Hotels are the quickest way to get inside a city’s state of mind. Expressive. edgy, and idiosyncratic, Athens has plenty of terrific hotels to match its new status as southern Europe’s capital of cool. If you love art and design and can spot an Eames chair at one hundred paces, check out our round-up of some of the most aesthetically pleasing places to stay in Athens.
Perianth €€
What’s the story: Perianth is that cool new kid in the class that doesn’t try to impress you—but does all the same. A masterful update by star architects K-Studio in 2018 saw this 1930s landmark in Athens’ historic heart become an urbane 38-room design hotel. The soothing decor—moss green and dusky pink armchairs, grey terrazzo floors beneath lofty ceilings, and walnut wood beds—is like drinking a tall iced tea on a steamy day. Sit on your snug balcony for a voyeur’s view of non-stop Agia Irini Square (you can also eye up the Acropolis from the higher floors). Or head to the low-lit lobby where velvet sofas cry out for you to order a martini. High rollers can splash out on the sixth floor penthouse suite for a private plunge pool and an “oh wow” appearance by the Parthenon.
Why it makes the cut: Works by Greek contemporary artists grace curvy corridors, and staff are kitted out in cut above uniforms by the late Greek designer Sophia Kokosalaki. Walk just outside the door to enjoy Athenian café society (and people watching) at its best. Shake off urban overload with a yoga, martial arts or meditation session at the first-floor Zen Centre (it’s free for guests).
A bedroom at the Perianth.
Courtesy: Perianth Hotel
Courtesy: Brown Acropol. Photo by Vangelis Paterakis.
Brown Acropol €€
What’s the Story? Syncing perfectly with shiny new Omonia Square, this newly awakened icon chases the cosmopolitan vibe of 1960s Athens. Thanks to hip Tel Aviv hotelier Brown, the 167-room Acropol has brought a dash of “loose urban leisure” to evolving Omonia, along with the area’s first serious rooftop watering hole. Does the Greek modernist facade ring a bell? It was designed mid-70s by Emmanouil Vourekas, architect of the emblematic Hilton Athens (note his trademark klostra—the square metal detail—on the balconies). Inside, sought-after design troupe K-studio has seamlessly spliced vintage and new for a groovy retro glam mood. There are huge oak wall tiles you'll want to run your hands over (go ahead), shaggy rugs beneath your toes, a library with rare LIFE magazine back-issues to flick through and a vibey brass whiskey bar. Most likely, your eyes will go straight to the awesome marble mural that spans half the lobby. It’s inspired by the Cretan Palace of King Minos.
Why it makes the cut: Oh-so-retro rooms wired for mid-century nostalgia with Muse record players, trippy wallpaper and Don Draper-worthy drinks trolleys; saucy framed portraits by Greek snapper Spyros Staveris (of LIFO fame). But most of all, the sassy rooftop cocktail bar and terrace operated by star bar brand The Clumsies. It has a hell, Yes! panorama of Athens with an Acropolis "selfie spot" and four hot tubs (pools are so passé).
AthensWas €€
What’s the story: Half the draw of this 21-room design hotel is its prime location at the start of Athens’ prettiest promenade, Dionysiou Areopagitou, within striking distance of the Acropolis Museum. The other half? A sultry and sophisticated aesthetic that merges retro design classics with mod-cons like walk-in rain-showers and refined rooftop dining.
Why it makes the cut: Design buffs can tick off pieces by modern masters like Le Corbusier, Eileen Gray and Konstantin Grcic, set amid walnut panelled walls, geometric carpets, mottled marble and classy prints of ancient Greek sculptures. Foodies will relish the boundary pushing Greek cuisine at rooftop restaurant Senses, where the Acropolis hovers just overhead.
It's not often you find the view in your room is just as good as the one outside.
Courtesy: AthensWas
The Foundry is a sun-soaked dream of a hotel.
Courtesy: The Foundry Hotel
The Foundry Suites €€
What’s the story: Quirky industrial design meets mid-century charm at this intimate bolthole. There’s a great backstory: the site has been everything from a stable and foundry to a theatre and those former lives shine through, thanks to a harmonious restoration by architects Miltos Portokalis and Efi Malandraki (whose husband, Marios Koullouros, helms the hotel). The 1930s facade is a patchwork of exposed stone and vertical gardens. Inside, 12 huge apartments with kitchenettes and floor-to-ceiling Crittall windows are filled with natural light. Old pianos and wood-fired stoves strike a nostalgic note, while pops of tropical wallpaper provide urban dash.
Why it makes the cut: A surprisingly serene base in one of Athens’ most happening neighbourhoods, Psirri. You’re surrounded by bakeries, bistros and vintage boutiques. There are no TVs. The daily theatre of Athens on your doorstep is the only entertainment you’ll need. The hotel’s trump card? A ravishing roof garden with flagstone paving, sun loungers and benches parked beneath blooming trellises. Linger over a picnic or lazy breakfast with the Parthenon at your shoulder.
18 Micon Str. €€
What’s the story: A sociable Psirri hotel with an idiosyncratic pulse that chimes perfectly with this edgy neighbourhood of leather merchants and antique shops. The emphasis on cement, wood and brick elements is a respectful nod to the building’s industrial roots (it was one of the city’s first tool traders), while splashes of pale marble and faded terracotta warm up the factory vibe. An open-plan lobby doubles as a clubby lounge. Strike up a conversation with fellow guests over free coffee at the communal table. The view from the picture window in your room will be pure Athens: fleeting glimpses of the Acropolis amid a free-wheeling skyline.
Why it makes the cut: This isn’t one of those design hotels that throws all its best moves in the lobby and stints on the rooms. Each of Micon’s 15 rooms are individually designed and generously proportioned. Suites and lofts on the higher floors come with daybeds on spacious balconies—perfect for snoozing off a long lunch at one of the area’s many hip cafes and ouzeries. There’s also a handy Decompression Lounge where you can kill time or take a shower before a late flight.
Sleep in style at Micon 18.
Courtesy: 18 Micon Str.
Velvety sofas you could really sink into.
Courtesy: Periscope Hotel
Periscope €€
What’s the story: If you’re a believer in clean lines equals an uncluttered mind, you’ll appreciate this design hotel dreamt up by art patron extraordinaire Dakis Joannou. Periscope sits high above the upscale shopping streets of Kolonaki in a revitalized 1950s apartment building. It’s a hit with business travellers and city-breakers who check-in to have the neighbourhood’s designer temptations and cosmopolitan café society on tap. The mood alternates between the minimalist flinty greys of the 22 rooms to the immersive blue hues of the lobby. Sink into one of the squishy velour couches and feel all Captain Nemo beneath the art installation “Epiphany” (it projects a hypnotic underwater loop onto the ceiling).
Why it makes the cut: In keeping with the name, a theme of surveillance underscores the various art installations at Periscope. All the rooms feature aerial shots of Athens that capture an evolving metropolis, while from the Lounge Bar, you can use a remote control that connects to an electric periscope up on the roof to pan and zoom your way around the city’s urban contours.
New Hotel €€
What’s the story: Everything old is new again at this unconventional hotel, another passion project for Greek-Cypriot art collector Dakis Joannou (see Periscope, above). His bold 79-room reboot of the Olympic Palace hotel, built in 1958, enjoys a prime location, across from the National Gardens and within an easy stroll of just about everything on your Athens “to do” list. Those fantastical wooden pillars and “favela” wall coverings you’re Instagramming in the lobby? They’re recycled chair legs and doors, salvaged from the former hotel by Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana. The trippy art immersion continues in your room with vivid installations such as ladders that go nowhere and bronze, diamond-shaped sinks. Greek cultural motifs like evil eye amulets and shadow puppets float on the walls to remind you where you are.
Why it makes the cut: This is a hotel you can’t feel indifferent to. We love the way guests are steeped in the art, rather than just being passive observers. Hit the rooftop Art Lounge for cocktails or lunch with terrific views of Lycabettus Hill, or go for finessed Greek food and an avant garde setting at New Taste on the ground floor.
The perfect sunset view, right from your bed.
Courtesy: New Hotel
The pool at the Four Seasons Astir Palace.
Courtesy: Four Seasons Astir Palace Athens Hotel
Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens €€€
What’s the story: Not so much a hotel as an estate, Greece’s first Four Seasons sprawls over a pine-studded peninsula where you’ll feel like you’re on a private Greek island. Since it opened in the 1960s, iconic Astir Palace has been the summer playground of the global jet-set and has hosted everyone from Sinatra to Obama and Lady Gaga. Its recent 650 million euro refit is one of the biggest tourism projects in Greece to date. As well as plush rooms and bungalows, guests have access to designer pools and sandy coves, a stunning white marble spa, and some of the Athenian Riviera’s most stylish restaurants and bars.
Why it makes the cut: You could lose a whole day admiring all the design details at this ultra-sophisticated seaside resort. Like the slender curves of the flagship hotel Nafsika, slinky Avra cocktail bar designed by Martin Brudnizki (of London Annabel’s fame), or the 2,000 plus artworks. But then you’d miss out on swimming around olive trees anchored in the dreamy pool, indulging in a volcanic glass facial at the sea-view spa, or dining on grass-fed lamb inches from the sea at the boho Taverna 37… You get the drift.
Athens Blue Building Apartments €€
What’s the story: Pangrati is one of Athens’ most happening postcodes. Tap that buzz at this self-contained and cool customer located on a leafy street, right in the thick of things. What’s up with the blue? Well, apart from the slim blue stairwell spliced like a ship’s stern to one side, the developer is pals with Greek modern art legend Alekos Fassianos (whose signature hue is blue) and wrangled some one-off works to adorn his slick 6-apartment project. A pair of Fassianos’ giant caricature-like faces guard the entry, while the artist’s fantastical beasts subtly enliven gates, a scenic rooftop and other spaces. Elsewhere, architects Isaias Dimitris - Papaioannou Tasis have gone all in “urban industrial” with concrete planked surfaces, gridded metal/wood panels and angular furnishings. The downside? Pangrati is not very handy for the metro so your fitbit will go into overdrive. Happily, there’s a taxi rank opposite.
Why it makes the cut: Efranoros Street puts neighbourhood faves like Flamingo Drinks & Food Stories, La Pinsa and Monsieur Cannibale right at your fingertips—and you can also check-out Fassianos’ iconic works in grand scale at the new B&E Goulandris Foundation Museum nearby. Those super-cool gridded screens on the roomy balconies aren’t just for show either: they slide around to block out the mighty Athenian sun.
Courtesy: Athens Blue Building
Courtesy: The Modernist
The Modernist $$
What’s the story: With a bold, all-black look, The Modernist exudes cool vibes with service that feels effortless and sincere. Creatives and urban aesthetes will delight in the hotel’s mid-century detailing and in-room perks such as Marshall speakers, polaroid cameras with complimentary film reels and a bar stocked with Nikka Whisky from the Barrel and The Botanist Gin (that’s on the house too). Home to 38 rooms (that nattily come in S, M, L and XL), this refined newcomer occupies the former Canadian Embassy in a peaceful pocket of swanky Kolonaki; with roving views across the revamped National Art Gallery, the Acropolis, Lycabettus Hill and the Aegean.
Why it makes the cut: Guests can break a sweat at the 24-hour gym or lounge on a luxe rooftop recliner for post-work drinks. Cocktails are concocted by Nikos Bakoulis of star bar, The Clumsies, while fashionable bites come from Ergon, champions of local Greek produce. The lobby concept store tempts with Athenian art, personalised totes and even stamped postcards.