The Hilton Athens was a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece. Opened in 1963, it closed for renovations in January 2022 and will reopen in 2024. It is on

Vassilissis Sofias Avenue Vasilissis Sofias Avenue () is a major avenue in the east side of Athens, the Greece, Greek capital. The avenue was originally part of the Kifisias Avenue. The part from Syntagma Square to the intersection with Alexandras Avenue was renamed af ...

, within the Hilton Area, adjacent to the

Kolonaki Kolonaki (, ), literally "Little Column", is an upscale neighborhood in central Athens, Greece. It is located on the southern slopes of Mount Lycabettus. Its name derives from the two metre column (located in Kolonaki Square) that defined the area ...

and

Pangrati Pangrati or Pagrati ( el, Παγκράτι) is a neighborhood in Central Athens, Greece, having an estimated population of 35,173 residents. Named after the ancient sanctuary of Hercules Pancrates ("All Powerful"), its frontage runs from Vasil ...

neighbourhoods. The new destination will introduce a mixed-use development: It will feature a luxury hotel along with residences, a lifestyle members’ club, multiple culinary and entertainment venues and curated shopping.

History

The Athens Hilton was constructed from 1958-1963, as Athens' first international chain hotel. It was designed by a team of

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

including Emmanuel Vourekas, Prokopis Vasileiadis, Anthony Georgiades and Spyro Staikos. Artist

Yiannis Moralis Yiannis Moralis ( el, Γιάννης Μόραλης; also transliterated Yannis Moralis or Giannis Moralis; 23 April 1916 – 20 December 2009) was an important Greece, Greek visual artist and part of the so-called "Generation of the '30s (G ...

, inspired by Greek themes, designed the

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s on the building's

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton Sr. (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American businessman who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916 Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature, but became disil ...

was present at the opening ceremony, on April 20th, 1963. Guests at the hotel included Greek shipping magnate

Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; el, Αριστοτέλης Ωνάσης, Aristotélis Onásis, ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975), was a Greek-Argentinian shipping magnate who amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and wa ...

, singer

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, director

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

and actor

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

. Hilton Athens was the headquarters for the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

during the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In 2011 the organizing committee of the

2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games ) , Nations participating = 185 , Athletes participating = 7,000 , Events = 21 , Opening ceremony = 25 June 2011 , Closing ceremony = 4 July 2011 , Officially opened by = Karolos Papoulias , Athlete's Oat ...

used the hotel as their base of operations. The hotel hosted Athens’ first contemporary

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

, the Hilton Gallery, in cooperation with Marilena Liacopoulou. From 1968 until 1972 the Hilton Gallery was responsible for various historical

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

s. In more recent years, the hotel displayed

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

s and invested regularly in lobby exhibitions of artists from Greece and abroad. In 2003, anticipating the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Hilton Athens was renovated by Greek architects Alexandros Tombazis and Charis Bougadelis. The establishment was refurbished, and a new seven-storey northern wing was added. In 2016, Ionian Hotels, the company owning the hotel, was sold by

Alpha Bank Alpha Bank is the second largest Greek bank by total assets, and the largest by market capitalization of €2.13 billion (as of 4 December 2018). It has a subsidiary and branch in London, England and subsidiaries in Albania, Cyprus and Romania ...

, which had foreclosed on the property. The Greek TEMES S.A. hotel organization and the Turkish-based Dogus Group partnered 50/50 to buy the hotel for € 76.1 million. In 2019, TEMES bought a controlling interest in the hotel, raising their stake to 51%, while their partner, Olayan Group, bought out the remaining 49% interest held by Dogus. The hotel closed in January 31, 2022 for comprehensive renovations. It is set to reopen in 2024 featuring ''Conrad Athens'' hotel, part of Hilton's luxury

Conrad Hotels Conrad Hotels & Resorts is an American multinational brand of high-end luxury hotels and high-end resorts owned and operated by Hilton Worldwide. Conrad was considered the luxury flagship brand in the Hilton Family of Brands, named after compan ...

division. The hotel portion of the building will be reduced from 506 rooms to 280 rooms. The remainder of the hotel will be converted to 50 luxury residences, which will be sold under the "Conrad Residences" and "Waldorf Astoria Residences" brands.

Facilities

The Athens Hilton as seen from the neighbourhood of Pagrati

The hotel had a restaurant and rooftop bar. It had a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

and a 25m by 15m outdoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Hotels in Athens Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotels Hotels established in 1963