The hotel known today as Ionas can be found in the neighborhood of “Plathia Rouga” in Splantzia, in the old town of Chania on the island of Crete. Near the historic church of Agia Irini, it is also in the same neighborhood of the monastery Santa Maria della Misericordia, and is a fine example of a reconstructed architectural treasure of the most historical part of Chania.

The stone Venetian elements such as the archway in the entrance of the hotel have been repaired and restored, while at the base of the core building there still remain the original walls from 1538. The wooden facade of the original building was recreated based on the traces that were found, and are an example of the Ottoman elements of the building.

The historical building that now houses Ionas Hotel came into the current owner’s family in the 1920s, when his great-grandparents came from Asia Minor with the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey following the Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922.  Despite parts of the house being destroyed by German bombardment during the Second World War, its occupants continued to live in the main part of the house, and it has remained in the family’s hands until this day.

Several years ago, inspired by the thought to preserve a small piece of personal family history, as well as part of the greater whole of the area’s past, the building’s owner decided to restore the home and open it to the public as a top class hotel. The philosophy behind the painstaking reconstruction was to preserve original details using traditional building techniques, while keeping modern needs and comforts in mind. The project had the rare good fortune to be guided by original historical documents, family records that were kept for almost a century.