Our story

Half a century. One family. One olive grove between Mycenaean tombs and the Argolic sea.

Xeni Camp Retreat isn't a brand. It's our home — and we've been opening it to travellers since 1977. Four generations, one piece of land, the same idea of hospitality passed down from grandparents to grandchildren.

Years of welcome

Generations of the same family

Piece of land — the same since the start

Georgia (Gina) Fligkas with her family at Xeni Camp Retreat

At the foot of Barbouna hill — where the vaulted Mycenaean tombs and the Temple of Apollo Pythaeus once stood — our land has been cultivated for thousands of years. Oranges, mandarins, olives, lemons. The same fruits that fed the people of Asini from the Early Helladic period onwards.

Our own family's story on this land began just before the war. But the journey that led to today's Xeni Camp Retreat took almost ninety years — and four generations — to arrive here.

The journey

Four generations, one land.

From a traditional taverna on Kastraki beach to a campsite that welcomes families from all over the world.

1940 The beginning

Panayotis & Zafiria

In the difficult years of the Greco-Italian war, Panayotis Orfanos — son of Father Anastasios of Asini, of Cretan descent — marries Zafiria Skalidis from Tolo. They have a daughter, Angeliki — the mother of today's owner.

The couple works hard. In winter they run a traditional taverna in the centre of Tolo. In summer they move their life to Kastraki beach, right inside the archaeological site. That's where the idea takes root: that hospitality can be more than a profession — it can be a way of living.

1977 The campsite is born

Angeliki & Kostas open Xeni

When Angeliki Orfanos comes of age and marries Konstantinos Fligkas from Dalamanara, Argos, the couple decides to put down roots on the land of Asini. On one of Panayotis's fields — at the foot of Barbouna hill, right next to the Mycenaean vaulted tombs and the Temple of Apollo — they build the first campsite.

The family raises three daughters who grow up working alongside everything: serving guests, harvesting olives, producing oil, wine, local liqueur. The campsite quickly becomes a meeting point for European travellers — many of whom return year after year.

The campsite being built at the foot of Barbouna

2004 The baton passes

Gina takes over

In 2004 we lose Konstantinos. Georgia Fligkas — Gina, as everyone calls her — the youngest of the three sisters, takes over the business together with her own family.

She doesn't change the philosophy. She continues what she learned from her parents: the campsite as a family home, the taverna as a shared table, the fields as the source of everything that gets served. She adds mobile homes, bungalows, glamping bell tents. She expands into apartments in Nafplio and villas in Tolo. But she keeps the soul the same.

Georgia Fligkas (Gina) in the family fields

Today The next generation

Fifty years on, still at the same table

We're now entering our 50th year in operation. The new generation of the family is growing up inside the campsite — just like their parents, just like their grandmother. They learn to serve, to gather herbs, to talk with guests in four languages.

Our philosophy hasn't changed: to show Greek hospitality and culture to anyone who walks through our gate. To farm the land sustainably. To inform our guests about every kind of alternative tourism the region offers — agricultural, fishing, religious, therapeutic. And to help them craft the holiday that suits them, not the one we want to sell.

The next generation of the family at the campsite today

What drives us

Our philosophy.

Three things have stayed the same since 1977 — and they will stay.

Hospitality as a way of life

We don't have "customers" — we have guests. Many return year after year; some have become friends of our children. Our campsite is our home, and the gate is always open.

Respect for the land

We farm the same fields our grandfather farmed. Olive oil, wine, liqueur, herbs, sweets — all from here. Sustainable agriculture, not as a trend, but because that's how we know.

Greek culture, lived

We teach by example: Greek language, Greek cooking, Greek dance if you like. We help you live the Argolid like a local — not like a tour bus.

From our land

What we serve, we grow.

From our family's olive groves and surrounding fields — as it's been for thousands of years.

Olive oil

From our own groves, pressed every autumn

Wine

Homemade, from vines planted by earlier generations

Liqueur

Local fruit, traditional family recipes

Herbs & sweets

Oregano, thyme, sage and traditional preserves

Come and meet us.

The best introduction to our family happens in person — over a glass of wine at the taverna.

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