/ 6 / The Olympic Palace lives on in New Hotel, as evidenced by the repurposed doors and boards that create this dramatic colonnade in the Taste restaurant. /6/ the Campanas did not dilute the Favela theme. A jagged wash basin that pairs a polyester base with a brass bowl sink makes the bathrooms memorable. In the guest rooms, they installed a “fragment wall” featuring one of three themes drawn from Greek culture. In the 27 rooms inspired by mischievous characters from Greek folklore called karagiozis, carved, gold-finished shadow puppets are mounted on the walls to suggest moving fairy tales. The 24 “Evil Eye” rooms are watched over by varioussized bead charms that ward off ill omens. Retro tourism and historic postcards are scattered over the walls in the remaining rooms. Despite their thematic differences, the rooms share a green outlook, thanks to their solid bamboo floors and side tables. Joannou views this intense reinvention as a labor of love. He likes the idea that New Hotel “remembers” its former life through the rethinking of its pieces and parts. It also fits the green promise of Yes! (which stands for Young Enthusiastic Seductive). In his view, this green space in Athens’ hotel inventory is “an astonishing work of art – a Gesamtkunstwerk [synthesis of the arts] in which all the senses are in an overall intensified form of visual, tactile and somatic interaction.” HS 20 HOSPITALITYSTYLE.COM / SPRING 2012