A fire has engulfed a luxurious celebrity-haunt hotel in southern Greece, forcing guests including US tourists to flee in the middle of the night.
Amanzoe, a five-star ultra-luxe resort on the Peloponnese peninsula frequented by the likes of Rita Ora and Cristiano Ronaldo, was evacuated late Monday after a wildfire broke out nearby.
Terrifying videos show how guests who had rushed to the beach club for safety were confronted by a wall of flames before being evacuated to safety by boat.
Guests at an ultra-luxe five-star Greek holiday resort were forced to evacuate overnight after a huge wildfire engulfed nearby forests
Tourists – including at least one American family – fled the hotel on boats via the private beach club, as flames lapped at the water
Laird Landmann, who works for a California-based asset management firm, posted an image looking back on the resort from the ocean as he fled – writing: ‘My hotel the Amanzoe is burning down! Seems like everyone got out safe.’
Miltos Kambourides, who part-owns the resort, also posted about the fire on social media – spending a nervous night at the hotel while flames raged nearby.
Footage on his Instagram page shows flames lighting up the night sky just yards from the complex, with firefighters battling to keep them at bay.
A 5am update showed the fight was still underway, before water-carrying planes arrived at daybreak and managed to drive the flames away.
He wrote: ‘All under control after a threatening forest fire that lasted the entire night. No one was harmed and the material damage was contained.
‘Our staff is taking care of all guests, cleaning up and restoring everything.
‘We are grateful to everyone who participated in this fire fight and to all those who are working to preserve Amanzoe’s position on the top of the resort world.’
Dozens of firefighters were brought in to tackle the blaze overnight before water-carrying planes arrived in the early hours to help drive the flames away from the hotel
The fire started on Monday afternoon to the north of the Amanzoe complex, though the exact cause is currently unclear
Smoke is pictured rising from woodland as flames from the fire that burned part of the hotel spread through tinder-dry countryside
The fire started Monday afternoon to the north of the complex and spread through nearby pine forests, heading towards the southern seafront.
Photos and video taken during the day show firemen at the complex while flames burn close to some of the housing, news site Protothema reported.
It seems the fire moved away for a time but returned later in the evening, forcing the whole complex to be evacuated.
Flames approached the beach club area – which also features a number of pools – and was filmed burning out-of-control nearby.
Walls of fire surrounded petrified tourists who huddled by the shore, before being ordered to move away by fire crews.
Amanzoe is part of the luxury Aman resort chain and was opened in 2012, in the wake of the country’s financial crisis.
It is designed to attract only the world’s best-heeled guests, most of whom arrive by helicopter from Athens.
Rita Ora, Kate Upton and Victoria’s Secret model Georgia Fowler are all known to have stayed here in 2019 after uploading posts mentioning the hotel to social media.
Rita Ora is pictured in a private pool at one of the hotel’s luxurious pavilions when she stayed there back in 2019
Kate Upton is among guests to have stayed at Amanzoe, which takes its style inspiration from ancient Greece
Victoria’s Secret Model Georgia Fowler was also a guest at the Amanzoe hotel back in 2019
More-discreet guests are thought to include the likes of Michael Jordan, Cristiano Ronaldo and model Irina Shayk.
The resort boasts a world-class spa, private pavilions instead of rooms and a secluded beach club.
Styled after ancient Greece, each pavilion suite has a private pool, housekeeper and in-house chefs to whip up meals.
Ingredients are source locally – of course – including honey from a resident beekeeper, vegetables from the on-site garden, and wine from a winery that is just down the road.
The largest pavilion – Villa 20 – comes with space to sleep up to 18 guests who are given a member of staff each to tend to them.
It has six private pools, a private spa, its own gym, a library and a traditional taverna.
But such luxury doesn’t come cheap: Pavilions start at more than £1,800 per night based on two sharing.
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