Austman

Could anyone give me a review of this hotel?

I'm going to take a few days vacation in Athens in early March and have booked this hotel. It looks very nice and at $USD 120/night (Winter special for a minimum 3 night stay), it seems to be excellent value.

Thank you in advance,
Austman

mpclaw

I stayed there following a cruise last May. It's a very, very grand, but dearly in need of an overhaul. (As is most all of Grece) The location could not be better, and there is a lack of 1st class hotels in Athens. You are in walking distance to the Plaka. In May, the AC in our room could barely keep up. March will be OK. As a Starwood Platinum member, I had a nice room overlooking the square, received a fruit basket and a bottle of wine, and a framed sketch of the hotel with along with a thank you note from the Manager. Great buffet breakfast is included.

Leisuremiles

A friend of mine stayed there recently and apparently it has gone downhill dramatically.

I stayed at the Ledra Marriott last summer and was very impressed with it in comparison to other hotels I have stayed in in Athens-including the Hilton and the Intercontinental.

The Grande Bretagne is well located, at Stygma Square, but taxis are plentiful and cheap in Athens and can get you downtown in 10-15 minutes.

GK

I have stayed in this hotel twice this year already and frankly do not recommend it. There is limited meal choice, the decor is tired and there are often political demonstrations outside (it is opposite the parliament building) which resulted in traffic blockades.

davidlee

In prep for the Olympics the whole area was being reconstructed--as of last year it was a total filthy mess around the hotel as well as noisy--maybe by now it has been completed(which I strongly doubt). The hotel was in great need of updating(maybe done by now--which I also doubt). Check this all out before deciding whether or not to stay there.

PHL

Stayed there twice in August. The hotel is 'grand' by all means. Very historical. But, the rooms leave a little to be desired. I did like the location, though. In the summer, I got a good supersaver rate of $140/night.

Mahalo

Can't compare the hotel to others in Athens but I really liked the location as it is centrally located. As a Platinum, I was upgraded to a suite with a huge sitting area facing the Parliament building. There was indeed a demonstration when I was there. The furniture does look old but it was still extremely clean. They also gave me a frame pictured of the Grand Bretagne as a Platinum gift. In my opinion, it was very enjoyable.

Jamester

Have to agree with all the above comments; I stayed there last month for my Free Friday. I was also upgraded to the same room Mahalo was in. That was the 6th Floor by the way.

The oldest (and most expensive) hotel in Athens, it's one of the most exclusive facing the Syntagma Square. Note that it means you can hear traffic in your room. To get to this hotel, you may take the Athens Metro (subway) which stops right underneath the hotel. You can take the subway from the airport via bus (dunno how to get there from the new Athens airport, have to ask someone) Cab ride would cost you maybe about GDr 2,300. (that's less than 10 bucks)

Everything around you are close by, since you're right in the heart of town. Acropolis is walkable, Plaka is definitely walkable; there's a Citibank right across the square if you need cash, plenty of stores on Ermou Street, post office is also in the square. National Bank of Greece (if they're not still on strike) gives you a pretty good exchange rate. The parliament Bldg has a Changing of Guard ceremony every so often. Viewable from your patio with a binocular.

Room interior is old, but grande (love the chandelier). Mine didn't have A/C, so I had to leave my patio door open the whole night. They also gave me a free bottle of Greek honey upon entering my room (and that's BOTTLE, not a real 'honey' like I wanted). Which I have yet to open.

Lobby looks elegant; everyone wears suit (tourists are exempt), you're given a real brass key to your room and you have to leave it at the Key Drop each itme you leave the hotel. I haven't had to do this since I was very little. Oh yeah, skip the elevators (which can take awhile) and take the stairs. It's fun.

You ought to try the Greek Salad (Choriatiki Salata). Huge chunks of feta cheese. The omeleta (omelette) was good as well. Cheap too. The breakfast buffet in the Garden Court is also to die for, supposedly.

But since I partied in Plaka (Old Town) till 6 am and passed out till noon, I didn't get a chance to try the buffet. I was allowed a late 4PM checkout, which was great.

Hope this helps and have fun!
Jamester

[This message has been edited by Jamester (edited 04-19-2001).]

ralfkrippner

There seems to be no particular thread about the Grande Bretagne. I wonder why, especially now that I have stayed there...


I looked for halfway affordable rates for some weeks. Rates are in the range of 300-500€ usually.

For last weekend (Valentines day) I found a 270€ rate including breakfast for two and half an hour of spa treatment. So I booked it as a present for my wife (a big fan of Greece), together with two LH smart awards (18k miles each).

On the evening before our flight I looked into the reservation on spg.com and -YES!- I found the magic words in it. We were assigned an executive suite as a Plat upgrade... ;-)

The hotel is directly at the corner of Sintagma square, right above the metro station. Also the bus 95 from the airport (runs every 15 minutes at daytime) has its terminal stop at the square.

We got room 325 upon checkin. I would describe it as a junior suite. It had a small hall with two wardrobes, a living room with large desk, a two-seater sofa, two chairs, an armoire with large TV, DVD Player, internet keyboard and minibar. The bedroom had a sliding door and featured another large TV. Also it had a Bose radio. The bathroom had a shower, two wash basins and a tub. Also it had a small TV screen built into the wall at the tub. The mirrors were heated so that they can be viewed even after you had showered for an hour. Bath amenities were Molton Brown. The robes were for sale for 120€ each and we really considered buying two as they were very nice and cuddly (do you say so?). As Plat amenities we got a selfmade choclate box with chocolate candies and marzipan, a bottle of wine and a large bottle of water. Also there were some fresh fruits.

The whole impression was very classy and luxurious.

The breakfast was very good but the choice was a bit limited. Quality however was superb!

I did not try the restaurants or bar because my wife opted for some local places.

Staff was very attentive and friendly. Late checkout at 4 p.m. was not a problem (besides that housekeeping did not get a message about it and came in 3 times after noon...).

I can really recommend this hotel!

LH738

Thanks for the report. I always wondered about this hotel after the reopening. That sounds really very promising.



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FlyinMike

We spent 3 nights of our honeymoon there in late October. We too got the small suite upgrade. The room was excellent. I've never seen that much marble in one bathroom in my entire life! The bed was awesome, and the nightly turndown was nice - they would put little 'placemats' for your feet at the side of the bed.

They gave us some really nice amenities - a bottle of champagne on arrival, a fully stocked bowl of fruit every day, and a finger bowl with flower petals in it – my wife got a real kick out of that. The concierge even tracked down a launder/drycleaner nearby for us because we had about 10 days of laundry to do and didn't want to spend the $350+ to have the hotel do it. Definitely a class act hotel. If I were to go to Athens again, this would be the place I'd want to stay.

On our last night, we found an open door and snuck up top to the closed pool to snap some night pics of the Acropolis. Needless to say, we were eventually busted by security. They did let us finish taking our pictures before making sure we left. Even getting busted by hotel security was a pleasant experience here! The only food we ate at the hotel was room service the night we arrived. It was really good, and reasonably priced considering the caliber of the food and the hotel.

JOUY31

This hotel is very good concerning Plat upgrades. I have stayed there five times and been upgraded four times out of five.

I have at last seen the indoor swimming pool and the spa area, which were scheduled for opening sometime last June and were still not available in September. Although somewhat small (10-12m ?), the swimming pool is very pleasant, relaxing and elegant.

Rather surprisingly, the GB can be cheaper than the Hilton, which is, by far, not as luxurious as the GB. And as regards upgrades, the junior suites at the GB or the 70 sq m suites at the IC are better than the Executive rooms at the Hilton. The GB's location is probably the best of the three.

yojimbo

I stayed at the GB last summer with my wife and son.

This is a great hotel--truly world class. Our room was wonderfully appointed and the service was nearly perfect.

SLC2002

I stayed at this hotel about two weeks ago using two free nights (stay 12 get two free) and wasn't overly impressed. I was upgraded to a deluxe room (not much different from a standard) and from what I can tell I didn't get a platinum amenity (unless the fruit plate was my amenity). I was told at check in that because *wood was paying (interesting terminology) I was not eligible for breakfast.

The front desk staff was St. Regis-esk (not in a good way) and the lobby was filled with a gold and jewel be-laden crowd, each milling about trying to find just the right pose to take to be noticed but not noticed (if you get my drift). This is probably the nicest hotel in Athens and if you’re on a paying rate, it may be wonderful but on an award it was nothing special.

Athens is a wonderful city and I was pleasantly surprised that at the end of January it was so temperate 55 degrees and sunny. I’ve never understood why the high season in Greece and Italy were May-Aug. It’s down right hot and humid.

monahos

It was a fluke... this past week the city was paralysed by snowstorms. Greece in summer is certainly hot, but very dry.


As for the hotel itself, I agree with both points of view. The G-B is without a doubt the poshest chain hotel in Athens (a few high-end boutique hotels are open/about to open), but may be slightly uncomfortable for those preferring a more casual atmosphere. Not that the business crowd at the Hilton is more engaging...