Probably many expect that Athens is like an open-air museum and a walk through the history of art. Remains of old buildings at every turn, even on the beach. Ionic and Doric columns and flipping through the famous Jansson in real time.
It can be like that. However, this time I chose a different Athens. I got away from the crowd at the two sisters Shila and Mona, concept hotels with a bold artistic signature.
Creative director Eftihia Stefanidi is an artist herself, and film and camera speak through her signatures around the hotel.
I started a dance with Shila and Mona, I got lost in their books and photographs. That was my little escapade in Athens.
Shila is a seductress and muse; I will write about her separately.
Today you are watching and listening to Mona Athens. Boutique hotel, gallery, art club, exhibition space, place to socialize. Created on the site of a textile factory from the 50s, in the very center of Athens, in my favorite neighborhood of Psyri.
Psyri used to be a place where minorities merged with the cultural heritage of the city. Its history dates back to the early 20th century, when workers and refugees from Asia lived together. They sang songs about loss and unrequited love. The musical genre that arose from there was called Rebetiko and became popular among the poor. This is how Psyri gained the reputation of an unconventional and picturesque settlement.
In Mona, we are invited to breathe in the history of the former textile factory and the emotions of the people who created in it. Mona is a tribute to the metamorphosis of the factory into a hotel and an open door for further evolution.
When you reach the top of the hotel, you embrace the view of the colorful roofs and terraces full of Mediterranean flowers, with a glittering finish at the top of the hill, the Acropolis.
Mona is like a movement, a philosophy of the art of living. A haven for the wild at heart.
Everything is buzzing with the red-hot rhythm of the city, while you hide in a room with stage curtains, just like in a theater, on stage or backstage, however you decide on that day.
Original marble floors, high ceilings, sculptures, vintage furniture, photographs by artists whose characters speak or hum from secret recesses in the walls. An original compilation chosen by the creators of this hotel’s magic can be heard from the speakers (listen to Mona Athens Spotify playlists). This is a multi-disciplinary space where carefully selected artists from all over the world exhibit.
With me is Marco Arguello, a famous photographer from California who lives in Athens. I wander around the hotel with him looking for stories that cannot be easily heard because secrets are always like that, they run away from you when you think you are the closest to them.
There’s a certain charm to staying in a hotel that refuses to be just a place where you rest and sing the same song. There is so much waiting to be discovered here. Each chair, restored and specially cared for, speaks quietly…
Therefore, try Mona’s charms, stop for a few days and wander into her hidden chambers.
