View of the Acropolis from a room at the A77 Suites by Andronis
A77 suites
My first trip to Athens was a doozy. Young, on a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese budget, I grabbed a $ 400 flight straight to Greece from New York. I spent the flight curled up in a back-tearing ball, trying to sleep in a cramped economy seat. When I arrived at the budget hotel booked online, I collapsed on the thin bed until dusk. While hunting for dinner, jet lagged and unfamiliar with the dark maze of streets, an elderly man came up to me and my travel companion to “eat some of Athens’ best baby lamb chops” somewhere near the Acropolis. Too tired to appreciate this seemingly typically Greek experience would be a real tourist trap. It was a ignoble death for that young animal that set the tone for the rest of our meals that week.
My experiences in this storied city have come a long way – from finding third-wave cafes, trendy clothing designers, and amazing food in thoughtful wine bars – but most of my hotel stays so far have remained disappointing. Since the 2008 economic downturn, Athens has seen a creative rebirth, with hoteliers rejecting the outdated Grand Tour Grand Dames aesthetic to transform ancient and mid-century buildings into unique properties.
Here you can stay overnight on a modern strip on your next trip to this ancient city.
One of the elegant rooms at the A77 Suites by Andronis
A77 suites
In the famous Adrianou pedestrian zone in the lively tourist district of Plaka, a women’s boutique on the ground floor attracts fashion-conscious shoppers. The rest of us, huddled with luggage in the shop lobby (I recognized two Americans from my United flight from Newark), rummaged through finely woven hats, summer sandals, and silk dresses by Greek and international designers as we waited to check-in The boutique hotel A77 Suites by Andronis was located directly above the shop. Nearby, a slim, energetic woman from the small hotel team stood guard over our bags.
After we received our key card and had given our breakfast-in-bed requests for a “Greek omelette, yoghurt and fruit, black coffee”, we took the small elevator to the third floor to the Guest Relations Bell Hop -Concierge at to hit our door.
As I would close two weeks later, traveling in Greece during the pandemic felt no different than back home in New York City. If anything, the hospitality industry was far stricter than almost anywhere in the United States when it came to safety in the country. As a result, hotel staff always wore masks and never entered your room to point out functional details such as light switches and thermostats, a service change that my husband greatly welcomed as an ongoing practice.
After the abbreviated explanation of the interior, we closed the door and thought about the bed, which beckoned with its light curves and soft pillows. First I needed a few photos before we devastated the room with clothes and laptops, just to remind me of the loving details.
Decorative moldings and tall shutters bear witness to the building’s neoclassical European heritage from the 19th century. A leather armchair, a velvet bed, and other sumptuous textiles offered a calming palette of rose, sand, and sky. Brass and marble elements, globe lights, ornate black and white photos, and other details like a potted olive tree and a curvy desk reminiscent of Neo-Deco and Scandi design have done the difficult feat of creating a warm, luxurious minimalism. A performance by the local design studio Mutiny.
A stay on the A77 can also be described differently: borrowing the apartment of a chic Athenian friend while she is on vacation, as a verb in Santorini with a Greek shipowner-empire heir.
For those used to resort-style facilities, note: The A77’s small footprint limits amenities – no restaurant, no gym – but that’s perfectly fine. Athens demands your attention.
We napped for a couple of hours and then opened the windows for an exciting view of the Acropolis lit up in the afternoon sun. Between the hustle and bustle on the street below and the object of my obsession with antiquities in elementary school, I trembled, struck like lightning, a pictorial coup de foudre, as the French would say. I had returned to Europe via Greece for the first time since the pandemic. This ancient continent, forever irresistible to Americans, kept pulling me back for at least one reason: the thousands of years of human history visible in the architectural palimpsests of every city.
In a recent interview with Patrick McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist, I asked why we humans long to know our past and what we learn from it. Be it the salvage of an old ceramic shard that contained the earliest expression of human wine, or the attempt to reconstruct a temple of the goddess Athena Nike.
“An ancient shard of pottery may look inconspicuous and meaningless, but … by even holding it in our hands, we share our common humanity with our ancestors thousands of years ago, essentially sharing their trials and tribulations, and their joie de vivre,” said McGovern.
A77 by Andronis offers 12 rooms including Room 10, the highlight of the property. Called the Iconic Acropolis View Suite and Private Hot Tub, prices start at $ 500 a night. If you can splurge, do it.
A77 Suites by Andronis, Adrianou 77, Athens 105 56, Greece
Modernist Athens glows at night
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It’s easy to forget the impact that good service and generous staff have on a hotel stay until recently the unbridled enthusiasm of the Modernist Athens team was enjoyed. Greeted by three employees, in five minutes we were old friends sharing jokes and travel stories without breaking the tabs of the overly familiar. The atmosphere: friendly and professional, especially for a hotel that is as stylish and fun as The Modernist. Such hotels tend to have employees with cool attitudes; Hipness reinterpreted as cold.
Another trend emerging in the boutique hospitality industry is requiring guests to carry their own luggage, even in the world of corporate brands. But not in Athens. Not in the Modernist, the second hotel of the entrepreneur Kostis Karatzas, who opened his first house in downtown Thessaloniki. This latest project opened during the pandemic last summer. The property is located in a former Canadian embassy on the southern slopes of Lycabettus Hill in the upscale Kolonaki neighborhood. Karatzas worked on the dark contemporary design with architects FORMrelated.
Contemporary decor of the dining room and lobby of Modernist Athens.
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George took care of our luggage as we took the elevator to him on the fourth floor. He conducted the short (or improved) “tour” of our room from the hallway.
I took a few pictures inside. I was comfortable with the bold black and white decor, bronze accents, and matte black bathroom decor, probably because it reflected my design choices at home.
The spacious corner room also had a desk, lots of hangers and drawers, which I really appreciated even though I never unpacked. The highlight, however: double balconies with a view of a green park and adjoining residential buildings. When you stay in Kolonaki, you experience the residential Athens, not the Instagram Athens.
Already enchanted by the staff, they implemented another successful customer service strategy by offering us a boozy cocktail at check-in.
On my previous visit to the city, I had a look at The Clumsies, a beautiful bar in a downtown townhouse. In passing, I noticed a large number of day drinkers spread out in quirky rooms and outdoor areas. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for a drink on site so I was delighted to learn that the cocktails served at Modernist Athens were developed by the owners / bartenders of this World’s 50 Best Bars 2020 receiver. Besides, we could have one on the roof! Hooray.
After a quick refreshment, we went upstairs. A row of seats on the edge of the building offered a theater-like view of the sunset. A covered room with a couch and additional chairs served groups of guests. Several young Britons traveling in a pack spent an hour gossiping about a friend’s wedding while they drank bottles of rose.
An XL room with black and white colors and bronze accents.
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The bar and kitchen next to the lobby prepare the hotel’s food and drinks. A vintage phone hanging on a rooftop wall allows guests to check their order. Within minutes of hanging up, a woman in black appeared from head to toe with our selection and small snacks.
As the sun went down we pondered the plan for dinner. Since it was Sunday, places were closed or fully booked. The staff came to our rescue, called nearly a dozen locations, and returned to the rooftop repeatedly to post updates on their bespoke plan. First here “glasses of wine”. Then “order a taxi, you have to use this app” to go to dinner there. Then “we booked cocktails for you at 10:45 pm” here. For a small hotel, we enjoyed a 5-star concierge service that many 5-star hotels don’t offer.
In the morning we skipped breakfast to try local flavors and coffee. That offered a glimpse of the neighborhood in daylight. Instead of pulsing with the energy of carefree tourists, the streets fill with frenetic locals rushing to get to work by buses and trains. At that moment, the reality of Athens as a living, breathing, flawed but beautiful city was clearly revealed. Mixing ancient history, the joys of travel and busy modern life, I felt the “trials and tribulations and their joie de vivre” of the locals and I loved it.
The Modernist has 38 rooms divided into four categories: S, M, L, XL. Don’t miss rooftop cocktails.
The Modernist, Ioannou Gennadiou 4, Athens 106 76, Greece
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