Finding Refuge - Athens City Plaza Hotel

With around 100 rooms, City Plaza Hotel is home to just under 400 people. (J. Owens/VOA)

The hotel is seven stories high and located in Athens Victoria district. (J. Owens/VOA)

Those living at the hotel have three square meals a day. (J. Owens/VOA)

Outside the hotel, workers dig up the street while a family, unable to get in as the hotel is full, waits. (J. Owens/VOA)

A man makes his way up the hotel's stairs to his room. There are a diverse range of nationalities at the hotel, including Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghanis and Iranians. (J. Owens/VOA)

Children play with one of the volunteers in the hotel. About 180 children live here. (J. Owens/VOA)

Meals are being served. Both activists and refugees take part in preparing food, much of which is sourced through the activists' network. (J. Owens/VOA)

Jamila, from Iran, is here with her family. (J. Owens/VOA)

The City Plaza Hotel had been closed for years but remained fully furnished. It was squatted by activists last month. (J. Owens/VOA)

One of the hotel's 380 residents is seen on the first floor lobby. Meetings are held here allowing people to air their views. (J. Owens/VOA)

Children play in the corridors leading to their rooms. The rooms come with en-suite shower and toilet - a stark contrast to the conditions many were living in before they arrived here. (J. Owens/VOA)

Syed Nadim Rizwi is seen in his room with one of his sons. A Shia Muslim, he fled Pakistan after a number of relatives were murdered. (J. Owens/VOA)

A family waits outside the hotel hoping to be allowed entry. However, City Plaza's popularity means it is now full. (J. Owens/VOA)