Grande Bretagne

HISTORY IN BRIEF: 1842: Anthony Dimitriou, a wealthy Greek from Trieste commissioned the famous Danish architect Theophile Hansen to built a three story, 30 room mansion across the Royal Palace to house his family & business headquarters. 1872: Stathis Lampsas buys the private mansion of Anthony Dimitriou, and converts it into to a 60 room luxurious hotel naming it Grand Bretagne. HISTORY IN DETAIL: In 1842, Anthony Dimitriou, a wealthy Greek from Trieste commissioned the famous Danish architect Theophile Hansen to built a three story, 30 room mansion across the Royal Palace to house his family & business headquarters.  The Dimitriou Mansion was bought by Stathis Lampsas, after the death of its owner who turned it to a 60 room luxurious hotel in 1872. During its long life, it survived two wars, two national disasters and four dictatorships.  It served as the German headquarters during the occupation, with regular visits by Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler, Erwin Rommel & Adolf Hitler, and was almost blown up when rumour had it that Churchill would stay there during his visit to Athens in 1944.  When the Junta of April 1967 collapsed in July 1974, it was at the Grande Bretagne where Constantine Karamanlis lived for four months while he formed the new government in his 5th floor royal suite.  During the first modern Olympics in 1896 it played host to the man who revived the ancient games the Baron Pierre de Coubertin and to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

For nearly 130 years, the Hotel Grande Bretagne has been recognized as the "Royal Box" of Athens. Crowned kings and princes, heads of State, Prime Ministers & Ministers, business tycoons, prominent names in Literature and the Arts, renowned journalists, well-known theatre actors and film stars and many other travellers were and still are today regular patrons of the hotel, which has become the Greek State's official questhouse. Sir Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Kennedy's, Marshal Tito, Indira Ghandi, Archbishop Makarios, George Papandreou, Tao Te Ching, Jimmy Carter, Constantine Karamanlis, George Stephanopoulos, Giscard d'Estaing, Boutros Boutros Ghali, Helmut Kohl, Yasser Arafat, Jacques Chirac, Vladimir Putin, Tassos Papadopulos, Bashar Assad, Resep Tayyip Erdogan, Silvio Berlusconi,…. The Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, the Patriarch of Jerusalem Diodoros,…. During the XXVIII Olympiad the former US President George Bush & Barbara Bush as well as, Barbara & Jenna Bush (daughters of the US President George W. Bush) with Chris Evert & Faye Evert, represented the USA at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and they all stayed here. During the UEFA Champions League football in Athens in 2007, the Hotel Grande Bretagne was UEFA's base of operation. Michel Platini UEFA's President, David Taylor UEFA's Chief Executive, as well as Gérald Houllier and other members of UEFA stayed here. Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna Romanov of Russia, mother of princess Marina of Greece & Duchess of Kent, spent the rest of her life at the hotel after fleeing the revolution,….HRH the Archduke of Austria Karl-Ludwig, Prince Mehmet Ali Pasha, brother of the Khedive of Egypt, Agha Khan III, King Olaf of Norway, Prince Rainer & Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, King Constantine II & Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Crown Prince Pavlos & Crown Princess Maria (Marie-Chantal Miller) of Greece, Prince Nikolaos, Princess Theodora & Prince Philippos of Greece, King Juan Carlos & Queen Sophia of Spain, King Carl XVI Gustaf & Queen Sylvia of Sweden, King Abdullah II & Queen Rania of Jordan, Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew of Great Britain, Prince William of Great Britain, Prince Harry of Great Britain, Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary of Denmark,…. the Rockefellers, Aristotle Onassis & Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Athena Onassis-Roussel, Paris Latsis & Paris Hilton,…. Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Maria Callas, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Alvin Ailey,…. Richard Strauss, Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Vangelis Papathanasiou,….Agatha Christie, Umberto Eco, Kroups, Sir Peter Ustinov,….Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Carlo Ponti, Oliver Reed, Roman Polanski, Oliver Stone,….Alan Ladd, Greta Garbo, David Niven, Klaus Kinsky, Lord Laurence Olivier & Mary Pickford, Anthony Perkins, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Paul Newman, Alain Delon, Bridgette Bardot, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Ursula Andress, Lisa Minnelli, Joan Collins, Richard Chamberlain, William Shatner, Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Pamela Anderson,….David Bowie, Sir Sting, Grace Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Matt Barrett,….Jean Paul Gaultier,….Dr Christian Barnard,….and other famous celebrities from all over the world.