christianj

We are booked to spend 12 nights in Greece this June and the only location I am not sure of which hotel I want to stay in is Athens. Athens will be our first stop during the trip and we are only staying there 2 nights due to all the comments I have read on FT.

Athens offers numerous points redemption options and we are currently holding 2 nights in the following 3 hotels:
- Radisson Blue Park Hotel - 2 nights Business Class room at 57k points thanks to the CC Visa
- Grande Bretagne (Starwood Platinum)
- Hilton Athens (Hilton Gold)

I need to make a decision shortly on which one we are actually staying at and cancel the other options. Based solely on luxury and location, the Grande Bretagne is a no brainer (plus a SPG Platinum upgrade could also be in the cards) but we are using a lot of SPG points on a 5 night stay at the Blue Palace on Crete. The location and quality of the Radisson and Hilton seem to be in a category below the Grande Bretagne. Have tons of Club Carlson points so using some of them on this trip seems like a good idea. I just can't decide!

Anyone in the forum ever stay at the Radisson? TA reviews are good and the staff and the restaurant seem to be the bright spots of the hotel.

asandrs

My wife and I stayed at the Athens Radisson on points for 2 nights in January. I posted a review on holidaycheck.com. My review was similar to others in that it is just a OK hotel and their definition of 5 star differs to mine. P.M. me if you want any specific details.

ttwu

Stayed there last summer with my girlfriend during our summer vacation to Greece. We were upgraded to business class room as a CC gold member. I agree with asandrs that it was nice, but I wouldn't say it is 5 star level. The rooms were comfortable and well maintained. We did very much like the common areas and the rooftop bar, it was very relaxing and pleasant, especially in the evening with a nice view of the Acropolis (even though a bit far away).

christianj

Thanks asandrs and ttwu!

shuly

Stayed there 4 nights earlier this week. Very nice but nothing special. Location is sub-optimal for seeing the city's highlights, although taxis are abundant and cheap. The room, while nice and well appointed, does not make you want to spend time in it. People are extremely friendly and everyone is eager to please, but I agree it's not a 5-star experience at all.

Shuly

whimsey21

Stayed there for two nights in August. the previous review captured my sentiments-- the hotel was nice but not spectacular, and the location was lousy. We had 2 rooms-- a business class and a standard. The business class was quite nice, very roomy and comfortable with huge windows. The standard was tiny, with a view across to the other side of the hotel. The two were so completely different that they could have been in different properties (one 5* and one 3*). Breakfast was great, with a good selection and very high quality food (amazing fresh peach juice!). Service was not so good- one morning the guy running breakfast was shouting at everyone who walked in that there were no clean tables and he was too busy. The hotel has no concierge, so we asked the front desk staff for directions and such. They were very friendly, but not overly helpful- after losing a lot of time following what turned out to be incorrect directions, I ended up giving up on asking. As others have said, the area was ok to walk around during the day, but I wasn't very happy walking to dinner at night- the streets around the hotel were completely deserted, and the area felt quite run down.
I had stayed on points, and it is hard to beat free, but I think next time in Athens, I'll look for a different property, in a different neighborhood.

iluvdoco

I've read that the hotel is in a rough neighborhood (homeless, prostitutes, druggies). Any recent experiences?

Also, do they have a free airport shuttle?

jackebofh

They do not provide free airport shuttle, but the metro ride with just one transfer should be no problem to anyone.

As for the neighborhood - i wouldn't say it's bad. It's nothing spectacular, but not bad for sure.

CoweyB

I stayed there last year and will do so again next Spring. Being Concierge I got an upgrade to a junior suite. It's five minutes walk from a metro station and the local area was fine. Like others I agree the hotel is 4 rather than 5 star but I'm happy to stay there a second time.

whimsey21

As I said in my review from a little over a year ago, the area around the hotel was extremely run down. We had a view of the park from our room, and there were definitely quite a few people sleeping there at night. We walked around the area at night a few times and the streets along the park and behind the hotel were deserted, with a few solitary guys hanging around here or there- I did find it a bit uncomfortable (and I'm quite used to walking around European cities late at night). That said, I didn't notice any prostitutes or druggies, and the walk to/from the metro station was fine.

ORD-TGU

Same when I visited Dec 2015. During daylight ok, but in winter got dark at 5pmish so, it does feel a bit uncomfortable due to rundown park, no street lights, graffiti, etc. I walked to hotel from Syntagma. Prostitutes hang out closer to that area than hotel.

Hotel is not run down, just very outdated, or more like "classic" style. Marble, Chrome and gold trim, floral patterns, etc.

But one exceptional thing, I was assigned the best room in hotel. The one on the website cover. Top floor, corner, balcony with outdoor furniture, Parthenon view. Fantastic, except for pigeons.

Breakfast was good, just that it was packed with tour groups.

Other days stayed at crowne plaza and hilton. Much better location although not as nice Parthenon view. Hilton had great lounge. Crowne Plaza I was told I had to pay up to use lounge, although room was spacious and also had a small outside terrace. Would recommend Hilton.

Squerez

I agree with last post. The hotel is a bit outdated inside standard rooms but the business and suites are by far better.
The common areas are instead very modern.
This year I was there in May and August.
The only disappointing fact in May was that rooftop restaurant and swimming pool were still closed while in August I discovered that rooftop restaurant didn't serve anymore breakfast but only dinner/lunch (which is not very interesting to take inside the hotel while Athens offers a lot of better options).
In fact the breakfast with view that the rooftop restaurant granted was amazing.
For me taking breakfast in the basement doesnt make sense: only view on traffic and noise.
So, i just hope they will offer again breakfast in the top and then I would be back for sure.

Location? Yes, the area is not glam but is near the Monastiraki without the chaos of that area.