Sofokleous Street is also home to the Athens Stock Exchange and offers a bustling, if unusual, mix of suited-and-booted city workers and immigrant merchants plying their wares. In the midst of this lively scene, like a breath of fresh air, is the radically renovated and appropriately named Fresh Hotel.

Architects Tassos Zeppos and Eleni Georgiadi at AIRTEC used vivid colors and unconventional design to create a relaxed, informal setting for this stylish urban retreat. The reception area, separated from the rest of the hotel by fuchsia glass, is set off by a dramatically vertical black fireplace, illuminated from above by an imposing lighting mixture by Martinelliluce, resembling an unfurling white lotus and leather sofas by Morosa that appear to have been poured into the foyer. Venturing up the marble staircase, also black, to the mezzanine leads weary travelers to the gym, sauna and steam room, along with business centers that are transparent, yet completely private. The hotel's 133 rooms offer all the peaceful solace of a Japanese garden, particularly the balconies which are strewn with grey-and-white sea pebbles and planters filled with exotic foliage. One suite has a curvaceous bath in the bedroom, which is both a functional and aesthetic feature of the room.

A good place to start the day is the Magenta Restaurant, offering a menu with lots of choices for the health conscious and located next to the conference rooms. On the ninth floor the Air Lounge Bar, with its wooden deck and swimming pool, affords lovely views of the Acropolis and serves cocktails, fresh fruit drinks and snacks. The hotel's main eatery is the Orange Bar Restaurant, which overlooks the street and serves customers all day and well into the night. Its menu of light meals relies on fresh ingredients from the neighboring Varvakios Agora, Athens' central market. Splashes of pumpkin orange against the warm, walnut-brown floors create a feel-good atmosphere which you can snuggle into while sample the over 30 wine labels offered by the glass.

There are many Athens Hotels offering both reasonable prices and luxurious accommodation and Fresh Hotel is one of them. It is a very nice hotel as you might have noticed on Fresh Hotel Pictures.