So, where are we?
Downtown Thessaloniki in northern Greece, about half an hour from the airport… and when we say downtown, we mean a hop and a skip from Aristotelous Square – which is bang central – and just minutes from everywhere that’s anywhere whether it’s the waterfront or the clubs or the shops or the restaurants. It’s where you need to be.
And where we’re staying...?
The Modernist, located in a building from the 1920s and refurbished within an inch of anyone’s life with everything from the graphics to the shower gel dispenser just spot-on and mostly designed especially for the hotel.
What’s the style?
From the outside, it looks like a smart, tasteful building, done to the sky-highest of specs in a minimal style. And that style carries on inside where everything is pared back and in a palette that doesn’t veer much from black, white and gold/wood with splashes of green from the plants everywhere. Crisp, that’s the word for it. No-nonsense would be a good phrase. And it continues right up onto the 7th floor roof lounge, an outdoor space for drinking, working, sunbathing or, at night, partying a little.
And the rooms?
Light, white and woody, the rooms, whatever the size you’re going for, are ingeniously designed to get as many necessaries in the smallest possible space without ever feeling overcrowded. Wood floors, cunning wall hanging space, snowy white sheets and bathrooms that have an almost 80s-meets-laboratory feel to them. Lighting is designer and, if you go for the family room, you can join a large and a small room together, open up the connecting doors and feel like you’re in your own swishy apartment.
Is there a story?
The man behind The Modernist brand is Kostis Karatzas, who started his empire right here in this hotel before branching out to Athens. He enlisted designers Form Related to bring a vaguely mid-century modern, Danish vibe to the place.
And to eat?
Again, it’s all very pared back. The breakfast room does the basics – and does them very well – while you can eat up on the roof or pop into the Modernist Café, which is more of a coffee counter than anything. It’s not really the gastro-destination but if it’s a bagel and some orange juice in a old-school milk bottle you’re after, you’ve come to the right place.
So, to sum up...
With a location as perfect as this and with a concept as well-defined as this – and with prices that have been kept way down when you bear those two things in mind – this really couldn’t hit the spot any better. Calming, unfussy, friendly off the scale and right where you want it to be.
themodernisthotels.com