During a lovely dinner in February 2023, Steve, Philippe and I decided to visit Athens during the – Catholic – Easter Holiday. As I was lucky to have the full Easter weekend – Saturday, Sunday and Monday – off, I booked flights and a room. Steve and Philippe arrived in the capital of Greece two days earlier. It wasn’t Orthodox Easter, so for the Athenians, it was a normal, low-season, weekend.

Fresh Hotel is Steve’s favourite hotel address in Athens. Situated on Sofokleous Street (Σοφοκλέους), Fresh is within walking distance of most noteworthy sites of the polis. 

“Athens’ heartbeat is pumping in and around Fresh Hotel. An urban resort with unconventional atmosphere and totally personalised service, offering you the true sense of hospitality. A stylish hotel with minimal lines and vibrant colours, that create an absolutely cool environment surrounding you with the unforgettable feeling of calmness”, the website says. 

I wouldn’t say its unconventional? What dies that even really mean? But it sounds nice in an introduction, I guess. 

“Choose amongst our 133 rooms (superior, executive, or suites) and enjoy pure, subtle luxury. Grab a taste of heaven in our restaurants from dawn ‘till late at night. Spoil yourself in the sauna or get fit in our well equipped gym. Feel a star under the stars, enjoying a cocktail at the Air Lounge roof bar, the smoothest place to chill, all night long. Either you are on a vacation or in a city-break Fresh Hotel is designed to make you happy.”

Reception

Reception ís very friendly though. My room wasn’t ready yet. I didn’t receive my key card, but I did receive the typical paper envelope with my room number and the WiFi password. An odd thing to do. 

But as I said very friendly and welcoming. 

Room for 1

I booked a single(‘s) room. A room for one. When I first saw my room was in a corner, I feared being put in an oversized cupboard. But that was not the same. The space is not smaller than some rooms for two elsewhere.

One, queen size bed, obviously. You could fit a second person mind spooning. No worries, I didn’t. In the evenings I was too tired, too drunk and too full of delicious food to even contemplate hooking up. But I diverge. 

The room features a full-size desk, coffee and tea making facilities, a tv, a large mirror, a chair, multiple power outlets. I didn’t see USB ports. 

The bathroom is quite large with a decent shower. Firstly, the shower can be closed off efficiently so you don’t wet the entire bathroom. Also there’s an elevation so the water remains ín the shower area. Twelve points from the Belgian jury! Although no, only ten points. It was impossible to adjust the water flow. It was all or nothing. 

Soaps and other cosmetics are from Cosmos Natural. 

A very nice feature of the room is the large balcony. I actually had a complete corner to myself. Did I use it? No, not really. Still, a nice feature. 

There is air conditioning but I couldn’t make it work… Maybe it’s inaccessible outside hot summer months. 

Anyway, I did not feel singled out in this single’s room. Yes, imagine a drumroll. 

Gym

Fresh Hotel has a small gym. I’ve seen far better hotel gyms, but I was happy with the available gym equipment. 

The gym is open from 8 AM to 8 PM. But I don’t think it really closes. On Sunday, some machines were turned off. On Monday that was not the case and all the lights were on. So maybe I missed something. 

There are sauna facilities, but we didn’t use them.

Pool and Air Lounge

On the rooftop, there’s Air Lounge, the bar. Fresh also have a pool but it was closed as it was still off-season. Danny and I stayed at Fresh in September 2017 and I remember the pool to be quite small and only a few sun beds available. 

Pool and rooftop bar offer a view of the Acropolis.

Breakfast

Breakfast is quite a thing at Fresh. For a four-star hotel, the offering is enormous. English and continental options, Greek specialities, plenty of warm dishes. Cold cuts, cheeses, yoghurts, fruit, bread options, pancakes, pies, chocolate mousse, cakes, pasta and rice, jams, chocolate paste…

Hot drinks are served at the table in large thermoses. I’m not sure I’d recommend drinking half a liter of tea before starting sightseeing. 

Breakfast is a reason to book Fresh. 

So?

In recent year, due to (the pretext) of COVID-19, Danny and I have seen service and offerings going down in hotels. Fresh did not give that impression. 

When I told Danny I booked Fresh he said it wasn’t that memorable to the extend of rebooking it. But having returned, I can see its appeal. Great geographical location – even if Sofokleous isn’t a lovely street -, a decent room and a great breakfast. 

And the WiFi was good. Almost home or office level good. 

Athens 2023

1. REVIEW | Antwerp city centre to Brussels Airport (Zaventem) Airport Express shuttle bus service.
2. REVIEW | Brussels to Athens with Brussels Airlines Airbus A319, in business class, early morning.
3. ATHENS | Monastiraki – Plaka – Syntagma – National Garden – Zappeion – Hadrian’s Gate – Temple of Olympian Zeus – Panathenaic Stadium.
4. Ancient Agora of Athens.
5. REVIEW | Restaurant Kuzina in Athens.