No. 1 Resort in Greece by @travelandleisure in 2026, its evolution has clearly resonated beyond Santorini.

Canaves Epitome is at its best around sunset, when the architecture seems to recede and the Aegean takes over. In a destination where everyone comes for the view, having the perfect space and moment to simply breathe and enjoy may be the greatest island luxury. 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🧿🧿🧿🌅🌅🌅 @canavescollection

Plan you stay and future trips to Santorini with exclusive benefits and insider access through MY CIRCLE via link in bio. 🔗🔗🔗✅️✅️✅️

#Santorini #CanavesEpitome #CanavesCollection #LuxuryTravel #Myinspireproject

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Join our community to receive the latest news on hottest discoveries, travel tips, insider offers and exclusive accesses!

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THE INSPIRED is our editorial platform featuring curated travel guides, hotel reviews, cultural insights, & destination stories from around the world.

Markos Chaidemenos of Canaves Collection on Evolving a Santorini Legacy

Markos Chaidemenos of Canaves Collection on Evolving a Santorini Legacy

Passalacqua — Beyond the Beautiful

Eittem — The New Shape of Desire

Boris Messmer on The Florentin and the Frankfurt We Thought We Knew

Frankfurt For the Curious

Red Chalet — The Algarve's Red Icon

THROUGH OUR CURATED JOURNEYS, WE EXPLORE THE WORLDS OF LUXURY TRAVEL, CULTURE, GASTRONOMY, DESIGN & GLOBAL EXPERIENCES.

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