Our history

Our family history and our involvement initially with the hotel business and tourism and later with soap, starts from Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh in Egypt and reaches just today in Greece, in Platanias of South Pelion.

It was then, when our great-grandfather Nikolaos Dovas, in 1890, after the revolution of Pelion against the Turks, left at a very young age along with other young people from Argalasti of Pelion for Egypt, in search of work, for a better and safer life. There the Greeks made progress and with their work and sweat they created enviable conditions, worthy works that even today people would covet. Their business acumen was aimed at exploiting all of Egypt’s most important regions and products, both within Egypt and on its Mediterranean coast.

Thus, after our ancestors settled in Alexandria alongside the security of the strong Greek community and the spiritual warmth of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, they took root and progressed by working in various jobs.

From there, grandfather Nikos Dovas and grandmother Victoria flew with his family to Marsa Matruh, ancient Ammonia. They had two children, our father John and our aunt Catherine. The name Ammonia comes from Ammon Ra* (Ammon – Zeus for the Greeks).

Marsa Matrouh was then the most beautiful tourist resort, and the safest natural harbour.

They called it the Egyptian Riviera, and considered it “the pearl of the Mediterranean”.

Not by chance, this place was chosen by the famous Queen of Egypt Cleopatra III (160-101 BC) to install her famous sea baths, as well as by the German general Rommel to set up his headquarters and his refuge because of its geostrategic position. It was 300 km from Alexandria and an hour and a half’s drive from the famous oasis of Shiva.

Thus, after 1930, many Greek hotels began to be built, all of which, until 1960-65, served the tourist aristocracy of northern Egypt.

It was there, in this enchanting bay of Marsa Matruh, that the Dova family decided to lay the foundations and build a beautiful seaside hotel, HOTEL ZEPHIR, after the Second World War.

It was there in Marsa Matrouh, in this small town, that the art of soap making developed, with the most representative factory being “The Sahara soap factory”, which supplied all of northern Egypt with soaps. Grandmother Victoria worked in this factory and later, after learning the craft well, she began her occupation with soap in her hotel. He made 2 kinds of soaps i.e. soaps with the hot method and soaps with the cold method.

The soap by the hot method was made from the dregs of the oils and frying oils of the hotel kitchen, and used for cleaning and oiling the kitchen, as well as for washing the hotel linen. It then did what we would call today waste recycling. He had i.e. the grandmother for her time developed ecological behaviour and sensitivity to the environment.

The cold process soap was made from pure oils, mainly olive oil, palm oil, and coconut oil, for natural lathering, and was used by her family for physical cleansing and care and by the hotel guests.

All this experience that the grandmother acquired in the art of soap, she brought it to Greece and passed it on to us and it became the basis of the production of our soaps.

Unfortunately, with the prevalence of the then existing socialism and the rise of the socialist President Nasser in Egypt, the countdown to the life and prosperity of Egyptian Hellenism began, with the forced and violent nationalization of the properties of the Greeks. In 1960, a few years before the family’s departure for Greece, Yannis Dovas and Evanthia Dovas had two twin children, Nikos and Vasiliki.

Finally in 1965, they made the decision to leave. The most healthy and financially robust part of the Hellenism of the diaspora was lost. Some left for their homeland Greece, others for northern Europe, Australia, America, South Africa, and so on. Africa and elsewhere, all over the world.
The conditions of settlement in Greece were very difficult, as people had to start from scratch to build their new lives. Abandoned by everyone, especially by the Greek government, left to the mercy of God, they tried with their own efforts, but also with tricks, to save what they had left.

Our grandmother Victoria Dova, on the soap plates she made and on meatballs she fried, she would pocket 2-3 pounds, without anyone in the family knowing it. The export of gold, valuables and currency was then punished with heavy penalties. The ships unloaded the Egyptian Greeks and the people were piled up in the port of Piraeus for days, homeless at first, until they found someone of their own to accommodate them.

Finally, with the help of God, our family settled in Platanias in South Pelion, where our mother Evanthia Dova comes from.

There our father Yannis Dovas or Dovas, together with our mother Evanthia, built in 1965-66, the first tourist guesthouse in South Pelion under the name “The Villa of Roses”, thus laying the foundations of the tourist development of the entire region.
This hotel has experienced moments of glory and continues as “Hotel of Roses” its creative and developmental course by the owner Nikos Dovas, with his wife Gianna Vassdeki – Dovas and their children, Giannis and Thomas.

We, the third generation of the family, since 1993, continue the art of hospitality in our hotel.

We organized a very tasty and healthy cuisine, using mostly local and fresh products, and we brought back old local recipes to create a different sense of flavours.

At the same time we propose a very interesting ecotourism program for our visitors with remarkable activities. It includes walks – hikes and visits to historical and archaeological monuments, promotion and promotion of natural resources, such as the hot springs, the mythical caves of Thetida, and the production of natural handmade organic Pelion Natural Soap.