After Sudanese independence in 1956 the Greek-owned hotel weathered several regime changes and developed into a popular entry point and base for visiting journalists, humanitarians, diplomats, archaeologists and other researchers as well as overland travellers.

The Acropole was founded in 1952 by Panagiotis ("Panaghis") Pagoulatos from the village of Valsamata on the Ionian island of Cephalonia,[1] who had left Greece during World War II, and his wife Flora, who was from the community of the Greeks in Egypt, specifically from Alexandria.

When the British Governor-General Sir Alexander Knox Helm had the "Great Britain Bar" closed because of the noise, the couple took over a liquor dealership, opened a wine store, a confectionery shop, and then the Acropole,[3] which at first had just ten rooms, but soon expanded.

[9] In the same year, Panagiotis Pagoulatos died and his three sons Athanasios ("Thanasis"), George, and Gerasimos (better known as "Makis" or "Mike", who was born in the Acropole)[10] took over the business: “With their mother’s guidance and their hard work, they managed to turn the hotel into an actual treasure of the city’s cultural and touristic life.”[11] Unlike many other Greek-Sudanese enterprises, the Acropole was spared from the policies of nationalisation following the 1969 coup d'état, since it was housed in a rented building.

[7] In 1983 again, the Acropole lost part of its business, when president Gaafar Nimeiry introduced the draconic "September Laws" under the label of Sharia and had all beverages dumped into the Blue Nile.

[16] A framed letter from the Irish pop-star-turned-Band Aid founder Bob Geldof on the wall of the hotel office depicts his appreciation for the support by the Pagoulatos family and their staff.

[9] On 15 May 1988, a commando of the Abu Nidal Organization bombed the restaurant, killing a British couple with their two children, another Briton, and two Sudanese workers,[17][9] leaving 21 people injured.

"[3]When German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's helicopter crashed in the Nuba mountains in early 2000 at the age of 97, the Pagoulatos brothers found her a Sudan Airways captain and plane to rescue her and the crew, and had an ambulance waiting at the airport.

[21] An added attraction is the OHM electronics shop next door, which is owned by the brother of Sheikh Musa Hilal, previously the leader of Darfur's notorious Janjaweed militia.

On 1 July 2022, George Pagoulatos, who directed "Acropole affairs with the courtesy and aplomb of the captain of a luxury liner",[4] died at the age of 75 years.

[34][35] RSF fighters ransacked the hotel, robbing guests and staff,[36] who were only able to leave after ten days through streets littered with dead bodies.