ATHENS – The mattress maker Coco-Mat must demolish the top two floors of a 10-story hotel it was building unlawfully that blocks a view of the Acropolis, Greece’s highest administrative court the Council of State has again ruled.

The hotel is in the central Athens neighborhood of Makrygianni and its 33-meter (108-foot) height is nine meters (29.5 feet) above allowed limits, the court said, rejecting an appeal by Blue Cedars Investments.

The American firm was trying to overturn a decision by the Ministry of Culture ordering the demolition and had argued that it was built under a valid permit that was later withdrawn because it wasn’t legally issued.

In April, 2024, the ministry said the top two floors and a rooftop bar for patrons to see the Acropolis that neighborhood residents would be blocked from seeing were unlawful and ordered them sealed, after the court rejected a suspension request.

In November, 2022, the court gave a three-month deadline for the city to seek removal of the top two floors before it wandered off into a two-year delay, objections led by local residents who waged protests.

That came 2 ½ years after the Council of State said the construction permit was void because it didn’t have permits from the Culture Ministry, the case now four years old and ongoing, no word whether the company would obey the order.