Hotels

Perianth opened its doors in summer 2018, creating a welcome design-led outpost in the buzzing heart of the city. Its 38 rooms and suites all have king-size beds and balconies – many with views of the Acropolis – plus terrazzo floors, marble side-tables and custom-made furniture. The Sgoumpopoulos family spared no expense when renovating the 1930s modernist structure, hiring Greek firm K-Studio to transform it into a sleek affair with unfinished concrete walls, brass detailing and calming shades of grey. Amenities include Athens’s Zen Center for yoga and meditation classes, Italian restaurant Il Baretto and meeting rooms. Furry friends are welcome to stay too. 

Family-owned Greek company Coco-Mat has been making mattresses from natural materials since 1989 and now has more than 100 shops worldwide. After launching its first hotel in Kifissia, it opened this 42-room property in swanky Kolonaki in 2016. Guests enter through the brand’s public street-level showroom (in which they get a discount) and food is served either in the basement restaurant or on the pleasant roof terrace, which is reserved for those staying in the hotel.

Rooms are kitted out with Coco-Mat products – including furniture, organic cotton sheets and, naturally, mattresses (all of which are available to buy in the shop downstairs) – making this possibly the best night’s sleep that you’ll find in Athens.

A polished lobby with gleaming tessellations of black-and-white marble sets the tone for the rest of this smart 21-room property. All rooms have a large balcony (a hangover from the building’s former life as a block of upmarket apartments) and are decked out with designer furniture and bold carpets with abstract patterns. Breakfast is made to order and served in the ground-floor brasserie while the top floor is home to Sense – a restaurant serving Greek dishes with a twist and, of course, those ubiquitous Acropolis views.