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Story & photography by Manos Angelakis
Baby Grand Hotel
65, Athinas & Lykourgou St,
10551 Athens, Greece
Tel: +30.210.325.0900
www.classicalhotels.com/babygrandhotel/
Member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World. (SLH)
This quirky, tongue-in-cheek property operated by the Classical Hotels group, occupies an eight-story building next to City Hall, in Plateia Kotzia (Kotzia Square), a mere block from Omonia Square, Athens’ bustling commercial center. The Baby Grand Hotel - formerly the Athena Grand - is in one of Athens' neoclassical buildings from the early 1960s. Its location gives you the opportunity to be, in a few minutes, at anyone of the museums, archaeological sites, or tourist attractions Athens has to offer. It is definitely not a traditional four star property. Most of the clientele that I saw were young urban professionals from Europe and Asia, traveling in small groups, always in a party mood and ready for a great time.
The hotel is an eccentric mix of cool urban vibe and idiosyncratic creativity. The wallpaper of the stairway leading to the 1st-floor and the reception is pure ‘60s psychedelia. The reception desk has been created out of two shiny Mini Cooper cars. A jungle of plastic white and green iridescent tree leaves encloses the all white, unfortunately named “Meat Me” restaurant, and plush-covered gorillas hang from the ceiling of the entrance corridor. The two elevators are “Athenian Standard” i.e. each will barely accommodate two persons with their luggage. The personnel is multilingual, very  polite, and extremely accommodating. But, there is very limited concierge service, and you have to carry your own luggage up to the reception. There is also no turndown service in the evening.
The 75 rooms and suites have huge beds strewn with fake-fur throws, and the room walls are covered with “graffiti” frescoes – my suite had a jungle theme and my bed had a tiger throw; iPods come with funky playlists; the independent air-conditioning system has separate controls for each room in the suite. There are beautiful marble bathrooms with Egyptian bathrobes and slippers and a nice amenities package; the minibar is in a small refrigerator inside the closet and additional items are in a large multicolored tin box on one of the bedroom desks; instead of piped music, there is recorded birdsong in the common spaces. The hotel has a tiny Carita spa and basement gym with a see-through ceiling. In the morning, there is a bountiful buffet breakfast of mouthwatering regional Greek specialties, mechanically self-squeezed orange juice (please note, it takes 2 fresh oranges to get a medium glass of juice), and any style of coffee (Greek, Espresso, American, French, etc.) but, unfortunately, in the evening the kitchen left a lot to be desired. Room service is available 24 hours a day. Baby Grand is refreshingly offbeat and, unlike many other Athenian hotels, it is also reasonably priced.
This hotel is not to everybody’s taste. I found it delightfully avant-garde, and quirky to the point of outrageousness. If you prefer the usual four or five star ambience, perhaps you should consider another Classical Hotels member, the King George Palace, a much more traditional 5 star property on Syntagma Square. But for those of you who travel with their sense of humor and a quest for adventure intact, you will not find a more whimsical hotel to use as your base in Athens.
© October 2009 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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