We all know recycling is important, but when we entered the NEW Hotel in Athens Greece, we were shocked as they have taken recycling to a whole new level.
©Exploramum and Explorason – The rear section of the New Hotel Athens lobby
Why?
Because the walls, as well as a lot of the furniture and fixtures, are made from the antique and ancient wood that they were scrapping and discarding when they renovated the original hotel on this site. In a nutshell, they recycled the old hotel into the new hotel, so the name NEW Hotel is very aptly named indeed!
Plastering many of the walls are thousands upon thousands of pieces of furniture. Chair legs, arms, footrests, drawer fronts, bed knobs, and much more, all go together to form a crazy pattern and interesting textures as they merge together to form an artistic collage that really is a piece of art.
You really need to walk into the entrance to capture the feel of this designer hotel, but I will do my best to share with you all the amazing features we discovered during our recent stay.
©Exploramum and Explorason – stairway at the New Hotel Athens
This hotel gives a new meaning to funky, fun, cool, groovy, and designer.
The entrance to this 5-star hotel is on the side of the building, not at the front, and we chose to walk from the railway station which is conveniently located just a few blocks away.
We’d just flown in from Malta, and taken the train directly from the airport to Syntagma Station beneath the main Square of Athens.
As we climbed the railway station stairs, several happy Athenians offered to help us with our luggage and directions.
Never in all of our world travels have we had such a positive reception to a city.
We both left Syntagma Square with smiles beaming across our faces – we felt that the people of Athens really made us feel welcome.
Finding The New Hotel
It was a pretty easy walk along the paved shopping precinct and we felt quite safe, even though it was late on a Saturday evening and a lot of youths were about.
©Exploramum and Explorason – Explorason enjoys complimentary macaroons in our designer hotel room at New Hotel Athens
Check-In
As we ascended the stairs an enthusiastic man rushed out to take our luggage, and another guy appears from nowhere with a refreshing glass of water for us both, offering my son a quirky and relaxing seat in the reception area whilst I attended to passports etc.
Our Stunning Hotel Room
The New Hotel is part of the Yes! Group of Hotels in Athens Greece and it was a quick and relaxed check-in, and one of the ‘cheery chaps’ was soon showing us our lovely room.
We were pretty pleased to be on one of the upper levels of the hotel.
Our room had the ‘wow factor’ as soon as we entered.
En-suite Bathroom
With gold bathroom accessories and lots of room to move in our spacious ensuite (with separate toilet and shower cubicles and electric blinds too), I think we were going to like staying here at the New Hotel.
And Explorason loved the fact that the mirror folded down to form part of the desk.
The View
The Concierge and Explorason were out on our balcony craning their next around the corner looking at the night lights of The Acropolis!
I had no idea we were right at the end of the touristic zone and that meant we would be able to walk to the Parthenon etc. But I then remembered (from our last visit to Athens 2 years ago) exactly where we were, and I must say this is probably the best area we could have hoped to stay in. But more on that later.
I think the quirkiest feature of our spacious designer room was the ‘Ladder Chair’. This was a piece commissioned from the old furniture and it is such a great idea. I must confess that as a mother, I moved it to beside the side wall because I know the invitation for an eleven-year-old to climb the rungs was just ‘too tempting’.
After a demonstration on the double electric roller blinds our Concierge left us to unpack, and before long we had hit the pillow and were fast asleep as the Shadow Puppets danced on our hotel wall in the night lights.
©Exploramum and Explorason – The view from our room when we arrived at the New Hotel Athens
The New Hotel
Facilities
Although we never had time to use them much, downstairs there is a Gym, Spa, Business Centre, so we did find several business people staying here as well.
Location
I loved the perfect location of the NEW Hotel with the National Gardens opposite. It is a safe area to walk around and there are 24-hour takeaway places in the street behind too.
As it is located adjacent to the historic old quarter of Athens we were able to walk to the Acropolis Museum and with Explorason safely in the hotel room (tired from our Malta adventures) I was able to go for a walk on Sunday afternoon around the shopping precinct and to view an old Greek Orthodox Church (or three) with my camera.
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Nearby Historical Sites
Some of the local museums in the area include:
Breakfast
If there is one thing that stood out to us when we stayed here besides the friendly hospitality then it would be the incredibly healthy Greek breakfast.
Each morning between 07:00 am and 10:30 a.m. we came down to the New Taste Restaurant on the ground floor where we were shown to our table. All around us quirky architecture protruded, whilst neon signs flashed motivating quotes, and cacti pots formed rows of live decorations. It was busier here on weekends as they host a brunch too.
I loved all the Greek food on offer. Square and rectangle ultra-modern sliding glass cases displayed dish after dish of local cuisine. There was so much to choose from, and we also commented on how many healthy choices were also available.
As soon as we sat down our coffee order was taken, or in the case of a child, a hot chocolate was also on offer.
We were also able to order a cooked breakfast that would be prepared as ordered by the chef. Explorason fell in love with the bacon they cooked to perfection here, whilst the Spanokopita and Baklava I devoured with relish.
So, as we head on in our world travels, we feel a little wiser from staying at the New Hotel and we’ve really enjoyed Athens in luxury style. I’ve learned that nothing should be wasted and that even scrap furniture can all be used to form incredible art.
I don’t know that I will be sticking furniture pieces on my walls when I get a home because I can only imagine the mammoth task of dusting all those nooks and crannies, but I must admit, I didn’t see a speck of dust there!
The world is made up of so many interesting places to stay.
Why stay in a boring city hotel next time you visit Athens? I’d suggest booking the New Hotel through Destsetters for a groovy designer-inspired vacation.
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Questions and Comments
- What are some of the waste items you believe can be recycled into amazing pieces of art?
- What is your take on global warming?
- Feel free to leave us your sentiments in the comments section below.
The wording in this article is our own and used to describe how we felt in this situation. We try to be as factual as possible, and any error or omission is not intentional. This article does not represent the views of any other person/s or company mentioned herein. All photographs are ©Copyright 2017 Exploramum and Explorason. It is illegal to post this article in part or full on any other website without written permission.
