Established a decade ago by hospitality professionals Dimitris Giannakopoulos and Anna Deimezi, pioneering firm White Key Villas quickly made a name for itself in the Greek luxury villa rental industry. Today, the company is known not just for its incredible properties but also for its all round exceptional quality and service and attention to detail.
“Before we founded White Key Villas both of us had spent many years working in high-end hospitality and consulting for globally-known firms from Arthur Andersen to Ernst & Young. Our expertise, knowledge and understanding of what it takes to deliver truly special experiences coupled with a deep love for Greece and all it has to offer the traveller, led us to found White Key in 2005. With our combined backgrounds – Anna’s in event planning and hotel management and Dimitris’s in real estate and development and financial and strategic management – we knew we made the perfect team.
“And something we understood implicitly was that the highest level of hospitality is all about personal relationships and attention to detail. Which is why White Key Villas is very much about the personal relationships we maintain – with our villa owners and with our villa guests.
“Between us and the whole team at White Key a total of six languages are spoken fluently and we’ve lived and worked in more than eight different countries around the world. Being fully devoted to offering premium villa experiences and being avid travelers ourselves, we understand the importance of making our guests instantly feel at home, while fulfilling all of their expectations through our strong network of collaborating professionals quickly and efficiently.
The team at White Key Villas with Dimitris (first from left) and Anna (next to Dimitris)
“We’ve always been based in Athens. Our office, a crème retro house tucked inside a manicured garden, is our own version of a small villa in the city and is crucial to our ability to do our job well. A goof work space creates good work. It perfectly combines privacy allowing us to work in quiet, but with generous indoor and outdoor common areas where we all get together to exchange ideas and experiences regarding various villas and destinations, as well as to examine new properties or quality services that will enhance our guests’ experience.
“More often than not, you’ll find us discussing food (one of our greatest passions) that we have either prepared or tasted somewhere and often preparing it ourselves for everyone to share. It is this open sharing attitude, hosting and the art of enjoying congenial quality time with our friends that is at the core of White Key and its personnel.
The infinity pool at the stunning Villa Roellia in Porto Heli
“We are very much a family at White Key, and as our own families have also grown over the past decade, this has given us a very clear and sensitive perspective on what it takes to deliver a child-friendly and family fun vacation. It’s something we pride ourselves on and is why so many of our properties are chosen very much with a family-fun/child-friendly perspective in mind.
“We personally select all our villas, and regularly visit them, to ensure all our vacation experiences are second to none, and this allows us to perfectly match the right property with the right guests, providing the highest level of luxury service.
“We are Greek and love our country. We are always intrigued by the natural beauty of the Greek scenery but understand that the ‘unspoilt’ charm and “relaxed life style” of our country sometimes comes at a cost to the ‘five-star luxury service throughout’; we are here to bridge this gap.
The absolutely stunning Villa Persa in Spetses
“And we know we are succeeding. Our passion for creating exceptional villa experiences and our dedication to successfully combine outstanding accommodation with impeccable services, has rewarded us with consecutive recognition among Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Villa Rental Specialists for Greece, our membership with UltraVilla – The world’s leading luxury rental experts under one roof and Travel + Leisure’s Best Villa Rental Agencies, as well as appraisal from a series of reputable Media and institutions in the field.
“However, for us, the greatest achievement is our loyal, returning guests who summer after summer reward us with their trust to organize the precious quality time they spend with their family and friends.”
To find out more about White Key Villas and to see some of their properties exclusively on UV click here.
As told to Ramsay Short