MONUMENT

Athens may be better known for its ancient architectural history, but Monument is a monument of a more recent vintage. The house that contains it is late 19th-century work by Ernst Ziller, a man whose architectural fingerprints are all over modern Greece. And after a substantial but sensitive restoration by the local architecture firm MPlusM, it’s a monument once more — a small and chic boutique hotel that aims to preserve an important piece of local culture even as it updates it with contemporary design and luxury-hotel comforts.

Monument’s five suites and four rooms are all unique, as is customary in small-scale residential restorations. Some come with balconies, others with verandas, one featuring an outdoor jacuzzi; all combine well-preserved period details with modern Scandinavian design furniture and boutique-hotel amenities.

To the en-suite comforts Monument adds a lovely little spa, as well as an evocative and atmospheric rooftop terrace. And while the restaurant serves only breakast, it’s an impressive one, featuring first-rate products from local makers. The hotel’s location in the center of Athens places it close to no end of fine restaurants, as well as innumerable commercial and cultural destinations, including no less monumental a neighbor than the Parthenon.