The New Hotel

The New Hotel Review

Four years in the making, the completion of the New Hotel has been heralded as an aesthetic triumph in the inner city's ever-changing landscape, thanks to the fact that this five-star, cutting-edge boutique hotel (inaugurated September 2011) is part of the chain of Yes! hotels that has been masterminded by the celebrated modern art collector Dakis Ioannou. In addition, this is the first large-scale interior project ever undertaken by the noted architectural Campana brothers. Their personal stamp is evident as soon as you enter the lobby: one wall is a gigantic "art piece" comprised of broken, recycled wood furniture from the old hotel that used to stand here. Upstairs, ultramodern guest rooms integrate three retro themes in their decor: the Karagkiozis shadow theater puppets (for example, you find six of these silhouetted on a flamingo-pink wall), the traditional "evil eye" charms, and those kitschy vintage postcards of Athens spanning the '50s to the '80s and, here, decoupaged on walls in striking groups. And for great views, book rooms on the sixth floor.