The historic hotel in Athens “Great Britain“(French: Hôtel Grande Bretagne) was highlighted as the top of Greece From readers of the British edition of Condé Nast Traveler, winning the first place at the Readers ‘Choice Awards 2025, in the OUR READERS’ Favorite Hotels in Europe.
According to the announcement, this distinction is particularly important as it comes from the votes of thousands of travelers, who once again recognized the excellent quality of service and the emblematic character of the historic hotel.
The Great Britain Hotel has been repeatedly honored by the institution in previous years, confirming the steady preference and confidence of its international visitors.
Condé Nast Traveler has gathered more than 182,500 UK readers’ entries, who evaluated their travel experiences around the world, highlighting them destinations looking forward to visiting again.
Hotel General Manager Hom Parviz says: “This recognition by Condé Nast Traveler readers is a great honor for the whole team of the Great Britain Hotel. It reflects our consistency, passion and dedication to offer a hosting experience worthy of the history of this hotel and the expectations of our visitors. “
The story of “Great Britain”
The historic hotel founded in 1866 and initially settled in a building on Stadiou and Karagiorgi Serbia Streets.
In 1874 the hotel company was relocated to Antonis Dimitriou Mansion, which was erected in 1842, which was housed to this day.
In 1927 the hotel was expanded on a facade on Bucharest Street, while the rooms had a phone and a private bathroom.
In 1930, a new 110 -room wing was inaugurated on Panepistimiou Street, and was equipped with elevators and ventilation and central heating systems.
In 1938 another 42 interior rooms were added to the building complex.
Upright in spite of wars
When the Italian attack on Greece began on October 28, 1940, Great Britain was occupied by the Army General Staff and the evacuation of the rooms was ordered by customers because military and political services were to be installed.
The hotel was then occupied by Germans and Italians and, after the victory of the allies, by the English.
For a while it became the headquarters of the Greek government’s return by Italy.
In the early days of December, the hotel served as headquarters by Prime Minister George Papandreou, Cabinet and British General Ronald Scobi. Later for security reasons, the Council of Ministers moved to Papandreou’s historic villa in Kastri with Angel Evert Police Chief.
At the end of 1944, the EAM put explosives on the foundations of its hotel in order to blow up it, while also killing Churchill, who was mistakenly considered to be there. The operation was canceled due to the intervention of a British patrol.[6]
The 2003 The hotel closed for a year and suffered total renovation (cost of 112 million euros), to return to its old glory.
The now modernized building has 384 rooms (79 suites), including 2 royal 550 -square -foot suite, overnight costs up to 32,000 euros.
Source: Skai
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