The AthensWas scores high on every count. The location couldn’t be better: in the charming and lively Plaka district, only footsteps from the Acropolis Museum and entrance to the Acropolis, within easy walking distance of the Ancient Agora, other major sights, and innumerable restaurants. The AthensWas advertises itself as a design hotel, and it lives up to its claim. The decor is mid-twentieth-century modern, beautifully executed, all blacks and whites and grays. Our room was ample in size with a balcony that offered a killer view of the Parthenon. Service at the hotel is friendly and eager to help. Breakfast is served in a glass-walled, top-floor dining room that also looks up to the Parthenon. It’s by order, not buffet. For our first night at the AthenWas, we ate in Sense, the nighttime version of the top-floor dining room. The meal was expensive, but watching the sun set behind the Acropolis and Parthenon and their night lighting come on was mesmerizing.