Helen123

Wondering if anyone have stayed at the Hilton
Athens and Hilton amsterdam??
I am planning a trip w/ my husband next
May and wondering if it is worthed to use
Hhonors to stay there?? The rates are v
expensive at these hotels.. avg. US$360-450
per night.

Thanks!!

doc

There are both better places to stay and better values at both Amsterdam and Athens locations but between the two I would stay and use the points in Athens for sure. It's a significantly better choice, IMHO.

Rudi

Helen: weekend (Friday trough Monday) rates at both places are about 50% (includes full breakfasts).

the Athen Hilton is one of the very best places to stay there (and enjoy the roof-top-bar/restaurant).

doc

Just for clarification on Athens. I wouldn't hesitate to use HHonors points here and the hotel is just fine. My personal preference would be the Intercontinental (1st choice) and then the Marriott, which is similar to Hilton in many ways, yet can be substantilly less expensive.

The IC also has a very fine rooftop restaurant, Pergola.

Helen123

Thanks, doc and Rudi!!
I will def. check out other places too.
Btw, just for everyone who plan to
use HHonors for about a week or so
in Europe or US.. There's the Going Global
(code GLON) rate which allows you to stay
6 nights at Hilton for 100,000 Hhonors pts.
This is not posted in the Hhonors page.

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone!
Helen

Antepali

Has anyone stayed at the ATH Hilton? Have booked 2 standard rooms, and was wondering what the chances of getting upgraded to an Executive Floor Room are?

Have plenty of HHonors points, but I don't think that HHonors has an upgrade award.

Thanks in advance.

wormwood

I've stayed there, thought the rooms were nice, seemed to have been redone fairly recently. Glass was heavy double pane so the heavy street noise was not a big problem. The location is not perfect but fairly close to things. One side of the hotel faces the parthenon, though fairly far off. I was only a blue member then so did not get an upgrade to a club floor.

Jamester

Antepali,

Was just there last month (and still need to write my full trip report, I know, I know). Booked two nights using HHonors points and did get upgraded to Executive Floor. (I'm a Gold member, if it makes a big difference).

The Executive Floor is nice, rooms are larger than your typical European hotel room, has a balcony. The Executive Lounge opens maybe 15-16 hours a day so you can walk in and get anything you want. Breakfast in the lounge consist of stuff like scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, cold cuts, pastries, etc. And there's a waiter too there. It's not a big lounge by the way.

And if you're upgraded to the Executive Floor, you have to check in at the Executive desk on the 10th floor. S'okay, the girls are cuter up there. *wink*.

Have fun!
Jamester

Helen123

Stayed at Hilton Athens last July. We also got upgraded to the Executive Floor. And, also at the same floor as the Executive Lounge. We like our room, it faces the street and the swimming pool, so sometimes it can be noisy, but the glass window shielded out good percentage of noise. And, the lounge was good too. It opens from 7am to about 10pm and offers breakfast, afternoon snack, and then soft drink throughout the day. I esp like the soft drink and ice part (when the temp was around 40-44 deg C). So, hope you are not going in July?? Anyways, have a good trip.

Rudi

the roof terrace (and bar) offers a splendid look over Athens.

in walking distance (though you must cross the Vas. Sofias in front of the hotel to the park) is the, in my opinion, number one italian (the greek way) Restaurant in Greece: Boschetto, Evangelismou, off Vas. Sofias, summerhouse in small park (Reservations a must: tf 01-7210893, fax 01-7210893), closed Saturday lunch and Sunday, Easter, in august and between XMas and New Year. Lunch is only served from Easter to September. All major credit cards.

Antepali

Thanks for the info everyone! Actaully I'm a Gold Member, so I guess the upgrade to Executive Floor will happen at check-in.

By the way, has the hotel been recently renovated? I remember hearing that it was somewhat "stuck in the 70's..."

Jamester

Antepali,

As of last month it's "still stuck in the 70s". But hey, knowing that it's one of the best hotel in town, you can't beat it. Unless you want to stay at the Grande Bretagne (which is a Sheraton right in the heart of town) for US$400/night.

There is (supposedly) a bar/pub on top of the Hilton that revolves, one of the coolest spot in town and popular with tourists, FAs, etc. If you need eye candies.

Another thing, I don't know if you'll be arriving in the new Athens Int'l airport or not, but in case you arrive at the old airport, the cab ride to the Hilton would be around 2,200 Drachma, plus 100 Drachma for each bag the cabbie throw in the trunk. Throw in another 200 Drachma for tip (to make it even 2,500 Drachma.) That should give you enough gauge in terms of how much cash you need to have before you get in the cab. Change a little bit at the airport; the exchange rate sorta sucks, but 2,500 Drachma is less than US$10.

If you have a Citibank account, there is a Citibank right in Syntagma where you can use your ATM for the best exchange rate.

Or if you're adventurous, you may take the bus and then hop on the Metro system that stops about 1/4 miles away from the hotel. Yes, you would have to walk across major streets so if you're too tired, take the cab.

I'm off topic here so I'll stop. Have fun in Athens and learn how to say Efkharistoh! (Thanks!) They'll love ya for it.

Jamester

Helen123

If you decide to stay at ATH Hilton, I seconded Rudi's recommendation for Boschetto!! We had an early dinner there (8pm - Athen's early dinner time.. ) and the park setting and the food were so great.
Remember reservation is def. needed.

outoftown

The wife and I stayed at the Athens Hilton the end of Feb on a 5 day award. Cheapo me caught the local bus to the subway to get to the hotel. Our room #1032 had an excellent night view of the Parthenon in the distance all lit up. The lounge has only two or three tables on the balcony, but the breakfast and other snacks offered throughout the day were excellent. We also got champagne, wine, cheese and other treats with the turndown service each night. Quite nice. We ate in the hotel restaurant on the 1st floor, Ta Nissia, which has some good seafood dishes. There was a series of bars/nightclubs behind the Hilton, but they all were closed while we were there (may open for summer tourists). The outdoor pool was not open while we were there, but it looked like a nice pool. The '70s feel may be due to the ballroom type of carpeted reception hall, with the big chandelier and polished brass elevators. It was strange to see people smoking cigarettes around the lobby. BTW, I have 15,000 Drachma left over I'll exchange for US$. Email me with an offer if interested. Enjoy your visit.

[This message has been edited by outoftown (edited 04-12-2001).]

Super Larry

Hi Adam,

I'm going to Greece in July for my honeymoon. I'll be spending about 2 weeks at the Hilton property in Rhodes, but I was planning to stay a week in the Athens area...but the Hilton hotel is closed down until early 2003 for major renovations! Do you know if you already have another property in Athens, or if you are planning to buy one soon? I've looked at the various theads here about it...no luck!

Looking forward to read any news...good or bad!