HOTEL DESIGN AWARDS - THE WINNERS: ATHENS WAS HOTEL / STAGE DESIGN OFFICE

 

AthensWas is the hotel of choice for travellers visiting Athens for business or pleasure, and makes their stay a singularly luxurious and pleasurable experience. It belongs the group Anemi Hotels.

 

• It was created to delight visitors who want to experience Athens’ tranquil, attractive side, in what has been the heart of the city since ancient times.

• It is a hotel which literally lives in the city’s history and enjoys it with an “epicurean composure” all of its own. But the hotel is also representative of the most contemporary and international side of the Greek capital, which looks ahead to the future with unbridled optimism.

• It is a Design HotelTM and it is designed in line with the core principles of classical modernism. The aesthetic of its rooms and communal spaces is defined by clean, uncluttered lines and natural materials—chiefly Greek marble and wood. Still, it leaves the eye with an impression which dances clear of the pretentious, gracing the luxury with delightfully deft touches which can often be described as playful. The end result is warm spaces in which the visitor feels utterly at home from the moment they walk through the door—the best possible recipe for a calm and restful stay.

• Every room has a veranda from which our guests can enjoy one of the most wonderful aspects of Athenian life: the pleasure of relaxing outdoors.

• AthensWas has a rooftop bar which enjoys an amazing panoramic view of the Acropolis, Lycabettus and the city as a whole, from the mountains that define its eastern and western boundaries, to the northern horizon and the sea to the south.

• Finally, the MODERN restaurant – the AthensWas restaurant – proposes a different, refreshing and light approach to Greek cuisine, which endeavours to provide novel and unforgettable gastronomic experiences. 

 

Designed by the celebrated Greek design practice, STAGEDESIGNOFFICE, the rooms, suites and entire interior of the AthensWas hotel stand out for their clear, vibrant and integrated aesthetic which charms with its cohesion and uncontrived dedication to luxury. That the AthensWas does not suffer from the white noise generated by a stylistic mélange gives the hotel a significant comparative advantage.

 

The refined aesthetic of the AthensWas stems from a single stylistic axiom rooted in the core principles of classical modernism, and this contributes to the sense of inner peace which imbues its spaces and makes spending time in its spaces a joyous experience. It was modernism which revived the timeless allure of the Doric—the clear-cut, unfussy architectural forms we know so well from the classical period of Greek antiquity—and remoulded it in its own unique way. Throughout the entire period in which the city expanded to its current size, meaning the Thirties through to the Seventies, classical modernism remained popular with Athenian architects who, enamoured with its compatibility with available building materials, continued to build exceptional structures in this style.

 

Which is why the interior of the AthensWas is dominated by Greek marble and Greek walnut, the most sought after and–according to those in the know–most beautiful domestic wood. Our guests can thus enjoy a veritable feast of superb Greek marble from different parts of the country and in a range of unexpected hues both in their private bathrooms and verandas and in the hotel’s communal staircases, floors and walls.

 

In the rooms and suites, furniture which we would describe today as modern classics, such as the LC3 armchairs which were designed in 1928 by Le Corbusier, the exquisite Eileen Gray divan (1925), or the wonderful coffee table designed by Warren Platner in 1966, blend perfectly with more contemporary creations of international design, such as the Canta and Viki armchairs by Toshiyuki Kita, the Venus chair by Konstantin Grcic, lamps by the Bouroullec brothers and many others that give vibrant fiery tones to the whole which both surprise and impress.

 

The calm, cheerful atmosphere is further enhanced by the softness – in most cases very discreet –of the lighting. Finally, the printed wall-to-wall carpets with their cheery modernistic designs direct from the swinging 60s underline the whole stylistic composition and maintain it in a state of constant merriment. 

 

Elegant, light, cheerful and carefree, the Modern Restaurant is one of the most pleasant and beloved spaces of AthensWas. The magnificent marble floor, the mimosas in the attractive atrium, but also the incredibly comfortable Luisa chairs at the tables – 1950 design, by the great Italian designer Franco Albini and produced by the renowned Cassina company – are just some of the main elements that make up the setting, which promises to satisfy even the most demanding guests.

 

If we add to this the matching stylistic attention to detail of the art de la table, with accessories designed by designers like Ettore Sottsas, Mario Botta and Michael Graves, and also our staff, who take real care of our restaurant guests, with immense attention and discretion, we have the perfect stage setting, in which, as principal actor, the select and eclectic cuisine of the Modern Restaurant will shine.