Electra Metropolis Athens – An experience to live. 

What happens when the vision of an important greek Hotel Group (Electra Hotels & Resorts) meets the greatest touristic asset of all times, the only capital in Europe where one can have a vacation both spending it like on an island and living it like in the city? The only place in Europe where one can find in a limited distance of one hour beaches to swim, islands to visit, history to treasure, culture to live and people to love. And what happens if you add in it the excitement and passion of caring and hard working professionals?  The 5star Electra Metropolis Athens Hotel happens.

A 51 years dream came true this fall in Athens.  “It was a very controversial choice”, Yiannis Tsakalos, Marketing Director, admits, “since only three years ago, in this area exactly, the strikes and the fighting were immense. But, we truly believe in our city, Athens, in its people, in greek hospitality and of course, we believe in what the next day brings”.

The 10 floor hotel that opened its gates in 16th of September, used to serve as the former Ministry of Education and had to be reconstructed from scratch, even the foundations. The investment was so big and so careful according to the environment protection regulation, that the hotel is getting the LEED certification for eco-buildings and thus Electra Metropolis Athens Hotel is being the first one in Greece to have received it. Also, there is a huge technological expertise invested in every space of the hotel, in order to be friendlier to the contemporary visitor. 

With a retro-chic architecture, curated on the outside by Paris Liakos & Associates and on the inside by Maria Katsaros-Vafeiades (MKV Design), the hotel aesthetics embraces both the modern and the traditional, the new and the old, the blue Athenian sky and the greek historical land. 

The hotel counts 216 rooms in 8 floors, standards and suits, all “dressed” with white marble and wooden floors. They all face the atrium, where an imposing installation of the famous Greek painter Alekos Fassianos is set through all 10 floors, reminding the true color of Greece. At the Atrium, the visitor will find a cozy meeting point under a unique sky-light, while at the Library, a lobby caffe-bistrot, they will find an open kitchen and a perfect place for business lunch. On the 10th floor, there is the impressive Roof Garden, with a very stylish pool on the one side and the impression of laying a hand and grasping Acropolis on the other. In the same floor, there is also the 360o view restaurant, Metropolis Roof Garden and and the M bar, a sky view bar for the lovers of cocktails. The cuisine of the restaurant is curated by the famous Greek Chef Dimitris Boutsalis, known for his experience in many Michelin prized restaurants and also the famous restaurant Noma of Copenhagen, who combines greek products in a greek fusion cuisine, always with a great deal of respect to the Greek producers. He couldn’t  help it anyway, he declares, in front of the extraordinary view of Acropolis. 

And the surprises don‘t seem to end for this hyper modern hotel. While making the restoration of the foundations, true archeological treasures were found, such as the Themistoclean Wall which adorns the conference hall at the basement of the hotel. The foundations of the Wall were set on 479-478 b.C. by Themistocles himself and were preserved for a thousand years. Other archeological findings, quite enough as Mr. Tsakalos informed us, will soon be especially exposed in the hotel. The last achievement of Electra Hotels & Resorts Group is the restoration of  the 16th century Byzantine church, considered of great historical value, which is situated on the building’s ground floor and was erected over the ruins of an ancient temple of Hercules, called “Agia Dynamis” (Holly Power). No wonder why they named their Business Association after that. 

“We want this to be a holistic experience, always according to the values of Electra Hotels & Resorts”, Mr. Tsakalos notes.

“We want everyone to love and live Athens like we do, full of colours, full of light, full of contradictions, full of senses. We want the modern traveler, no matter their age, to come in our hotel and fully live it”. 

And we have nothing more to say but agree and applaud.