FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Astir Palace Complex, Athens, Greece (Luxury Collection & Westin)[Master Thread]
Old May 31, 2011, 4:15 pm
  #70  
gdemander
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Programs: SPG Plat, HH Silver, UA 1K, DL Silver
Posts: 190
Just got back from a 7 day stay at the Westin Athens. The hotel itself was great. I loved the large balcony overlooking the ocean, the private beach, and the pool. It was extremely tranquil and relaxing.

As many people have mentioned, the food is very expensive. To avoid the 30 Euro per person breakfasts, my girlfriend and I went to Vouliagmeni and found a grocery store where we bought a loaf of bread, some bananas, jam, etc. and ate that for breakfast. It was a much better value. We also went into town for most of the dinners. We went to many of the restaurants mentioned here and all of them were very good. We usually just walked along the main strip and went into the ones that looked good. Bulk wine was an amazing deal at 5 Euro or so for a liter. Not the best in the world, but pretty solid especially for the price. The biggest issue we had was what to do for lunch. We didn't necessarily want to eat the same thing again that we had for breakfast, but sandwiches were all right around the 20 Euro mark. Although we broke down and did this for two of the days, the sandwiches were not even close to worth that price.

On the last night we went the the Blue Hytra restaurant at the hotel after seeing a few reviews and noting that it was a 1 Michelin star. I was really looking forward to the restaurant and was actually rather disappointed. The food was similar to WD-50 in New York with the chefs trying to change the texture of foods in unexpected ways. I appreciate the attempt, but it was not very successful. There were four foams over the seven course meal, which is a little silly. Normally I prefer savory courses over deserts, but at Blue Hytra this was not the case. The desert was great and the main courses were very disappointing. The price of the restaurant was as terrible as I was fearing, 70 Euro a person, but I enjoyed the meals at any other place considerably more.

Overall, the hotel was a great value for the points, but I would probably not return because of the food options. If they offered decent value lunch options, it would not have been an issue. But as it is, the food was just way too expensive.

(If anyone wants a more in depth review of Blue Hytra, let me know. I can give you a course by course breakdown and love to talk about food.)
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