Perianth Hotel

History is inescapable in Athens, whether it’s the ancient variety — the Parthenon watches over the city from atop the Acroplis — or the history embodied in the 1930s building that the Perianth Hotel calls home. It’s a true modernist landmark, and its owners have sought to preserve its unique aesthetic heritage, enlisting local architects K-Studio to create a “neo-Modernist” tribute to the era of the hotel’s construction.

The rooms and suites are surprisingly sunny, their clean Bauhaus-like lines softened by a palette of faded gemstone colors. The décor is uniquely tailored to the hotel, in keeping with the optimistic spirit of early modernism — off-the-rack fixtures and furnishings just won’t do, when no two living spaces are quite the same.

An impressive Greek breakfast is served in the Perianth Café, which also serves an all-day menu of cosmopolitan Mediterranean fare. And if you detect a calming trace of Zen influence about the hotel, it isn’t just the modernism talking — this building is also home to the Zen Center Athens, whose practitioners come and go on the way to and from their aikido, yoga, and meditation classes, which guests are welcome to join.