The epitome of Greek hospitality
The NJV Plaza Athens has a coveted corner position among a trio of surrounding hotels, and is only mere minutes from the Acropolis.
Good morning, Athens. It’s been a long flight from Sydney and a spot of exercise seems the best jetlag beater. Across from my hotel is Syntagma Square, or Constitution Plaza, fronting the 19th-century pale yellow royal palace that has housed the Greek parliament since 1934. It’s an expansive venue for a demonstration and there’s a swell of crowds and a panoply of banners. I ask a passer-by what it’s all about. “Just the government,” he shrugs. “There’s always something to protest about. We have a history of uprisings.” I ask about the impact of the debt crisis and austerity measures after the collapse of the Greek economy in the late 2000s and well into the 21st century. He tells me the protesters at that time were called “the indignants”. It sounds as if they were simply in a huff but we know the record shows police violence, great suffering and furious citizens. Reforms are still being sought.
But the feeling this Sunday morning is casual and convivial, with food stalls, balloon sellers and families pushing prams and leading small children on tricycles. It’s like an outdoor drawing room of great sociability in the style of the grand piazzas of Rome, Venice and Florence. As protesters disperse, many headed into the botanic gardens, I have a clear view of the high-stepping changing of the guard, which takes place on the hour every day in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier, a sculpted limestone cenotaph that honours Greeks who’ve fallen in battle. The guards are in their Sunday best; on other days they wear a national uniform but today it’s the traditional garb of the 1821 Greek freedom fighters during the War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire. It’s a potted history lesson for me and the perfect entrée to Athens but now it’s time for bed. OK, it’s only 1pm but I’ve been texted that my room is ready at NJV Plaza Athens, standing on Vasileos Georgiou beside King George and Grand Bretagne hotels, lined like a trio of eminent volumes of history on a tall shelf. NJV Plaza Athens has the coveted corner position, including a row of seating in front of its indoor-outdoor Plaza Café.
This popular Preferred Hotels & Resorts member, with 164 guestrooms and 16 suites, was built in 1980 and has had a series of refurbishments, most recently in 2017. While designated five-star, it feels more like a good four-star, although I’m not sufficiently familiar with Athens hotels and the rating system to know if that’s a fair comment. The big lure, however, is the location, right at the core of business and retail districts, with a metro station nearby, and close proximity to Ermou pedestrian-only shopping street, which stretches more than a kilometre. The front desk clerk says it’s walking distance to the Acropolis and its Acropolis Museum, which I loved exploring on a 2019 visit. I tell her I may have problems remaining awake for another visit but she leans across and says, “Wait until you see your view.” She’s right. Out the window of room 906 sits the Parthenon, perched atop the rocky slopes of the Acropolis like an ornament. It’s too improbable to be true and I am fully alert now. I long for a balcony but the picture window is almost as good. Later, as evening falls, the Parthenon will be illuminated and take on another otherworldly aura. If it were winter, I’d expect its guise to resemble a snowdome.
There are some outdated touches in the guestroom, such as a telephone in the bathroom and no separate shower, and too few power sockets, and the feel is comfortable rather than full of character. But it’s immaculately clean with nice touches such as a coffee machine and Greek-made all-natural Apivita bath amenities blended with honey and orange peel. There’s the odd notion of changing elevators from level eight to nine, so it feels as if the upper floor is an add-on, like a mattress topper. Elevators are all tiny but the sole carriage up to nine is barely big enough for two and so it feels rather secretive, which is oddly appealing.
Staff are almost old-fashioned in their courtesy. The doormen and porters, with formal stripes on their jacket sleeves, usher guests in and out of those pixie-sized lifts and across marbled floors and through revolving doors with old-fashioned formality. The waiters at Plaza Café, a chic space of big floral arrangements and bright yellow seating, ply me with honeyed pastries, talk up the attributes of Thymiopoulos Atma wine from Macedonia, and explain the importance of philoxenia, or traditional Greek hospitality. Then they nudge me out the door towards the neighbourhood’s best ice cream at Oggi, which they admit, with downcast eyes, is actually Italian. Scoops of mascarpone cream, pistachio and biscotti flavours prove the waiters are correct.
Next morning at Parliament, the hotel’s more formal dining room, plush with soft pink and grey upholstery and swishing curtains, buffet staples are augmented by feta, tomatoes, black olives, cucumber slices and soft white buns. It’d be enough to make a picnic in Syntagma Square. Those doormen would hardly bat an eye at the prospect. In fact they’d probably escort me across the street and spread a perfect white linen tablecloth. Philoxenia is alive and thriving.
In the know
NJV Plaza Hotel has rooms from about $330 a night, depending on season.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Preferred Hotels & Resorts.