Neos Omalos Hotel - Omalos Chania Crete Greece

Yeorgios H. Drakoulakis, the pioneer, and creator of the tourist enterprises of Omalos.

He was born in the village of Lakki in the area of Kydonia in 1906 by poor parents who were farmers and bred a few animals, a typical family of the area. Despite the poverty the ancestors of the habitants of Lakki were rich in morale and other virtues. Such was the family of the restless, creative and progressive person who despite the fact that he did not have any literal education, he is a man who in a prophetic manner foresaw the touristic value of Omalos and the need for building entertainment and recreatio centres for serving visitors.

Before the construction - after the second World War - of the new road between Lakki and Omalos and of the modern luxurious recreation centres, Yeorgios H. Drakoulakis maintained apart from his rural work a hut covered by bushes which he used as a small coffee shop for the few customers, the plowman and shepherds of the area. He kept this hut until 1954 when the new road construction between Lakki and Omalos was finished.

In this hut he welcomed with tsikoudia and watermelon together with his wife madam Aphroditi, the Bishop of Chania Agathaggelos Xyrouhis, who acompanied by the then priest of Lakki Antonios Andrianis, made the official opening of the new road. The construction of the road gave him the ability to realise his dreams, which were no more than leaving his hut and building a more modern room which he for a long time used as a cafe and tavern. This first room was the infrastructure that helped his children and grandchildren build a luxurious dining and entertainment room as well as a modern and luxurious hotel equipped with every means for offering a comfortable and pleasant accomodation to any visitor.