The inauguration of the Athens Hilton in 1963 served as the material culmination of post-WWII developmental synergy between the Greek State and the American factor -a synergy that boosted the nascent tourism industry and paved the way foe American corporate mobility in Greece. It was a spectacular architectural example of the International Style, with immense rhetorical power, that characterised Athens’s urban landscape and solidified collective confidence in a modernising future tied to the West. The concave, marble-faced volume of the Athens Hilton, positioned perpendicular to Vas. Sophias Avenue in order to face the Acropolis, contributed to the transformation of the undeveloped residential area ‘behind the Hilton’, as the neighbourhood came to be known.

The Athens Hilton, owned by Ioniki Hotel Enterprises S.A., began operations under the general management of 36-year-old Swiss Pierre Jaquillard, who had previously served in the general management of the Nile Hilton since 1959. In addition to the design team of three architects -Prokopis Vassiliadis, Emmanouil Vourekas and Spyros Staikos- Antonis Georgiadis served as collaborating architect, with civil engineer Gerard Nahnikian contributing to the project. The New York office of Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde – Architects was responsible for the interior decorations and furnishings of the new hotel. The project cost a total of $14,000,000 (420 million Greek drachmas). The Athens Hilton employed 600 staff members, 95% of whom were Greek."