Ergon House Athens

Ergon House is the hotel for people who plan trips around meals. Its 38 rooms sit above a working Greek food hall run by Ergon, the deli brand, where a greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, bakery, deli and coffee roastery wrap around a double-height atrium with a vertical orchard and a 200-year-old olive tree. There is a restaurant and bar on the ground floor, communal kitchens for cooking classes and a rooftop bar, Retiré, facing the Acropolis. It sits on Mitropoleos Street in the very centre of Athens and holds a Michelin Key. Come hungry.

The experience

The day here starts downstairs. Breakfast is included and à la carte, and the market is open around you, so it is tempting to wander off with a bag of cheese and olive oil before you have even seen the Acropolis. The cooking classes are the thing to book: you pick ingredients from the stalls and then cook with a chef in the communal kitchens, typically making filled pastries and stuffed vine leaves, with a glass of Assyrtiko. There is a gym on the third floor, and from late March to late October evenings belong to Retiré on the roof. It is lively, sociable and very Athens.

The rooms

Rooms come in Small, Medium, Large and XL sizes, plus a Family room, and four of the 38 are suites. The look is calm and pared back: muted greys, brass and walnut accents and a touch of Japanese minimalism. Minibars are stocked with Ergon delicacies, and there are espresso machines with compostable capsules and Bluetooth speakers. The XL rooms have a side view of the Acropolis. Double glazing keeps most of the market noise out, but rooms furthest from the atrium are the quietest choice for light sleepers.

Food and drink

Food is the whole point. The ground-floor Agora brings together a greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, bakery, deli and roastery around a restaurant serving Greek dishes and a bar pouring Greek wines, craft beers and classic cocktails, open from 7am to midnight. Breakfast is included. Up on the roof, Retiré serves cocktails and food with the Acropolis in view, though only from spring to autumn. You could eat every meal here and not get bored.

The neighbourhood

Mitropoleos Street links Syntagma and Monastiraki, running past the Metropolitan Cathedral on the edge of Plaka. Syntagma metro station, with direct trains to the airport, is a short walk east. The Acropolis, the Ancient Agora and the lanes of Plaka are all within easy walking distance, and the Varvakios central market is close if one food hall is not enough. It is about as central as Athens gets.