Living Stone – Athens Apartments in the heart of the city
Living Stone Athens Apartments in the capital of Greece, are the epitome of the “boutique apartment” concept. The three apartments under the Living Stone brand offer style and comfort to those who wish to explore the city. As a matter of fact, they follow the BoHo style of design and the tenets of stylish simplicity.
They are located among the best places to stay in Athens. Their locations are in Metaxourgheio, Psirri and other central locations near the Metro and all major archaeological sites. Athens boutique apartments can appeal to tourists who want to use them as launch pads to explore Athens and its magnificent sights. They are ideal for couples traveling to see Athens, Greece and families on family vacation. Also, they can appeal to business travellers who want a place to rest or work for a few hours between meetings. Justifying the meaning of “boutique apartments”, each one has a unique feel and “personality”. In addition, their different characteristics and features help them cater to different traveller needs.
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Living Stone Sapphire – Athens boutique apartments
- 35-sq. m.
- Studio apartment
- Up to 3 people
- 6th floor
- Unobstructed view of the Acropolis
- Ideal for traveling couples
- Iron & ironing board
- 1 min on foot from the “Metaxourgheio” Metro station
Living Stone Emerald – Athens boutique apartments
- 100-sq. m.
- 3 bedrooms
- Up to 8 people
- 5th floor
- Ideal for groups of travellers
- 2 bathrooms
- Washer – dryer machine & kitchenette
- Large balcony with a view of the Athenian sky
- Iron and ironing board
- 2 mins on foot from the “Metaxourgheio” Metro station
Living Stone Diamond – Athens boutique apartments
- 70 sq. m.
- 2 bedrooms
- Up to 4 people
- Autonomous house
- Ideal for families of 4, or 2 couples traveling together
- Washer – dryer machine & kitchenette
- Iron & ironing board
- 2 min. on foot from the Monastiraki sq. and the Metro station
- In walking distance of the Acropolis
- Near all major nightlife spots
- Private entrance and spacious balcony
Boutique Hotels
The term “Athens Boutique apartments”, which we examine here, is a new one. We can say that it is derivative of the term “boutique hotel”. Athens Boutique hotels, such as Ederlezi Boutique Hotel one of the best hotels in Athens, are smaller hotels, with personalized style and attention to detail. Owners have renovated them with care and intend them for guests who can appreciate their distinctive style and comfort. Above all, their guests value luxury and uniqueness. They value that famous attention to detail, whether in the design or the amenities. Moreover, they value consistency, particularly when there is a theme, in the hotel as a whole or the individual rooms. Ultimately, they value flexibility and smart use of space. They value a concentration of amenities found in larger hotels.
Boutique Hotels are a major feature in many city centers all over the world. Located in sometimes historic buildings, in quiet promenades and by-ways in central neighborhoods. Close to the major sights that a city is famous for and also close to many transport options. They are small islands of luxury and comfort in bustling, tourist-laden capitals. Furthermore, they are some of the best places for a tourist or a business traveler to stay during a visit.
A unique feeling
Boutique hotels took the hospitality industry by storm in the late 1980s and up to today. They offer the unique feel and vibe travelers want to experience when they stay in a different location. Away from massive, “faceless” hotels of major brands that have an “industrial” feel and procedure, boutique hotels feel “personal”. They feel warm and homely, with personalized service and catering for the individual needs of each guest. For this reason, the concept of the boutique hotel was very well received by guests and hospitality professionals alike. So much actually, that even colossal global hospitality chains created “boutique hotel” brands, to enter the burgeoning market.
Athens Boutique Apartments
Some thought to bring this concept to the housing sector. As a result, they envisioned the unique vibes of a boutique hotel, but in your home! Thus, the “boutique apartment in Athens” concept came to be! Residential apartments in apartment buildings or standalone houses, some of them older and worn down, were the perfect candidates. Their distinctive features of earlier design periods and their locations in or near city centers also helped. Sometimes, their condition of neglect was an advantage, as it called for a complete renovation and restoration of the property. Consequently, this gave the owners and the designers a sense of freedom of expression and design, not otherwise possible. It provided them with a “blank slate” to create, but in a defined framework.
Putting in their personal aesthetics, owners and designers took smaller or larger apartments in the city center and transformed them. Therefore, they renovated them from the bottom up. Moreover, they added all modern amenities but kept the style and vibe of the specific apartment building and its architecture. In the long run, they cooperated with internal decorators, architects, artists, even historians, to emulate and update past stylish options and blend them seamlessly.
In addition, they employed technical solutions not in use during the apartment’s construction and new approaches to internal design. And in the end, they respected not just the apartments or the historic buildings, but the spirit of the area too! They brought out the best in each apartment. In a way, we can say that they “updated” the apartments, made them the best possible apartments they could be.
A unique living space
Athens boutique apartments are a unique living space. Hence, this uniqueness is its defining trait! To call a living space a “boutique apartment”, it should be one-of-a-kind and distinct! A boutique apartment can share some design principles and even thematic similarities with other living spaces of course. But there always must be something that tells it apart. Something that is different in it than any other apartment in its city, or even the world. A feature, a unique object or part of the decoration. Also, a blending of styles not encountered anywhere else. A creative use of space, a modification and repurpose of a preexisting feature. The possibilities are endless, but the end result should be: To call a space a “boutique apartment”, one must find oneself inside it and think “I have never been in a similar space before”!
Athens boutique apartments and the building they are in, can also have some significance. It can be close to a well-known monument. Its own position adds to its uniqueness. Alongside, it can have a privileged view of the said monument and the surrounding area. How many apartments can claim to have this spectacular view? Its building can be historic, an architectural landmark in its own right, an example of a particular style. Perhaps it is the work of a famous architect. It could have been the site of an historic event.
Moreover, it could have a famous resident in the past. You would want to stay in the building where a famous poet wrote his best work, don’t you? The building could be the location of an agency that shaped history in some way. What if a great politician gave a passionate, historic speech on the same balcony you now drink your wine?
Areas for Athens boutique apartments
Athens, with its great history, has a number of newly renovated boutique apartments. Their locations are all throughout its historic center, in older, architecturally significant buildings. Areas in which one can find apartments in Athens include:
Psirri-Monastiraki-Thissio
The most vibrant and hip area in the heart of Athens, Psirri Monastiraki and Thissio are geographically and culturally inseparable. Close to all major attractions, this general area is host to dozens of renovated spaces that became boutique apartments. Older buildings, sometimes historic in their own right, adorning picturesque by-ways and promenades; former art schools and artist studios with large windows for the light to come in; even some former urban family homes, complete with retro furnishings of impeccable style; all now cater to the needs of the visitors to Athens. Athens Boutique apartments in this area tend to cluster together in aparthotels, with receptions and sometimes food & beverage facilities. Psirri is the location of Living Stone Diamond.
Metaxourgheio
The up-and-coming neighborhood of Metaxourgheio has become the new area to watch and to stay! A strategic spot in the heart of Athens with a Metro station connecting to the wider Athens transportation system. Next to the 4-star and 5-star hotels opening there, many former residential spaces are now stylish and elegant boutique apartments. Metaxourgheio is the location of Living Stone Sapphire and Living Stone Emerald, the first two of the Living Stone Athens boutique apartments.
Kerameikos – Gazi
An artistic neighborhood of Athens, Kerameikos is home to many theaters, drama schools and music halls. Moreover, it is also the place of many boutique apartments and lofts with an artistic vibe. Most of them belong to actors, dance teachers and other artists who, naturally, shaped them to honor their art. Renters and short-term guests have an opportunity to live in an artist’s personal space. That’s definitely an experience of its own!
Plaka
The oldest continuously-inhabited neighborhood of Europe, Plaka is one of the most touristy places of Athens. Old, neoclassical mansions that once were home to diplomats and members of the Greek royal court, now house a number of boutique apartments. Huge windows give spectacular views of the Acropolis and the entirety of Athens, while quiet courtyards offer relaxation.
Koukaki
One of the most famous neighborhoods of Athens and the closest to the New Acropolis Museum. Koukaki was always a residential area and had hundreds of unused apartments. With the rise of the sharing economy and the short-stay lease trend, owners of those apartments proceeded to renovate them. Many became boutique apartments, with stylish decorations and even some older furniture that provide a sense of coziness!
Long – term and short – term lease of boutique apartments
All over the world, owners of older apartments make the decision to turn their property into something more. Particularly in large cities, capitals and historic quarters of cities, apartments that were not in use, turn into canvasses for “artistic” renovations. This trend has helped countless apartments that were past their glory days for different reasons, to thrive once more. Owners are returning to their former apartments, now beautifully redesigned and with their personal touch. Some of them choose to live there themselves. It is only suitable since they now reflect their style and tastes. They are their place of relaxation, as personal as a personal space can be.
Others tend to sell or lease them. People are always in search of a home and people with distinctive personalities tend to seek houses that match them! An older, perfectly renovated house with a unique feel is the dream of many. They see it as an investment and not only a financial one! Most of Athens boutique apartments are as unique and one-of-a-kind as an original work of art. The thought, vision, time and talent that goes into a renovation of this kind is akin to a painting masterpiece. And historically, private collectors paid large sums of money to buy original works of art. A boutique apartment is a work of art you cannot have in your house, it IS your house! It is an original work of art that you can live in!
Long-term lease
Many do not have the funds needed to buy a boutique apartment in Athens. But sometimes a particular boutique apartment “calls” to them. It appeals to their style and matches perfectly with their personality. Then, there is the option to long-term lease the apartment, if it is available by the owner. You can call it your home, for as long as the lease stands. Also, you can live in it, create your memories and shape your life by decisions you take there. The particular boutique apartment you lived in will be part of you for the rest of your life.
There is another factor that immensely helped the rise of Athens boutique apartments. The short-term lease possibility through online platforms, in the framework of the “sharing economy”. Many boutique apartments are available in this manner, to visitors of their cities. Tourists and business travelers alike can book shorts stays in these unique accommodations. Moreover, they can have the experience to live for a few days in a place so different from their own house. Yet, it is a house, it feels and has all the functionality of a house. And it is located in a historic, or hip neighborhood!
