Greece hotel review: Inside trendy Lighthouse Athens, which has a rooftop pool with Acropolis views

The Instagrammers at the lagoon feel a disturbance. A sea monster lurks on purpose. However, the quarry is agile and deftly runs up the stairs to safety.

My five year old daughter really enjoys the rooftop pool of the recently opened – and, with rooms from around £85 a night, blistering value for money – Lighthouse Athens hotel. It’s shallow enough to stand in everywhere and she enjoys having a fellow (much larger) guest playfully masquerade as a mysterious creature from the deep.

We parents, meanwhile, take the window this unannounced nanny service provided us to enjoy the view, which is stunning – an almost 360-degree panorama of Athens, including the famous Acropolis, which is a few miles away.

Athens Lighthouse offers blistering value for money, with rooms starting from around £85 a night

The rooftop pool offers a respite from the heat of the city. Ted’s shot above shows how the space is lined with cabanas

The other happy-looking guests, lounging on lounge chairs and hanging out in cabanas, are taking selfies and enjoying the August rays, which push the mercury to the late thirties.

The cool water of the small wooden pool offers the perfect variety.

Throw in a round bar, a couple of hot tubs, and the option to order light bites, and the rooftop can claim—besides the price—to be one of the main enticements of this hip 220-room hotel, De’s fourth hotel in Tel Aviv. Born hospitality group Brown Hotels opens in the Greek capital.

Ted finds his room (similar to the one above) ‘a little dark and dingy’, but notes that ‘those who like their own reflection will no doubt be enchanted by the dark reflective surfaces out there’

Ted recommends opting for a lighter and airier balcony room (pictured above)

Lighthouse Athens is from the Tel Aviv-born group Brown Hotels, which runs several hotels in Athens

Egg cellant: a quirky chair in the hotel lobby

Breakfast, served in the first floor dining room and bar and lit by classic chandeliers, is also hugely tempting, with a wide variety of tasty foods and drinks available to loot for fueling explorations of the city, including ouzo and vodka.

Maybe 20 years ago…

We opt for made-to-order pancakes with chocolate sauce, watermelon, good coffee from a high-end Douwe Egberts machine and croissants, before taking advantage of the hotel’s convenient location on Omonia Square, with a metro station just three stops away. Acropoli – the station for the Acropolis. The monument is also walkable, or a short taxi ride away.

We promise to get up early and reach the old place before the midday sun and crowds and fail miserably, instead we hope for a subway around 11:30am and head up the slopes to the Pillared Parthenon and the other glorious monuments and shrines in the former city – built in the 5th century BC – amid heaving crowds and in flames of flame.

Despite the inconvenience, it’s still an unforgettable experience and the cooling waters of the Lighthouse rooftop pool do its magic afterwards.

However, our bedroom does not enchant me.

Those who love their own reflection will no doubt be enchanted by the dark reflective surfaces that abound – the walls behind and in front of the bed are mirrored, along with the black door and divider for the ensuite.

A pouter’s paradise, but ironically, given the hotel’s name, I find it a bit dark and dingy – the only natural light comes from a small window in one corner (and the view is of a crumbling building next door) and artificially creates a relaxing glow is tricky. The lamps are usually non-dimmable spots.

The minimalistic nature of the bathroom also frustrates. There is a huge sink, but no shelves or cabinets for toiletries and the like. It stands alone.

Breakfast at Lighthouse Athens is served in the dining room and bar on the first floor (above)

The Lighthouse breakfast (left) is “hugely tempting,” Ted says, with “a wide variety of tasty foods and beverages available to munch on for fueling explorations of the city, including ouzo and vodka” (right)

Athens Lighthouse is located in Omonia Square, with a metro station just three stops from Acropoli – the station for the Acropolis

Striking furniture in the hotel lobby, which is about two miles from the Acropolis

The Signature Exterior of Lighthouse Athens

And there is no overhead shower – just a hose in the corner.

Yet we sleep well on the opulent king-size bed and in the fresh daylight we appreciate the hotel’s efforts to bring a stylish bird-related quirk into the interior design, characterized by the bed’s bare light bulb in the beak of a bird sculpture at the wall, the golden egg chairs in the foyer, and the birdcage-framed benches in the dining room.

There are better bedroom options, too – check in to a room with a balcony for more natural light, views and shelved sinks.

Then head to the rooftop for a pout and a pout and ripples of fun at one of the best hotel pools in town.