They fell for the original shipowner’s grand vision in plaster and stone the five-metre high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, original tiled floors and elegant cornicing and views.
They were looking for a small and suitable bolthole to house their growing collection of contemporary art when they chanced upon the derelict former tax office. A place in which, as immigrants themselves, they felt at home. Historically, as Oana says, it was a magnet for refugees and outsiders, for dreamers and doers, thinkers and escapists. They were simply enthusiastic holidaymakers on Syros an island they returned to and responded to. Becoming a hotelier on a remote Greek island was never part of the master plan for young London-based economist Oana Aristide or her sister Jasmin, a doctor who practices in Sweden, where they grew up. The narrative of how this hotel came into existence reads like a novel. The dynamic comes from the art statement sculpture in neon colours and large shouty canvases by contemporary artists such Igor Skaletshy, Christy Lee Rogers, Riccardo Vecchio that subvert the classical aesthetic. Aristide is a big-hearted, optimistic passion project a showcase for a bold private art collection and a platform for experiencing the best of what the island has to offer hiking, cookery courses, visits to local producers, boat expeditions and museums after hours. For the thinking traveller, Hotel Aristide is a find a rose-tinted architectural jewel, a former shipowner’s mansion at the heart of what was once the most important crossroads and trading route in the Eastern Mediterranean. The coexistence of two faiths and traditions in the Cycladic capital contributes to the liberal and cosmopolitan flavour of Syros’ flourishing arts and cultural scene. There's a wide, deep-water port and two iconic churches the Roman Catholic Church of St George and the Orthodox Church of the Resurrection crowning each summit. Gleaming marble and pastel-tinted mansions rise along the natural amphitheatre of hills that dominate Hermoupolis, the city of God of trade Hermes.
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