ATHENS, Greece – Mayor Bloomberg and other mayors from around the world descending on Athens can rest assured the city’s subways and Olympic facilities are all up to snuff, but there’s still one major work in progress they’ll have to put up with: the hotel many of them will be staying at.

The city of Athens is putting up more than 10 mayors at the Athens Imperial Hotel, a five-star facility that boasts trendy design touches such as a mod rooftop pool and see-through Philippe Stark chairs in every room.

The intended effect might be something serene, but the atmosphere is anything but, with construction workers scurrying about and irritating alarms going off at frequent intervals. Should Mayor Bloomberg be one of the mayors staying there, he’ll feel right at home – on Monday he vetoed legislation banning the sale and installation of certain audible car alarms.

Citing security issues, the hotel would not disclose which mayors will be staying there, but would confirm there will be more than 10 in total. A few of the mayors slated to visit the Olympics are Ken Livingstone of London, Wang Qishan of Beijung, Prague’s Pavel Bem, Kadir Topbas of Istanbul and Rome’s Walter Veltroni.

Mr. Bloomberg arrives in Athens today and will be the star at a special welcoming party tomorrow. According to a source familiar with the matter, the mayors will be coming in two waves – now, and then closer to the August 29 closing ceremony.

The Athens Imperial has been under construction for a year – and still is, even though it’s just opened its doors to guests. A few visits to the property consistently yielded a lobby full of well-heeled guests in addition to teams of construction workers.

Its marble floored lobby smelled like wet paint and a security alarm that was still undergoing programming went off countless times. The guests there say they are pleased with the property, yet they concede it’s not exactly what they’re used to when it comes to accommodations that run from about $1,200 to $6,250 a night.

The Athens Imperial was supposed to be up and running on July 1, but due to various delays in its construction, didn’t open until August 3. Yesterday the hotel confirmed the underground convention hall and “a couple” of guest rooms were still not ready.

The $20 million construction of the hotel was a bit of a gamble. It’s located on Karaiskaki Square in Metaxourgio, a bustling area that’s become more fashionable over the last year or so, but borders on Omonia, an area the latest Time Out Athens guidebook calls a “dodgy, traffic-clogged meeting point for drug addicts, prostitutes and down-and-out migrants.”

The hotel belongs to the Grecotel chain, which has over 40 properties in Greece and Bulgaria. It was built on the site of a former office building and sits on a noisy traffic circle, facing a parking area filled with motorbikes.

The sidewalk surrounding the hotel is nearly paved but still contains some significant gaps and bumps that could be a chipped tooth or sprained wrist waiting to happen. Inside it’s a prettier picture, but still far from flawless. It’s still undergoing construction involving audible hammering, drilling, and alarms, which are occasionally all audible at the same time.

The lobby’s in prime condition, with its shiny marble floors and a curved marble staircase, but a visit to a waiting area by the second-floor elevator was met with the sight of a paint-splattered carpet supporting stacks of chaise lounge chairs, seal-wrapped mattresses, fire extinguishers, and baby strollers. Only three of four elevators were working. A strange hum was emanating from the ceiling.

The floor was cleaned up on a subsequent visit, but not all the rooms were ready.

The completed rooms are the epitome of steam-lined luxury. They contain ethernet cables, goody-loaded bathrooms, Philips stand-up CD players – and some even boast views of the Acropolis. Room service offers “Low calorie healthy breakfast” for about $26, as well as “Steamed mussels and quinces w parsley and wine” for $20.

Three months ago, the chain picked Yannis Simos, who has worked in the Greek hotel industry for 30 years, as its general manager. His job was to hire staff and get things rolling along.

Dressed in a button-down shirt and a tie with a pattern featuring the furry Olympic mascots, Mr. Simos led The New York Sun around on a tour. Mr. Simos has the eyes and expressive mien of a silent film actor, and when he was asked what the delays could be blamed on, he raised his arms in the air and shrugged his bony shoulders. “Routine things,” he said. “Delays in manufacturing, delays in construction. Normal things.”

During the Olympics, the hotel’s occupancy rate fluctuates between 85% and 100%. No athletes are staying there, but executives, including 35 members of Japan’s Coca-Cola offices, as well as “over ten mayors” are slated to stay there, courtesy of the city of Athens, which has reserved 70 rooms.

Though Mr. Simos would not say if Mr. Bloomberg would be a guest, he did say that no two mayors from any of the bidding cities for the 2012 Olympics (New York, London, Paris, Madrid, and Moscow) would be staying there at the same time.

The attractive black and white bar on the first floor has yet to attract a local clientele, but Mr. Simos expects that to happen soon. “I want it to be a place to see and be seen,” he said, adding that the area is moving up in the eyes of Athenians, and already has some new art galleries and chic boutique hotels.

For now, Mr. Simos said the goal is to strike a balance between chic and comfortable. “We don’t want it to be cold,” he said. Some of the hotel’s touches are your regular glitzy modern fare, like bare marble bathrooms and sleek mahogany wardrobes.

Others, though, are rather unorthodox, like the lobby’s hyper-realistic painting of a sad-looking dog and its fresh excrement. “I don’t know, I don’t know what style it is,” Mr. Simos said. “What do you think? It’s different.”