October 23, 2026 by Colleen McGuire

I can’t remember the first time I visited Ancient Mycenae – home of King Agamemnon who launched the Trojan War – but it was probably in 2003, the year I made Greece my second home.  After we created CycleGreece in 2005, I came to Mycenae at least once a year thereafter with clients and it was always packed with tourists.   My first visit occurred about an hour before closing time and I happened to be the sole visitor at the site.  Only V.I.P.s with special private access could encounter such serenity with the ancients as I felt on my inaugural visit.

To get to Ancient Mycenae you pass through Mycenae village, population 350.    I always drove past the sign “La Belle Helene de Menelas” and although intriguing (it refers to Helen of Troy), I’m embarrassed to say the sign failed to pique my curiosity to check out what looked like a banal cafe.   If I had known this was a legendary inn where Dr. Heinrich Schliemann stayed when he excavated Mycenae in 1876, I would have brought every single client to its door step – as I am now trying to do.  (see Mythic Roads).

I very belatedly learned about the hotel in 2019 when I stumbled on a 2014 travelogue La Belle Helene.  I was flabbergasted to learn its provenance and a sublime guest list of luminaries such as William Faulkner, Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller, Agatha Christie and Jean-Paul Sartre.

In early 2020, I went to the hotel with the intent of booking rooms for four clients.   Agamemnon Dassis, the great-great grandson of the original owner, gave me a tour and apologized that none of the rooms had private bathrooms.  The entire property was in a pitifully dingy state.  Hmmm.  Am I really going to lower our accommodations standards to put clients here overnight?

But then Agamemnon showed me the wall of framed registration cards of past guests and that clinched it.  He knew them by heart pointing out one celebrity signature after another, noting in particular a handful of Nazi officers who came during WWII.  Staring at several dozen famed autographs, possibly worth millions at a Sotheby’s auction, I knew I was in the presence of a truly great historical and cultural landmark that I felt duty bound to share with others.

While acknowledging its deteriorated condition, I convinced the 2020 clients what a unique opportunity it would be to include the hotel in their tour itinerary.  They agreed and I paid Agamemnon for the rooms.  But then Covid crashed our party.   All our 2020 clients cancelled.  Agamemnon sold La Belle Helene.  The new owner shut it down for renovations.

When La Belle Helene de Menelas finally re-opened on September 12, 2026, and I happened to show up on September 13, I was stunned to see the spectacular face lift local owner Stelios Maragos had given the property.  The once humble hotel now consists of nine knock-out guest rooms with en suite baths, an impressive lobby encompassing the entry to the original inn and a jewelry store, a terrace café, a spacious dining room with local products for sale like pottery, olives, honey and wine, and an artsy outdoors.

My partner Yianni and I booked a room in the main house, but Stelios and his wife Georgia graciously upgraded us to a rear apartment lovingly refurbished from what had once been a backyard horse barn.  Its most precious feature is an amber marble bathtub carved by hand.   I could live in that bathtub!   Bathing in stone, you feel like royalty.  The towels are he-man size and fluffy.   The owners have partnered with Skouras Winery to produce their own Belle Helene brand; each guest receives a complimentary bottle of wine.   For breakfast we were served a delicious omelet from local fresh eggs and spanakopita with filo made of oats.

Stelios is a gifted craftsman who transforms old throw-away “junk” into marvelous functional artwork.  Every single detail of the premises resonates with style, class and culture:  tables made from an olive press, restored marble sinks, wooden shutters converted into cabinet doors.  Eye candy where ever you look.  Whether you spend a night or two in one of the “Rooms of Legend” or just stop in for a glass of wine or coffee, you will be thrilled to experience what is in effect an exceptionally enchanting Greek museum.

Dr. Heinrich Schliemann unearthed the treasures of Mycenae.  Stelios Maragos has unearthed a treasure of his own. Welcome to La Belle Helene de Menelas 2.0.