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The best hotels in Athens
The best hotels in Athens are always going to be the ones that capture the city's energy and the way that it constantly walks the line between preserving the past and looking to the future. Athens is a rising capital that feels immediate, passionate, and very much alive – driven by creative forces who are setting up new wine bars and restaurants, clothing brands, hotels and galleries. But even in Kypseli, the recently gentrified neighbourhood once inundated by poets and the literary crowd of Athens, and now filled with creative expats from Europe, you never lose sight of its layered and complex history. The Acropolis is always there, shining down on Athens, peering into view as you cross the street, look outside your window or sit for a coffee. Athens is pulled between the West and the East: this tension ignites the very soul of the city, and the creative, deep thinking and interesting projects that are becoming more and more frequent. It shows in the hotels that are opening all over - with ever increasing choice, whether you want to stay by the beach on the ‘Athenian Riviera’, right under the Acropolis or amongst locals in neighbourhoods like Neapoli, Psyrri and Kolonaki.
The best hotels in Athens
1/5Shila
On a quiet pedestrian street in a prime patch of Athens somewhere between posh Kolonaki and stylish Neapoli, Shila is a hidden gem with six suites up and down an unassuming townhouse. Finding it isn’t particularly obvious, but all good things usually do come discreetly. The same is applied to the taste within, where interiors are quite soft femme with a vintage allure in earthy tones of greens and browns contrasting brutalist architectural features such as unfinished walls with exposed brick, concrete and patchy plasterwork on the ceilings – all done with distinct purpose and for cinematic effect.
The Attic room, where I stayed, felt like having a chic apartment in Athens rather than being a tourist. Upon walking in, there is a small kitchen corner with a sink, crockery, coffee machine and various drinks and snacks to serve yourself, and a comfortable living room to the front that opens onto a balcony, furnished with green velvet-upholstered chaise longues. Down the hall from the kitchen and entrance are two bathrooms, which is a total luxury for those travelling in twos, and the bedroom is at the back of the building and perfectly quiet. (If you know Athens well, you will know how rare this can be.) Breakfast is served on the rooftop at a time of your choice and brought in from their roster of partners. I had yogurt and granola with fruits and chia seeds, as well as an assortment of sourdough bread and spreads and a croissant. With the sun shining as it usually does in Athens, the rooftop is a perfect hideout come morning or evening with a wine.
Nearby attractions: Located on the edge of the smart Kolonaki neighborhood and within a few minutes’s walk to Neapoli’s cool cafes and shops like It’s A Shirt, and further onto Exarchia which has the best bar scene in Athens. In the other direction, it’s equally close to the historic district Plaka which can be reached in just a 15-minute walk.
Address: Mantzarou 10, Athina 106 72, Greece
Price: Rooms from €240 per night, B&B
Lucy Laucht2/5Monument Athens
One of the city’s chicest and relatively newest addresses, Monument is well-located in Psyrri in the centre of Athens, where a maze of narrow streets lined with bars and restaurants come alive every evening. The hotel is housed within an elegant, white-painted neoclassical mansion on the corner of Kalamida street dating back to 1881. It was designed by German architect Ernst Ziller, who eventually became a Greek citizen and went on to design several notable residences and public buildings in the city, including the Stathatos Mansion which is now the Museum of Cycladic Art (and certainly worth visiting to marvel at the architecture and collection within). In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the listed building has been restored immaculately and has ornate frescoes painted onto the high ceilings of its nine bedrooms and common sitting area on the ground floor, complemented by modular furnishings that tone down the grand scale of the interior. Past the marbled reception area, the original spiral staircase up to the bedrooms has been refurbished in wood effect trompe-l’oeil as it has always been. Warm lighting from wall sconces radiate off the salmon-pink lime-washed plaster.
Book into Epos, named after poems by Homer, which has a balcony overlooking the Acropolis in the distance and Holy Church of Saint Demetrios peering out of pomegranate and orange trees just below. Rarely for Athens, Monument also has a small spa area with a treatment room and sauna. A buffet breakfast is served in the dining area at the back of the ground-floor living space under arched feature walls. With just nine rooms, it feels more like staying in a friend’s townhouse than a hotel, and more intimate than formal, which is the very essence of Athenian life.
Nearby attractions: Located in the lively Pyssri neighborhood, within steps of some of the best restaurants in Athens and with the Acropolis under 20 minutes by foot. Isandsia just next door is a must try restaurant.
Address: Kalamida 11, Athina 105 54, Greece
Price: Rooms from £260 per night, B&B
3/5Grand Hotel Bretagne
Like most fine neoclassical buildings that remain in Athens’s centre, the iconic Grand Hotel Bretagne began its story as the handsome mansion of a wealthy business named Antonis Dimitriou in the 1840s. As a hotel, its legacy began in the 1870s when it was bought with the approval of the royal family to be converted into Greece’s first luxury hotel. In the 400 years or so since, this elegant grand dame has gone on to host kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, and countless influential tastemakers and celebrities. Grand Bretagne is the crown jewel of Syntagma, Athens’s main square, which serves as the central axis of the city and with the parliament as its neighbour, where guards change by the hour. It has secret tunnels from the Second World War, when Nazis took hold of Athens and lived in the hotel for three years. It is said Hitler even stayed here on the evening of the Soviet invasion in 1941. Later in history, when Greece was caught in a civil war, the hotel became the centre of conferences between the British and then prime minister of Greece, George Papandreau, bringing Churchill to stay. Over time, floors were added to the original two, extensions made, and in 2003, the hotel went under total refurbishment, ready for its next chapter.
Staying in such a place of distinction leaves a lasting impression. Its decor is classical, drawing on traditional Greek motifs without ever feeling clichéd, and with historic features intact where possible. Heavy curtains dress the windows. Bathrooms are marbled. Paintings and elaborate mirrors are framed in gilt. The spa is impeccable, with a pool and circuit of herbal steams and saunas. The rooftop bar and restaurant has postcard views over the Acropolis and Plaka which drapes down like a skirt around it. Days start with breakfast on the terrace soaking up the iconic views, newspaper in hand, under a white radiant light that only shines in Greece.
Nearby attractions: The hotel has a prime location on the main square of Athens, Syntagma, where important events take place in the city. From here you can access on foot all the major tourist areas of Athens.
Address: 1 Vasileos Georgiou A, Syntagma Square Str, Athina 105 64, Greece
Price: Rooms from €490 per night, B&B
KAPLANIDIS4/5NEW Hotel
For something a little out of the ordinary, NEW Hotel is the top pick in Athens. Its location couldn’t be better for those short on time in Athens, just behind Syntagma square and within walkable distance to all the sights of central Athens, from Plaka to Monastriki and Pagrati. But its real USP is the collection of art that is on display at every turn. When it was bought by its current owner, the Greek Cypriot art collector Dakis Ioannou, the building was an existing hotel with tired and weathered interiors. Rather than clearing it down to a shell, the owner took an upcycling approach, working with Brazilian design duo Fernando and Humberto Campana to give the interiors a new lease of life. Installations such as the ‘Favela Wall’ in the reception area feature scraps from the former Olympic Palace Hotel including pieces from doors and furniture. The powerful installation is inspired by Brazil’s favelas. Rooms are surprisingly pared back and contemporary, while bathrooms continue the art theme with geometric 3D like vanity units fitted with brass sinks. The Lobby Bar is where breakfast is served, and it is a playful space that feels like being in a tropical garden, with curtains covered in motifs of foliage and architectural columns covered in scraps of wood mimicking tree trunks. The rooftop restaurant is a completely different affair, all sleek and minimal and with views across Athens down to the sea.
Nearby attractions: The hotel is tucked behind Syntagma, Athens’s main square, where important events take place in the city. From here, it’s a straightforward walk down to Plaka and onto Monastriki (don’t miss the Sunday flea market).
Address: Filellinon 16, Athina 105 57, Greece
Price: Rooms from €280 per night, B&B
Rupert Peace5/5One&Only Aesthesis
If you want the best of the city and the beach, look no where else than the One&Only Aesthesis. The first Greek post from the ultra-luxury hotel brand, on Asteras beach in the Glyfada neighbourhood, Aesthesis is a proper, fully fitted resort with multiple restaurants, a Guerlain spa and smart, contemporary accommodation with smaller rooms in the main building which curves around the waterfront and bungalows nestled around the grounds. The food is spectacular - and the immaculate breakfast presentation sets the tone of just how serious it is around here, down at one of its restaurants, Ora.
It is a world of its own that feels far removed from the pulse of Athens, which can be a pro or con depending on the traveller. This is the ideal choice for families or those who want to have a beach holiday and relatively easy access to the city without the worry of catching ferries or internal flights. Plaka is about a 30-minute drive from the hotel, traffic permitting, and the area around the hotel is not walkable – you’ll need a car to get out of the immediate surroundings of the hotel and onto the interesting stretches of the Athenian Riviera. The riviera is quickly changing with huge development, while still maintaining its local tavernas, coffee houses and charm. With the opening of One&Only Kea Island which followed last year, the two hotels are an ideal pair for a taste of both. Kea is reachable via a 25 minute speedboat.
Nearby attractions: The hotel feels like its own village in a quiet area of the Glyfada neighbourhood on the Athenian Riviera so you will need a car or taxi to get to interesting sights. Athens can be on the chaotic side so this can be ideal for those who prefer to tap into the city rather than be in the heart of it.
Address: Poseidonos 110, Glifada 166 74, Greece
Price: Rooms from €500 per night, B&B
