Hotels in Athens

[saphir]

We will be on Sun September 2025.  Which hotel in Athens (moderne, with view of Acropolis)?  Thank you.

[sultan_sfo]

41 minutes ago, saphir said:

We will be on Sun September 2025.  Which hotel in Athens (moderne, with view of Acropolis)?  Thank you.

 

We have stayed here twice. Also close to subway (metro) station.

 

https://www.athensgate.gr/

Edited August 26 by sultan_sfo

[JimmyVWine]

58 minutes ago, saphir said:

We will be on Sun September 2025.  Which hotel in Athens (moderne, with view of Acropolis)?  Thank you.

Don't get too caught up on a hotel that advertises a view of the Acropolis.  It sounds like a neat feature.  But the truth is that the Acropolis sits way up on its own hill and can be seen from many vantage points.  This picture was taken from the rooftop bar of the Melia Athens on our first night in town.  I thought it was really "special."  After 4 more days in Athens, I learned that this is a very common sight. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

[Over the Line]

You can't beat the view from the Grande Bretagne! Worth a splurge because it is expensive. It's also well located ... you didn't mention the Plaka, but that's something you want to explore too.

 

The hotel:

 

Parthenon view from the hotel:

 

Parliament view from the hotel:

 

YOLO!

[JimmyVWine]

And just to put this into perspective, here is a shot that I took from my balcony on Regal Princess several years later.  Granted, this was with a zoom lens.  But the port is 20-30 minutes from Athens, and you can still see the Acropolis given how much it stands out.

 

 

 

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, Over the Line said:

You can't beat the view from the Grande Bretagne! Worth a splurge because it is expensive. It's also well located ... you didn't mention the Plaka, but that's something you want to explore too.

 

The hotel:

 

Parthenon view from the hotel:

 

Parliament view from the hotel:

 

YOLO!

I second this recommendation. 

[saphir]

Thank you all.  I now have several choices

[princeton123211]

On 8/26/2024 at 5:16 PM, Over the Line said:

You can't beat the view from the Grande Bretagne!

Would third it. This is most likely the best all around hotel in town but it can be expensive. You can redeem Marriott Bovoy points for some or all of the stay though (it's part of The Luxury Collection) so that can take some of the sting off. The rooftop restaurant overlooking the Acropolis is wonderful and the rooftop pool on the otherside is a great hideaway after touring around Athens. 

[MELSMOM47]

On 8/26/2024 at 5:16 PM, Over the Line said:

You can't beat the view from the Grande Bretagne! Worth a splurge because it is expensive. It's also well located ... you didn't mention the Plaka, but that's something you want to explore too.

 

The hotel:

 

Parthenon view from the hotel:

 

Parliament view from the hotel:

 

YOLO!

Yikes. Just checked for our cruise next May…… $8,115€ per night. That is quite the splurge 😱

[princeton123211]

20 hours ago, MELSMOM47 said:

Yikes. Just checked for our cruise next May…… $8,115€ per night. That is quite the splurge 😱

That's not typical-- most likely only a top suite is left or something like that. Usually the GB is in the $1000-1300 per night range for an entry room and the sister hotel the King George next door is usually a bit less around $700-800 that time of year. 

 

If you have Marriott Bonvoy points this can be an excellent redemption for around 80,000-90,000 points per night. 

[drew69]

On 9/2/2024 at 2:09 PM, MELSMOM47 said:

Yikes. Just checked for our cruise next May…… $8,115€ per night. That is quite the splurge 😱

Check the M-Gallery Athens Capital Center Hotel by Accor.  Directly across the street.  Excellent hotel, fantastic service, rooftop bar and infinity pool with Acropolis view as well as the same excellent location.

[2blueyam]

3 hours ago, drew69 said:

Check the M-Gallery Athens Capital Center Hotel by Accor.  Directly across the street.  Excellent hotel, fantastic service, rooftop bar and infinity pool with Acropolis view as well as the same excellent location.

Agree. I stayed there on a small group land tour and found it excellent.

[MELSMOM47]

22 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

That's not typical-- most likely only a top suite is left or something like that. Usually the GB is in the $1000-1300 per night range for an entry room and the sister hotel the King George next door is usually a bit less around $700-800 that time of year. 

 

If you have Marriott Bonvoy points this can be an excellent redemption for around 80,000-90,000 points per night. 

I’m going to continue to check. DH thinks it may have just been a typo. 

[MELSMOM47]

On 9/3/2024 at 10:55 AM, princeton123211 said:

That's not typical-- most likely only a top suite is left or something like that. Usually the GB is in the $1000-1300 per night range for an entry room and the sister hotel the King George next door is usually a bit less around $700-800 that time of year. 

 

If you have Marriott Bonvoy points this can be an excellent redemption for around 80,000-90,000 points per night. 

Crazy. Only three bedroom suites. This is in May 2025. Checked another date and it’s only $500. Now that would be quite reasonable 

[princeton123211]

40 minutes ago, MELSMOM47 said:

Crazy. Only three bedroom suites. This is in May 2025. Checked another date and it’s only $500. Now that would be quite reasonable 

Keep checking-- it will go down. Most likely there are a bunch of room blocks that, when they get released, will open up a lot of regular rooms. 

 

If you want to stay at the GB I would book something with a reasonable cancellation policy (the King George next door is also part of the Luxury Collection but its not quite as nice as the Grande Bretagne and could be a good place holder). 

 

I would then check back every month and switch the booking when it opens up. 

[Hambagahle]

On 8/26/2024 at 11:16 PM, Over the Line said:

You can't beat the view from the Grande Bretagne! Worth a splurge because it is expensive. It's also well located ... you didn't mention the Plaka, but that's something you want to explore too.

 

The hotel:

 

Parthenon view from the hotel:

 

Parliament view from the hotel:

 

YOLO!

Have stayed there and hate - absolutely loathe in fact - the "décor" which I term "early brothel"...   Location is great.  The King George  next door might also be a good choice and their décor is more understated...but not much.

Edited September 12 by Hambagahle

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Have stayed there and hate - absolutely loathe in fact - the "décor" which I term "early brothel"...   Location is great. 

Are we talking about the same hotel? I always found it fairly subdued for grande dame hotel decor-- I can think of a bunch of similarly vintage hotels that are much more over the top-- The Plaza, Waldorf Astoria, Beverly Hills Hotel in the US. The Savoy in London- George V in Paris. All way more ornate. 

 

Always found the GB to be grand but very comfortable and the Greek embellishments give it a great sense of place. 

[Hambagahle]

43 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Are we talking about the same hotel? I always found it fairly subdued for grande dame hotel decor-- I can think of a bunch of similarly vintage hotels that are much more over the top-- The Plaza, Waldorf Astoria, Beverly Hills Hotel in the US. The Savoy in London- George V in Paris. All way more ornate. 

 

Always found the GB to be grand but very comfortable and the Greek embellishments give it a great sense of place. 

Have stayed at all you mention...  Beverly Hills is a but alternative...  however I far prefer sleek modern design with no clutter.  "Scandi" if you like !   "One man's meat is another man's poison" sort of thing I suppose.  

[princeton123211]

On 9/12/2024 at 11:05 AM, Hambagahle said:

Have stayed there and hate - absolutely loathe in fact - the "décor" which I term "early brothel"...

 

On 9/12/2024 at 3:42 PM, Hambagahle said:

Have stayed at all you mention...  Beverly Hills is a but alternative...  however I far prefer sleek modern design with no clutter.  "Scandi" if you like !   "One man's meat is another man's poison" sort of thing I suppose.  

We're all entitled to our opinion but it's pretty unfair to criticise a hotel built between 1874 and 1930 for not having minimalist Scandinavian architecture which didn't even exist at the time it was built. The Grand Hotel in Stockholm, a contemporary of the Grande Bretagne, has no such Scandinavian design and is unapologetic for it. 

 

But it does seem that you've been frequenting some very upscale brothels... 

[Hambagahle]

I am not critizing the architecture - far from it.  It is the interior decoration I do not like.  It is perfectly possible to have something - on the "Georgian model" for example - in an older building.  In fact it looks very nice.   And I do think you should retract your last sentence.   It is not a very nice thing to say to an 80-something woman!

[MELSMOM47]

9 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

I am not critizing the architecture - far from it.  It is the interior decoration I do not like.  It is perfectly possible to have something - on the "Georgian model" for example - in an older building.  In fact it looks very nice.   And I do think you should retract your last sentence.   It is not a very nice thing to say to an 80-something woman!

The Hotel Lutetia in Paris is a good example. Renovated in a very modern style.

[EtaC]

Getting back to issues besides interior design. We recently finished a cruise that began and ended in Athens spending four days before and one day after at the Divani Palace Hotel. This is in the Makrigianni neighborhood just south of the Acropolis. The hotel itself was nice although our room on the first stay was on the small side. Like most hotels in the area, it has a rooftop restaurant/bar with Acropolis views which we enjoyed. The staff was friendly and helpful and kept us informed on possible issues, such as the Sept. 9 taxi strike. They worked to arrange alternative transportation for guests who needed it. They also had a large (if expensive) breakfast buffet.

 

More than the hotel itself, though, I have to recommend the neighborhood. Makrigianni is host to the Acropolis Museum, the less-used south entrance to the hill, and the associated Metro stop. It is much more of a real Greek neighborhood than Plaka or Monastiraki. One night we ate at a local taverna that was clearly frequented by the people that live there. The prices there, and at other restaurants in the neighborhood were less than those in the more touristed areas north of the Acropolis. Yet our hotel was a five-minute walk from the museum, the south entrance, and from Byron St, the start of Plaka. We could walk to Syntagma or Monatiraki in less than 20 minutes. Tourist busses headed to the west entrance did pass through, but that was the extent of obvious tourist presence. When we came back after the cruise it felt, in some ways, that we were already home as the neighborhood felt like ours by then.

 

I would also recommend one restaurant. It had the rather obvious name "El Greco" but it was wonderful It is located on Kavalloti St just around the corner from the hotel. We had two fabulous breakfasts there and lunch once. We watched people walking their dogs or coming back from stores and just going about their lives as we ate. It came to feel like our local joint, not as a tourist focused restaurant.

[cruisemom42]

On 9/12/2024 at 3:42 PM, Hambagahle said:

Have stayed at all you mention...  Beverly Hills is a but alternative...  however I far prefer sleek modern design with no clutter.  "Scandi" if you like !   "One man's meat is another man's poison" sort of thing I suppose.  

 

I think it's nicer when the interior remains true to the period.

[strobellayjam]

On 8/26/2024 at 4:49 PM, sultan_sfo said:

 

We have stayed here twice. Also close to subway (metro) station.

 

https://www.athensgate.gr/

I second this.  We've stayed here each time in Athens and love it.  The rooms are a bit small but the hotel is clean, modern and staff are lovely.  The rooftop restaurant affords a beautiful view of the Acropolis for dinner and the included breakfast.  It's within walking distance to the Acropolis and Plaka.

[MELSMOM47]

On 9/3/2024 at 5:19 PM, drew69 said:

Check the M-Gallery Athens Capital Center Hotel by Accor.  Directly across the street.  Excellent hotel, fantastic service, rooftop bar and infinity pool with Acropolis view as well as the same excellent location.

This is the hotel we chose. How would you rate the breakfast?  Were there any memorable restaurants you can share?