Ace Hotel & Swim Club Athens: Riviera Revival with a Rebel Soul
Brutalist bones, poolside beats, and a golden-age Riviera reboot
From Brutalism to Beach Club
On Glyfada’s coastline, Ace Hotel & Swim Club Athens transforms the 1975-built Fenix Hotel into a stage for retro-modern flair. Parisian design studio Ciguë peeled back decades of clutter, revealing the structure’s cubic geometry and crisp white façade. Inside, it’s 1970s Riviera reborn: travertine floors, ceramic tiles, vintage-sourced furniture, and a Dionysos marble check-in desk. At the heart? The Swim Club—lemon parasols, pistachio loungers, and a Hockney-hued mural by Panos Profitis.
Rooms with Rhythm
With 120 rooms and suites, Ace crafts hideaways that hum with coastal calm. Earthy palettes, shell-toned walls, and balconies bathed in Aegean light set the mood. Some rooms come with turntables, others with acoustic guitars—but all share that Ace balance of edge and ease. Bathrooms bring subtle glamour: green marble vanities, textured shell tiling, and just enough sparkle to echo the sea outside.
Eat, Sip, Swim, Repeat
Dining flows from morning to midnight. Sebastian, the bistro, pairs French finesse with Greek soul—fava, sea bass, natural wines, and plenty of sunshine. Coffee and craft cocktails pulse through the Lobby Bar and Good Chemistry café. By 2025, a rooftop pool and restaurant will add panoramic Riviera views to the rotation, a golden-hour stage for Athens’ creative crowd.
Art as Architecture
True to Ace’s DNA, art isn’t an accent—it’s infrastructure. Works by 18 contemporary Greek artists populate rooms and public spaces: Callas brothers’ handwoven tapestries, Fassianos prints, site-specific murals. Even the façade doubles as canvas, celebrating the building’s rebirth as cultural landmark.
DNA Hotels Verdict
Ace Hotel & Swim Club Athens is a revival done right: Brutalist geometry meets bohemian verve, nostalgia bends into now. More than a hotel, it’s a cultural catalyst for the Athenian Riviera—part swim club, part design lab, fully alive.
