Mona Athens

Something of a rarity for the Greek capital, Mona Athens makes its home not in an elegant, historical residential building but in a heavily weathered structure, a Fifties-era textile factory whose design is utilitarian, to say the least. In the hands of the hoteliers responsible for the visually stunning Shila, however, this structure has been transformed in a way that brings its raw material dramatically to life — and the result is, like Shila, one of the most unusual hotels in town.

That’s a compliment, by the way. Nothing is more memorable than contrast, and a little raw concrete goes a long way towards making a hotel room’s soft features feel even softer. And the blankness of the backdrop highlights the items within, from freestanding bathtubs to custom rugs and linens. Everything’s for sale, incidentally, should you wish to take any element of your stay home with you.

A city-center boutique hotel like the Mona doesn’t need a full-featured restaurant; here there’s a substantial breakfast spread, and then you’re out on the town for the day, in Psirri, one of the city’s hippest, most rapidly evolving districts. There are public spaces worth noting, however: the Living Room is the laptop-friendly lobby café, the Rooftop is the open-air cocktail bar with a view of the Acropolis, and the Underground is a speakeasy-style basement space that’s used for live music, dancing, and much else.