It might be 30 years in the making, but the laid back Greeks are only just now putting the finishing touches on the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Located at the foot of the Acropolis, the new museum already has the ground floor open so you can get a taste for the ancient; the rest of the exhibitions are due to open early next year. At the moment it's free to see the ground floor and as yet, they haven't set a price--which scares us a little, as we think they've decided the price but it's too expensive to reveal.

Meanwhile, they've been trying to get back some ancient bits that were basically stolen by other countries. While Italy and Sweden have been cooperative, the Brits are holding off on giving back the Elgin Marbles, which are sittin' pretty in the British Museum.

Related Stories:
· New Acropolis Museum [Official Site]
· Inside the New Acropolis Museum [UK Times]

[Photo: New Acropolis Museum]

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

When you're on your honeymoon, you're hoping not to come up

Our far-flung correspondent Monica Guy has once again slapped together a guide to city we have only dreamed about visiting. This time, she's summing up Athens, Greek. Got a tip, question or suggestion about Athens? Send it our way.

Chaos. It's a Greek word originally, and it's exactly what you'll find in Greece's capital of Athens.

Chaotic driving, chaotic shopping, chaotic, hot, throbbing nightlife. It's good chaos - especially if you need a break from the boring predictability of an office - and one of the most fun and alive places to visit in southern Europe.

The hotel scene is as chaotic as the rest of the city. We've had the quintessential English hotel,

Here's some fresh news about the Fresh Hotel in Athens, Greece. It labels itself an urban resort and boasts "subtle luxury", as well as pretty amazing views from the deck on top of the hotel (they stretch even to the Parthenon).

Recent guests have had lots of positive things to say about their stay at Fresh. They speak of helpful staff, a tasty breakfast with lots of alternatives to choose from and an impressive pool on the rooftop. The major downside seems to be that Fresh is located in a slightly seedy area and not everyone will feel safe walking back here at night; plus in true designer style, some rooms have those showers which looking

We just heard (via Design Spotter) of a conceptual show starting next week at the Milch & Zucker Gallery in Berlin called "Athens vs. Berlin, From the Ex to the Next: A Capital Design Crash." The name alone sounds exciting whether you're a design freak or not. The gist of the show is this: three big time designers, two from Berlin and one from Athens had worked together years ago. They split up and are converging once again in Berlin to show off their design ideas inspired by their respective cultural capitals. The reunited the designers run the studios Greece is For Lovers (Athens), Daniel Weilder Product + Interior Design (Berlin), and Moritz Böttcher Produktdesign (Berlin).

Athens vs. Berlin [Official Site]
Athens vs. Berlin [Design Spotter]

-- Amanda Kludt

The name of the Baby Grand Hotel alone conjures up elegant kind of jazz-on-a-Sunday evening images ... but that's not exactly what you'll find if you check into this Athens hotel. While it has some relatively normal guestrooms and suites, there are also 55 graffiti rooms, that the hotel itself describes in this way:

Each room is an individual piece of art... From fantastic street and Japanese art to simply spaced out fantasies. Running waters, mountains, forests, flowers, true fairytales, dreaming creatures, and legendary cartoon heroes decorate in the most unique way our 55 graffiti rooms.

This week, a UK Guardian review explained it in a slightly different way:

The result is a hotchpotch of wacky installations such

In honor of the coming New Year, the jet-setting folks at Condé Nast Traveler have rounded up a list of how 12:00 am, January 1 will be met in nine different places around the globe. From a night of Buddhist meditation in Tokyo, to Edinburgh’s three-night Hogmanay bender involving gallons of alcohol, and men in skirts and no underwear, there’s bound to be a celebration to suit your style.

Worldchanging designer Karim Rashid is at it again. Last night we spotted him hawking his new Dirt Devil Kone--it is the new shape of clean y'all.  

Of course, the design guru was dressed in his trademark white suite for the Dirt Devil spot, which eerily reminded us of the Dyson vacuum ads.

While Karim toils in the Dirt Devil lab, across the globe at his Semiramis Hotel Athens, some question his choice of palette. A recent French guest critiques Semiramis (read the following tip in a Jean Girard over-the-top accent for added amusement):

We are big fan of design hotel, however this one is not what we like. I will recommend visiting the

Unfortunately Athens, Greece can be a dirty, sleazy, and loud place to visit. That's why choosing the right hotel is extremely important in his ancient city. The AVA Hotel in the uppity Plaka neighborhood could be a safe haven from the sketch areas. The four-star provides apartment-style suites with verandas overlooking the acropolis.

Past reviews of the AVA really build up the hotel and its staff. Countless people make it a point to report the top-notch staffers:

The Staff: Maria and the other reception staff were just wonderful. This is one of the warmest staff we have ever encountered while traveling. Thank you for helping us with everything from navigating the touristy areas, to providing shopping and