The Acropole was founded in 1955 and run by the Greek Pagoulatos family - brothers Thanasis, George, and Mike.
The Acropole is the oldest hotel in Khartoum, founded by the brothers' father in 1955. An added attraction is the OHM electronics shop next door, which is owned by the brother of Sheikh Musa Hilal, the tribal leader of Darfur's notorious Janjaweed. Several journalists and members of human rights organizations have managed to interview Hilal in that shop. [1]
When notorious filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's helicopter crashed in the Nuba mountains, 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. During the famine, when provisions were as scarce as rain, the Pagoulatos family and their Sudanese network scrounged up goods for Oxfam and Save the Children to get to the camps. [1]