The new Athens Central Hotel on the corner of Carpenter and East State Street is in the final stages of construction and is set to open up for business in a few months.
The building, located at 88 East State St., has three floors and combines Prokos Rentals in with the hotel. The second and third floors include bedrooms, an exercise area, and a space designated for the complimentary breakfast. Rooms have either one king bed or two queen beds.
Demetrios Prokos, the hotel owner, did not want to disclose the exact cost to build the hotel, only stating that it was a “several million dollar project.”
The style of the building, as described by Prokos, is a modern European boutique hotel. The modern style is unique to Athens, and is a contrast to the traditional old buildings.
“It’s 2019, so I wanted to build something that looks like it’s from 2019, not the 50s,” Prokos said.
The modern European style is reflected on the outside and inside of the building, Prokos said. Every room has modern-romantic decor and features, including 65-inch TVs, WiFi and in some rooms, floor to ceiling windows.
“We really paid attention to the little details inside of each room, we tried to pick features that someone would want in their own house.”
Each room has its own “wow” factor, the only thing is the same in every room is the bed and sometimes the night stand, Prokos said.
“When you ask why we chose such a modern building, it’s because you can’t have an old building that also has that wow factor outside and in,” Prokos said, referring to the floor to ceiling windows with a view of Athens.
The hotel focuses on being environmentally-friendly. In the bathrooms, the shampoo and conditioner are in dispensers attached to the shower wall, which is different than the traditional bottles that you usually find in a hotel.
The shampoo and conditioner dispensers lock so people can’t put anything in them. To reduce the amount of waste, Prokos decided to go with dispensers.
The toilets also have two settings: less flush and maximum flush, to save energy, Prokos said.
In addition to being eco-friendly, the Athens Central Hotel has added several modern features to accommodate people with disabilities. These features include double peepholes in the doors for people who may be in a wheelchair, large entry ways into the rooms, electric reclining chairs, lowered towel rack and a shower curtain instead of the traditional modern glass panes.
At every emergency exit there are two signs, one above the door and one below the door. This makes the emergency exits easier to find in the case of heavy smoke covering the top exit sign.
“We’re thinking for the future, and we’re going to make our hotel as accessible as possible,” Prokos said.
Prokos decided to put two layers of drywall and insulation in between every room for sound protection. He added that it’s “something you don’t normally see in a hotel.”
The hallways throughout the hotel are carpeted, but the rooms are not. This was done to add a modern touch in each room, as well as for sound protection so guests won’t hear footsteps from the rooms.
The new hotel would be the closest one to downtown Athens, only a block away from Court Street. Prokos anticipates that the hotel will be the busiest during parents weekends.
Prokos said parents come to Athens to reconnect with their kids, including to drink and have fun.
“With this hotel, they’re going to be able to walk instead of having to drive back to a hotel late at night,“ Prokos said.
Abigail Logar, a junior studying economics, said it’s a different fit from the usual Athens vibe.
“I don’t think it’s very Athens traditional, it stands out and doesn’t fit in very well,“ Logar said.
Prokos said the hotel is meant to appeal to the current generation, not the older one.
“If people don’t like the building, I don’t know what to say to them. You do your best, and as long as the customers are happy that’s all that matters,” Prokos said.
