itsaboutthejourney

Had a great stay at the King George last week with a few disappointments:

- Hotel is literally next door to GB, but no way to go from one to other without going outside for a few steps.

- Upgraded to a newly refurbished Courtyard Suite using SNAs. I found the decor to be a bit less 'stuffy' than the GB. The hardwood floors and new fixtures made a difference. Bathroom had large (not full) sizes of Molton Brown. (Noticed from housekeeping cart that regular rooms had a more generic brand of soaps.)

- Another Plat member who was traveling with me received a suite UG with a partial Acropolis view without using SNAs.

- Breakfast amenity is full buffet in the Tudor Hall restaurant, which is on the 7th floor and has a wonderful view of the Acropolis.

- Was told we can use spa and fitness facilities at GB as well as indoor pool, but that seemed temporary as they told me the KG fitness center was still under refurbishment. I confirmed this when I went over to check out the GB fitness center, which is pretty nice.

- Found out you can NOT use the outdoor pool at the GB when I signed for my drink up there. They were very polite about it, yet I could sign to my room at the KG. It seems all outlets have cross-charging ability between KG and GB so I encourage GB guests to try Tudor Hall for one of their cocktails (although it has some of the same speciality cocktails as GB pool bar.)

- No problem with a 1PM checkout, was told 4PM not a problem either.

- 1/2 of the lobby was closed as it appeared they had just put down new marble and they were in the midst of hanging art during my 2 days there. Perhaps this will mean a gift shop and other services that the KG currently lacks.

I look forward to returning, but wont make the mistake of using SNAs in the summer there.

WEEBOBBY

i just emailed KG asking about the use of GB outdoor pool before i saw your thread. will wait and see what they reply with (NO!). was considering a cash and points stay on Aug 31st at KG (c+p not available on GB for 31st) and a cash and points stay at GB on Sept 6th (Santorini inbetween).

WEEBOBBY

Dear Mr. Weebobby,
Thank you for your e-mail and for your kind words.
Kindly note that the guests of Hotel King George can use the Indoor pool of hotel Grande Bretagne free of charge.
Kindly also be informed that the Indoor pool will close for annual maintenance from Monday 26th August, to Monday 2nd September 2013 Inclusive.
Opening on Tuesday 3rd September.

We remain at your disposal for any further assistance you may require.

Best Regards

TravelinSperry

Hello all - recent stay at King George - here is my review (also posted on SPG, but since they don't have 5 reviews yet, thought I'd post here).

The hotel is right on Syntagma square - which is very helpful when arriving via the airport metro (as it's right next to the entrance). The location could't be better and the hotel overlooks the Acropolis.

The hotel was recently refurbished and joined Starwood in Summer of 2013.

ROOMS:
The rooms are nicely designed and well appointed. The bed is super comfy and soft and the pillows are wonderful. Blackout curtains are everywhere giving one plenty of opportunity to sleep in. The room has rather small closets. They offer an iron/board upon request. They have a huge flat screen TV that is bigger than the one in my house. The lighting is the only flaw in the refurbishment. I've never seen such small buttons for lights and none are labeled. So you must press them all, every time, to figure out how to work them. Very weird.

BATHROOM:
The bathrooms are of decent size but lack a bidet. The lighting is good, and they have a scale, hair dryer and shaving mirror. Nice soap/shampoos. It has a shower/bath combo with rainfall shower head. However, the shower goes from hot to cold and back again every 10 seconds. VERY annoying. Needs to be fixed.

FACILITIES:
Beautiful facilities with large lobby. Plenty of places to sit and read. 2 computers with printer if you need. Tudor restaurant situated on the 7th floor is where you eat and it offers views of the Acropolis. The gym is spacious and decently equipped. There is a sauna as well. However the gym was built on wood floors and they do not have gym mats on the floors. So when you use the round dumbbells, they proceed to roll all over the room. Time to invest in some mats for the floors.

PLATINUM RECOGNITION:
I found the recognition to be good, with one glaring flaw.
1- I was upgraded to a Junior Suite, atrium view upon arrival. This was a disappointment. The atrium view allows you to look at another building and some satellite dishes on the roof. As a Platinum Ambassador I expected to be treated better and at least upgraded to one of the Grand Deluxe suites with Acropolis view. These were available during my stay (checked the website after checkin) and I've read reviews on another site where Platinums were upgraded to these rooms. Not sure why I was solely given the smallish junior suite with poor view. And it only had a small love seat, barely large enough to seat 2 or to relax on. A disappointment.
2- a bottle of free water daily
3- Fast free Internet.
4- Free buffet breakfast in exchange for my 500 point amenity. Although on one of the days I had to have a discussion with the staff about what the little card meant (he wanted to charge me even though I redeemed for free breakfast). Obviously I wasn't charged.

Service is wonderful here, everyone is super friendly and helpful. The doorman is helpful when there, but for some reason there are times when he has disappeared and the front door is super heavy. I saw a woman struggling to open it when I came back to the hotel one eve.

I'd highly recommend a stay here if you're in Athens. Although, they really shouldn't hold back when upgraded Platinums... left a worse taste in my mouth than needed. The atrium view was disappointing when the hotel had such low occupancy.

jibi

Any recent stays at the KGP? I'm deciding between here and the GB for next May.

TravelinSperry

Nov isn't recent enough for you? I'm sure they haven't changed since my review only a few mos ago.

jibi

I guess I'm not the kind of person that wants to base a decision on ONE recent review. So yes, I'm asking if there are more reviews, whether they are recent or not. This is supposedly a great property according to reviews on TA, but it has only had TWO reviews on FT since joining SPG last Summer. I'm more curious about PLT recognition (and multiple accounts of it) vs. the GB.

TravelinSperry

Understandable you'd want more reviews. Wasn't clear from your post as you wrote solely about recency. I believe the property only became Starwood in summer of 13, so likely not too many stays via FT since then.

You might also check here: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury...ropertyID=3929

cybaslacka

the reviews on spg.com are done by regular guests. looking for reviews done by plats as that may be more indicative of expectations. if anyone else has reviews, please post. thanks.

CNWO4LIFE

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury...ropertyID=3929Six have been done by Plats.

jibi

Good looking out! I was finally able to book our outbound flight to Athens for next May earlier today. I've already got reservations at the Hotel Grand Bretagne for later in the month next May, but the King George would allow me to save enough points to shorten our Athens stay from 5 nights to 3 nights then spend a night or two in Santorini before heading over to the Blue Palace.

porciuscato

I just completed stays at the Grand Bretagne and the King George today. Both were quite excellent. We had one room at the GB and two at the KG. All were upgraded.

One of the KG rooms was upgraded to a Deluxe Suite, the other to a Grand Suite. Both surpassed the GB deluxe suite by a long shot. That's saying a lot because the GB suite was great.

The KG Grand Suite (we had 605K) had an absolutely spectacular view of the Acropolis and Syntagma square. From what I could tell the 5-6 rooms on this floor had the biggest balconies over the square of either hotel. Floor 5 has balconies, but they are smaller. So if you can get this room, or one of the adjacent ones, I would recommend it over anything else in either hotel.

It was made clear to us that only the indoor spa pool at the GB was available to us as KG guests. I didn't think this was a big deal, because the GB outdoor pool is really not that spectacular.

As far as service goes, the pace at the KG was a little more relaxed and friendly. Both hotels gave us gifts of Ouzo and olives. The Ouzo was fantastic. I never cared much for Ouzo until now (I guess I never had the good stuff before).

At the end of the day, Starwood/SPG let us stay in 600-700 euro rooms on points. That's one of the many reasons they'll have me as a loyal customer for a very long time.

SgFred

Just to share my pictures of King George on my blog for my stay in August.

Having stay at both GB and KG, I didn't get into problems of using the pool.

In terms of food and service, I do think GB is superior.

For upgrades, KG does seem a little tightfisted. I had to request rather earnestly for the room above a Junior suite.

dmilsi

When I arrived at the hotel, via Metro, from Athens Airport, the reception staff made me feel very welcome, and upgraded me to a 1-bedroom suite with a courtyard view, which I had requested as I'm a light sleeper. The bell man showed me how everything in the room worked, including the sometimes not so user-friendly light switches. The sitting room had a desk, sofa and banquette along the window as well as a large flat-screen TV. A lovely floral spray was delivered as well as a complimentary selection of fine chocolates and local liqueur. The bathroom was a bit cramped but had a huge marble tub, which was perfect for a pre-sleep soak. The bedroom included a king-sized bed, which was extremely comfortable, a banquette (perfect for suitcases), a TV and a large walk-in closet. After settling in, I toured the hotel and its sister property the Grande Bretagne, and made a beeline for the Tudor restaurant on the 7th floor as I wanted to catch a glimpse of the spectacular view of the Acropolis, Parliament and the city before sunset. I was not disappointed, and despite the overcast, snowy conditions, managed to take some lovely photos. I also went to the gym, which is fairly small, but guests are allowed to use the bigger facility, including a pool and spa, at the Grande Bretagne. The next morning, I enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the Tudor, which included a wonderful selection of whole-grain breads and cereals as well as deliciously thick Greek yogurt. I lingered quite a while to just to enjoy the remarkable sunrise over the Acropolis.
An unbeatable location, flawless service and good platinum benefits definitely make this hotel a perfect choice especially for the rate of 160 Euros, which was on offer in early January. I can't recommend it enough.

Pics on Tripadvisor review:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ns_Attica.html

maxswanson

For your two rooms in King George, did you all get free breakfast as platinum benefit? Thanks!

I have three rooms in king George next month, how many room can get platinum benefit? I know it is against rule, but sometimes it depends.