Inside the stunning Four Seasons Athens hotel with rooms that ‘teeter on the edge of heaven’
Shipwrecked, naked and starving, he clambers onto land after twenty days at sea and sees a beautiful girl who gives him clothes, food, palatial shelter and, quite frankly, the will to move on.
“Are you mortal or divine?” a dazed Odysseus asks Princess Nafsika as she patches him up for the final leg of his ten-year journey home.
No wonder the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens took a leaf out of Homer’s book and named the heart of the waterfront harbor after the feminine ideal of hospitality.
Because the Nafsika suites, in the center of this elegant yet energetic hotel, balance on the edge of heaven.
The view over the Saronic Gulf from our master bedroom and terrace is so captivating that it takes a moment to register the luxury within.
Soft carpets, leather headboards, a spa-like bathroom, the thickest pillows with the monogram ‘FH’ on them.
‘Ah! This must be my bed,” my son Felix, 12, laughs as he walks toward the super king instead of the sofa bed waiting for him and his sister Evie, 17, in the adjoining room.
It’s our first family vacation without our eldest daughter Rose, 18, who has left home for college and insists she doesn’t mind our trip as long as we send photos.
Fiona Hardcastle and her family check into one of the luxurious Nafsika suites at the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, with stunning views over the Saronic Gulf
The hotel, Fiona explains, has taken a leaf from Homer’s book, The Odyssey, and names the Nafsika suites after the feminine ideal of hospitality, Princess Nafsika.
Water treat: Fiona and her family enjoy the hotel’s ‘perfect’ olive tree-lined pool (above)
But it takes Olympic levels of magnanimity to withstand the photos of our newfound splendor, and as starry-eyed emoji replies turn to tears, we realize it’s time to stop. Overconfidence rarely has a happy ending.
Time for dinner at Mercato, one of the hotel’s six glitzy restaurants, a vibrant Italian full of Greek spirit.
Like a well-oiled army, phalanxes of waiters swing around our table, each dedicated to their specific role, which extends far beyond food delivery.
All Felix has to do is sneeze before a leather-bound box of tissues appears.
Evie, recently gripped by a cough so bad she broke a rib the day before we left to travel, is trying not to bark when a smiling waiter appears with a steaming cup of lemon and honey.
We finish with a giant tiramisu and I’m fit for Hypnos, despite my husband’s protests that, with the two-hour time difference, it’s only 8pm.
The promise of the next day on the Acropolis – embarrassingly my first – is reason enough for a former classicist to go to bed early.
Fiona writes: ‘The view over the Saronic Gulf from our master bedroom and terrace is so captivating that it takes a few moments to register the luxury within.’ Above: an Arion suite with panoramic sea views
Fiona describes Four Seasons Athens rooms as ‘teetering on the edge of heaven’
Four Seasons Athens has a chic bar and six glitzy restaurants, with Fiona and her family dining at the Italian Mercato and Taverna 37, serving traditional Greek dishes
After Greek salad omelettes for breakfast we hit the road – a 40-minute taxi ride to the fifth century BC.
Our first pilgrimage site is the Acropolis Museum, a stunning, light-filled structure perched on the southeastern slope and home to the ancient A-list.
Towering double terracotta Nikes, softly lit on plinths at the exhibition entrance, are the first chilling signs of the treasures within. Now wingless, but no less wonderful.
The sloping glass ground floor, through which you can see the excavations below, houses ceremonial wedding vases, spindles, marble dedications and masks – moving symbols of life and death.
Upstairs is even more spectacular, as you weave through raised marble figures as if you were walking through a crowd.
Suddenly I find myself face to face with my favorites: Athena Nike tying her sandal, a beautiful bronze oil lamp in the shape of an ancient vessel called a trireme, and five imposing caryatids (the sixth is in the British Museum).
Final stop at the summit and the friezes of the Parthenon Gallery, gloriously bathed in sunlight and displayed against the majestic backdrop of their former home.
Creamy originals mingle with bright white replicas and, perhaps heresy, but I wonder if Selene’s noble horse head might be happier here.
The contours of the Peloponnese and the twinkling lights of luxury yachts floating in the sea at night captivated Fiona and her family
The Four Seasons has an indoor pool overlooking the sea – a great option for a rare day of bad weather
Four Seasons Astir Palace is an “elegant yet energetic hotel,” notes Fiona
Fiona and her brood visit the Acropolis Museum, ‘a dazzling, light-filled structure nestled on the southeastern slope and home to the old A-list’
But that has always been the problem, says Dimitrios, our charismatic guide who meets us afterwards and guides us to the Parthenon itself, entertaining and informing with myths, legends and a rich history of invasions by Romans, Franks, Ottomans, Venetians and Nazis.
The western end is lined with scaffolding – the rebuild, he says, will take much longer than the original construction ever did – but the awe is unmistakable.
Everyone wants this piece of Greece.
Back to the Four Seasons and the part of Greece we are most excited about: a table at Taverna 37, in the bougainvillea-covered area on the water.
We are soon revived by a meze of local delicacies, spicy tzatziki, crumbly feta cheese and chilli, followed by juicy, slow-cooked lamb for the meat eaters and stifado cauliflower for the vegetarians.
The prospect of a last lazy day by the perfect olive tree-lined pool awaits you.
The wind picks up, but the Ouzo soon warms up and as we retreat to our private terrace, mesmerized by the distant, darkening contours of the Peloponnese and the twinkling lights of luxury yachts floating below, a tantalizing idea takes shape.
Anyone fancy our own Odyssey – albeit one in which we don’t wash up?