Fresh Hotel

Central Athens’ only card-carrying design hotel is fresh in every sense: vibrant, original and a little cheeky

At last, the design concept has reached central Athens – and in style. Enter the vibrant scarlet and lilac lobby, with its low-slung black leather couches, floor-to-ceiling glass walls and an oval light ring apparently floating above a row of perfectly arranged lilies, and it is clear that designer Tassos Zepos has had a ball. This is white-grey minimalism shot through with streaks of fluorescent colour – lime green, shocking pink – and a liberal dose of fun. Bedrooms have disappearing mirrors, tiny pebbled gardens, a wheeled chair that looks like a pram for Mies van der Rohe. On the roof, a part-tented perimeter bar has potted olive trees, blue strip lights, a plunge pool. Look past the concrete roofs and satellite dishes and there's the Acropolis.

Now the big question for any design hotel: is it fashion over function? Early guests vow not, praising orthopaedic beds, soundproofing, cymbal-sized showers, friendly service. Come with a smile and you’ll leave with one. But it’s definitely for a younger crowd, and while the neighbourhood may be ‘up-and-coming’, it has not up-and-come yet.

Highs

• The rooftop lounge-bar with (tiny) pool is one of the funkiest spots in Athens
• Excellent breakfast buffet: pastries, smoked salmon, fresh-squeezed juices
• Groovy design touches in comfy bedrooms
• Good bus and metro connections nearby (Omonia square)
• Spectaculars view of the floodlit Acropolis from that top terrace

Lows

• Psiri is not the prettiest area: workaday and a little seedy
• It’s a good 10-minute walk to Plaka, 20 to the Acropolis
• Bedrooms are rather small, with limited storage space