Luxury feature
Luxury in Athens: marble, gold and the Aegean
Athenian luxury has never been about showing off. It is a grand hotel facing the Parliament, gold made by hand from ancient designs, a table above the sea at sunset and a yacht waiting in the marina. Here is the story behind the city’s finest addresses, and how to enjoy them.
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Syntagma: where it all began
When Athens became the capital of the new Greek state in the 1830s, a royal palace was built above Syntagma Square, and the grandest houses of the city rose around it. One of them, a neoclassical mansion facing the palace, was turned into a hotel in 1874: the Hotel Grande Bretagne. For more than 150 years it has welcomed kings, film stars and statesmen, and it is still the most famous address in Athens. Next door, the King George is its more intimate neighbour, and from the rooftops of both you look straight across to the Acropolis.
Take afternoon tea or a cocktail in the GB’s lounges, or go up to its roof garden for dinner as the Parthenon lights up across the city. Even if you are not staying, it is one of the great Athenian experiences.
Kolonaki and Voukourestiou: the golden mile
Just uphill from Syntagma, Kolonaki has been the smartest neighbourhood in Athens since the 19th century, when diplomats, ship-owners and old Athenian families built their homes on the slopes of Lycabettus. Its streets are still lined with galleries, elegant cafés and designer boutiques, and Voukourestiou Street, running from Syntagma into Kolonaki, is the city’s golden mile, home to the great Paris and Milan houses.
This is also the heartland of Greek jewellery. Zolotas, founded in 1895, and Lalaounis, whose pieces draw on the gold of ancient Greece, are two of the most celebrated names, and both have their flagships here. A piece of hand-hammered Greek gold is perhaps the most Athenian souvenir of all.
The Riviera: sea, sun and marinas
In the 1960s, the Astir Palace on its pine-covered peninsula at Vouliagmeni became a summer playground for the international jet set, and the Athens Riviera has been the city’s most glamorous corner ever since. Today the Astir is the Four Seasons Astir Palace, with private beaches and sea-view rooms, and nearby the One&Only Aesthesis has villas among the pines. At Astir Marina, open-air boutiques of the great fashion houses sit beside the yachts.
This is the place for a long lunch by the water, an afternoon at a beach club, or a swim in the warm waters of Lake Vouliagmeni. From the marinas of Alimos and Glyfada, crewed yachts leave for the islands of the Saronic Gulf and the Cyclades.
Dining among the stars
Athens has become one of the most exciting places to eat in Europe. Delta, inside the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, holds two Michelin stars, and Spondi has served French-led haute cuisine in its romantic courtyard in Pangrati for decades. By the sea, Pelagos at the Four Seasons brings the same care to the finest Greek fish. Book well ahead, especially for weekends and summer evenings.
Private Athens
The most exclusive experience of all may be the simplest: the Acropolis with almost nobody else there. The Ministry of Culture’s Acropolis Experience offers private visits outside public opening hours, early in the morning or in the evening, for small groups with their own guide. Add a chauffeured car, a private guide to the museums, or a yacht for the day, and Athens becomes a very different city.
Our advice: Athenian elegance is relaxed but polished, so smart casual is right almost everywhere. Book restaurants, private visits and yacht charters as early as you can, especially from June to September, and remember that many boutiques close on Sundays. The best time for the Riviera is late spring or early autumn, when the sea is warm and the crowds are thinner.
