Five-star Dionysiou Areopagitou, Athens
AthensWas
Twenty-one rooms on the pedestrian walk below the Acropolis, dressed in Greek marble and walnut, with a starred restaurant on the roof facing the Parthenon.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 21, each with a balcony
- Opened
- April 2015
- Restaurant
- SENSE, one MICHELIN star from 2026
- From the airport
- About 40 minutes from Athens International
The hotel
Athens then and now.
The name is a play on words: Athens was, and Athens is. The hotel opened in April 2015 on Dionysiou Areopagitou, the pedestrian street that curves round the south slope of the Acropolis, a few steps from the Acropolis Museum and the Akropoli metro station. It is a member of Design Hotels and the sister of Anemi on Santorini. All twenty-one rooms have a balcony.
Inside, the reference is the Greek modernism of the 1960s. Floors and bathrooms use marble from several regions of Greece, the panelling is Greek walnut, and the furniture is Italian, some of it after Le Corbusier and Michael Graves. The best views of the Parthenon start on the fourth floor, on the street side. On the seventh floor, SENSE and the bar sit under a roof that closes in bad weather, so the terrace is used all year.
- SENSE on the roof Chef Alexandros Charalabopoulos cooks modern Greek food on the seventh floor, and the MICHELIN Guide gave the restaurant its first star in October 2026.
- The walk outside Dionysiou Areopagitou is closed to traffic. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Acropolis entrance and Plaka are all within a short walk.
- Breakfast below An à la carte breakfast is served until 11 am in the ground-floor restaurant and its courtyard.
Rooms & suites
Balconies on the Acropolis side.
Every room has a balcony. Rooms facing Dionysiou Areopagitou from the fourth floor up look straight at the Acropolis.
- Rooms Classic and Deluxe rooms From 26 square metres. The Classic rooms have balconies over the inner courtyard.
- Larger rooms Superior Deluxe From 32 square metres, with a wet bar and a wider veranda.
- Suites Hellenic Suite and Grand Suite The Hellenic Suite has a large terrace with a day-bed. The two suites can be joined for a family or a group.
Dining
Dinner on the seventh floor.
Venues as listed by the hotel and the MICHELIN Guide Greece 2027 selection, announced on 20 October 2026. Shown for information.
- SENSE One Michelin star Modern Greek Alexandros Charalabopoulos, rooftop facing the Acropolis
- Ground-floor restaurant Breakfast and lunch Indoors or in the courtyard
- Rooftop bar Cocktails On the terrace beside SENSE
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 3 pm, check-out by noon.
- Children Welcome, except in the Deluxe rooms. Cots and extra beds on request.
- Pets Not accepted.
- Access The hotel says it cannot accommodate guests with walking disabilities.
Getting there
Flying to Athens.
Athens International, for airlines and private jets alike, is about 40 minutes away by car; allow up to 50 minutes in traffic, our estimate. Private aircraft use the general aviation terminal, and a car drives you into the centre.
- Mykonos 30 min
- Nice 2 h 20
- Geneva 2 h 35
- London 3 h 30
- Dubai 4 h 40
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Does AthensWas have a MICHELIN Key?
- No. The hotel is in the MICHELIN Guide selection without a Key. Its rooftop restaurant, SENSE, received one MICHELIN star in October 2026.
- Which rooms at AthensWas see the Acropolis?
- Rooms on the Dionysiou Areopagitou side, from the fourth floor up, have the clearest view. SENSE on the roof faces the Parthenon directly.
- Can children stay at AthensWas?
- Yes, in every category except the Deluxe rooms. Cots and extra beds can be requested.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Athens?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Athens, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Athens
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens A resort of the 1960s terraced so that most rooms have a balcony over the sea, and the only hotel in Greece with three MICHELIN Keys.
- Hotel Grande Bretagne Restored to its 1842 character after a two-year renovation, with Churchill among past guests and the Acropolis seen from some balconies.
- THE DOLLI at Acropolis Forty-six rooms in a neoclassical building of 1925, with an infinity pool on the roof.
- One&Only Aesthesis Bungalows and waterfront villas among olive trees above Asteras Beach, some with their own pool and fireplace.
- Anthology of Athens Eighteen rooms around an atrium hung with a vertical garden, many facing the columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
- Xenodocheio Milos Named after Costas Spiliadis's Milos restaurants, with Estiatorio Milos on the ground floor and forty-three rooms above.
- King George, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Athens A hotel dating from 1930, with 102 rooms and a two-bedroom penthouse on the ninth floor whose private pool looks towards the Acropolis.
- Electra Metropolis Its 216 rooms stand at the top of Mitropoleos Street near Syntagma, and the roof garden faces the Acropolis.
- Electra Palace Athens On Nikodimou Street in Plaka, with a roof garden restaurant on the eighth floor, a summer pool facing the Acropolis and a second pool indoors.
- Athens Capital Hotel - MGallery Collection Built as a hotel in the late 1950s, it spent years as the headquarters of a financial institution before reopening in 2020 as the first MGallery in Greece.
- Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso A private sandy beach and a spa and thalassotherapy centre covering more than 3,500 square metres.
Staying at AthensWas?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Athens, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.