Thessaloniki, Greece

The Modernist Thessaloniki

Price per night from$129.16

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR122.40), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The Modernist Thessaloniki Photos

Style

In with the new

Setting

Dead-central downtown

Explore

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True to its name, The Modernist Thessaloniki​ casts out all things superfluous in favour of what really matters: knock-out design, in-the-know staff and love for the local community. This budget-boutique bolthole occupies a Twenties building in the heart of downtown Thessaloniki, putting you within easy reach of the waterfront and historic port. The pared-back interiors tour the great epochs of modernist design, mingling art-deco, mid-century and cutting-edge Scandinavian styles. Those movements had an international reach, but the hotel is just as much a local hero: the books on your shelves come from a nearby shop, the bath products were made by a local chemistry whizz and the breakfast is home-made using locally sourced ingredients.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A Modernist tote bag with a branded notebook, pencil and postcard; GoldSmiths also get a bottle of wine

Facilities

Photos The Modernist Thessaloniki facilities

Need to know

Rooms

41, including six suites.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates include breakfast; expect a smorgasbord of local, organic products like oven-fresh bread, pastries, spinach pies and gourmet cold cuts. Eggs are made to order.

Also

Reception is manned around the clock, so you’ll always have someone to book a late-night taxi or recommend their favourite drinking hole.

At the hotel

Roof terrace, boutique, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV; Marshall Bluetooth speaker; minibar; Nespresso coffee machine; tea and kettle; free bottled water; black-out curtain; bespoke bath products made by local brand Physis Laboratory.

Our favourite rooms

Modernism reigns supreme. The furnishings are largely influenced by Thirties and Fifties design, with streamline moderne curves paired off with mid-century industrial styles in brass, glass and blackened steel. From smallest to largest, the rooms are much the same in looks, so choosing one comes down to how much legroom you need. Some rooms have a small private terrace overlooking the street; in others, the bed is on a raised platform. If you have a child in tow, book the family room. If there’s more than three of you, you’re better off going for a connecting room (the smaller room can be set up with twin beds).

Spa

If you’ve booked an Extra Large Room, a therapist from nearby Idolo salon can come to you. If not, it’s only a short walk to go to them, and the preferential rate for Modernist guests will make it worth your while.

Packing tips

Bring threads that you can cycle in – a bike is the best way to cruise the bar-studded waterfront.

Also

The building’s layout makes it unsuitable for wheelchair users.

Children

All ages are welcome. The Extra Large Room can sleep a child on the sofabed, and there's a Family Room – made up of two connected rooms – on each floor.

Food and Drink

Photos The Modernist Thessaloniki food and drink

Top Table

Take a pew on the roof terrace, where you’ll catch the first rays of sun.

Dress Code

Come as you are.

Hotel restaurant

The top-floor breakfast room has the charming looks of a Fifties café, outfitted with a monochrome kitchen, pale parquet flooring, utilitarian tables and a gleaming espresso machine. Outside, there’s a decked roof terrace bordered by greenery-filled planters. If you're looking to grab and go, the Modernist Café is on the ground floor and serves up an array of homemade goods.

Hotel bar

Help yourself at the hotel’s rooftop honesty bar; or head back to your room and sample the minibar’s pre-bottled cocktails courtesy of the mixologists at the Clumsies, Athens’ most acclaimed cocktail bar.

Last orders

Breakfast is served from 7am to 10.30am.

Location

Photos The Modernist Thessaloniki location
Address
The Modernist Thessaloniki
Ermou 32
Thessaloniki
54623
Greece

The Modernist is in downtown Thessaloniki, minutes from the waterfront and a stone’s throw from buzzy bars and restaurants.

Planes

Touch down at Thessaloniki Airport, which can be reached directly from London Gatwick. It takes about 30 minutes to drive from the airport to the hotel; private transfers can be arranged for €22–25 one way.

Trains

Trains run between Athens and Thessaloniki, passing through Larissa and Meteora along the way. A taxi from the station to the hotel should be in the region of €7.

Automobiles

Having your own car isn't really necessary – you can reach all the key sights by bike, bus or taxi. If you do want to hire, the Smith24 team can arrange everything for you. There’s a secure car park within a few minutes’ walk of the hotel for €18 per day.

Worth getting out of bed for

With such a central location, this hotel is one for the rovers. Most guests make the most of the concierge team, who are only too willing to spill the city's best kept secrets. If you do find yourself lingering after breakfast, make your way up to the roof terrace. On the ground floor, you'll find The Modernist Shop, a small but well-curated boutique stocked with clothes, city guides, Moleskine notebooks and the same bath products you’ll find in your room (made by the son of a local pharmacist).

Beyond the door, you’ve got the whole of Greece’s second city to explore – and you’ll find it isn’t wanting in the history department. One of the best ways to immerse yourself in its sometimes turbulent past is on a bike tour, which can be arranged at reception. The bikes will be dropped off at the hotel and you’ll be advised on the best routes to take, ensuring you pass key sights like the White Tower – the city’s most famous landmark – and the old port. If it’s reverence you’re after, take a gander at some of the city’s many churches – highlights include the Church of St Demetrius and Church of Hagia Sophia, one of the oldest in the city. If you want to dig even deeper into the past, head to the Archaeological Museum, which traces Macedonia’s history from prehistoric times to late antiquity. Once you’ve had your fill of the old, see how the new generation compares at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art.

Local restaurants

If you’ve skipped breakfast, make up for it – and then some – at brunch hotspot Estrella, where breakfast favourites are served all day and into the night. Tuck into bacon-stuffed bagels, brioche waffles or a Greek-style breakfast pizza (made with simit dough and layered with toppings like crispy pork belly and gruyere cheese). For lunch, try the hotel’s foodie partner Ergon Agora, where the chefs cook with same produce available at the deli counters. Start with a spread of plump olives, crusty sourdough, garlic-glazed aubergine and stuffed peppers; follow with a plate of the butcher’s spicy meatballs or the fishmonger's catch of the day. Industrial-style restaurant Canteen has won a loyal following for its all-day menu, but it gets particularly buzzy once the sun goes down. Try the grilled lamb, succulent rib-eye or one of the seafood pasta dishes.

Local cafés

Pick one of the millenial-pink-hued tables in Cin Cin's charming courtyard for a lazy lunch. Food is glammed-up Greek, with elegant dishes such as vegetable orzo with pepper pesto and grated feta, herb-crusted pork tenderloin with honey and sage sauce, and black-forest pancakes.

Reviews

Photos The Modernist Thessaloniki reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this budget boutique hotel in Thessaloniki and unpacked their produce from Ergon Agora, the delectable deli next door, a full account of their Greek city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Modernist Thessaloniki…

In the age of the city break, what makes the perfect hotel? When you only have 48 fleeting hours to soak up the atmosphere, you’re unlikely to need every bell and whistle. What today’s fly-by-night rover does look for is striking design, a sense of place and a team of staff who know the area like the back of their hand. In other words, the Modernist Thessaloniki.

Like any self-respecting disciple of the modernist movement, the hotel stands out for its willingness to break with tradition. Lunch and dinner, for example, have been done away with. In truth, this is partly because there’s a delightful deli/restaurant right next door, which acts as the hotel’s all-day diner. Then again, it’s a conscious decision, encouraging you to immerse yourself in the city’s thriving restaurant scene – something the staff are only too happy to help with. In the rooms, the pared-back design and carefully curated extras (Bluetooth speakers; cocktails from legendary Athens cocktail bar the Clumsies) aren’t supposed to knock your socks off. Instead, they’re there to help you steal those placid moments between one outing and the next. If that isn’t the essence of modern(ist) luxury, we don’t know what is.

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Price per night from $129.16

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