In 1837 the Stephanos Skouloudis Mansion was constructed at Syntagma Square by the French architect V. E. Poitrineau. After the death of S. Skouloudis in 1928, the Mansion was renovated by the architect Anastasios Metaxas. For a short period it served as an annex to the Palace which was housed in what today is the  Parliament building, and, later on, served for a while as the  Prime Minister's residence.

In the early 1930s, the Mansion was bought by entrepreneur Konstantinos Kalkanis who demolished it and built the King George Palace Hotel in its place. The architect was Nikolaos Zouboulidis and the construction was undertaken by civil   engineer Dimitrios Kalkanis. King George Palace was inaugurated in 1936. One of its first visitors was King George II. 

The building underwent several alterations, the last one by architect Ioannis Antoniadis in 1955. This intervention resulted in the addition of three upper floors and gave the building its final form in 1958.

In 1988 the hotel was shut down due to the owner company's debts and in 1995 it was acquired by the Bank of Crete. Following its acquisition by Eurobank, a lease agreement was signed with a hotel chain. The hotel was renovated and operated from 2004 until 2012.

In June 2013, following three months of intensive work for its renovation and refurbishment, King George -five star hotel- opened its doors as part of the “Hellenic Hotels Company S.A”, under the management of “Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.” The new owner’s aim is to offer visitors comfort, quality, an international ambiance and high-level hospitality. The renovation cost  exceeded two and a half million Euros.

Alexandros C. Samaras & Associates S.A. were in charge of the hotel's renovation. Asked about the project , Alexandros Samaras pointed out : “The renovation and upgrading of the King George Hotel was carried out with particular sensitivity and respect for its tradition. Our architectural interventions aim at reviving the glory and prestige of the hotel, highlighting at the same time its contemporary personality. Our objective is to reinstate the King George Hotel as a central milestone of Athens.''