Grand Hyatt Athens REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Aug 31, 2019, 10:54 am
#61
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
Posts: 8,965
Check In Check in was easy and fast. They explained where the breakfast was as well as the pools and gym. No issues. Room Booked a basic room and used a DSU and got a Grand Executive Suite with Acropolis view. The room was nice and had 2 balconies, both of which you could get a decent view of the Acropolis from. You also got a great view of the very busy street down below, which is a major thoroughfare in Athens, as well as the numerous sex clubs and shops in the area. The room was large enough but honestly beyond that was not anything special. It had a separate area which could be closed off from the bedroom with couch and chairs, as well as a table and second bathroom. A very nice room, but as mid/upper level suites go, it was just fine. The shower was a good size rain shower, which was nice, although it was one of the style with an open entry and no door, which of course, gets water everywhere. The bed was comfortable enough, although the thermostat in the bedroom did not seem to work on auto, so you had to either leave it off and the room got hot, or turn it on manually, which eventually got it too cold. The road noise from the highway is significant here. I mean, I slept fine, but it is plenty loud, at least from the 4th floor, so if that is an issue for you you might not want a room on that side. Service The service here was honestly pretty bad and was one of the biggest failings. The first day they did not replenish the water bottles they provided, and I had to call down to get some water. After some discussion on the line, they said they would send some up and the maid who brought them up was VISIBLY irritated at having to do that. The second day, the housekeeping had not serviced the room when we returned at 1345 hours. I mean, I know they have "until 1700" technically, but when you are offering 2 servicings a day, are you seriously going to service it at 5pm and then at 8? We then took a nap and at some point between about 2-5 they tried to service it and left a card. We went to dinner and when we returned, they had serviced it but failed to replace a few towels or the water again. I went down stairs to talk to the desk about if they could send up water and replenish the missing towels. The gentleman at the desk was pleasant but tried to tell me the water was once per stay, and I had to show him the Glob terms, which irritated me. I hate having to educate you on the benefits, just provide them. We went to the bar and had a drink and upon returning we saw the same housekeeper in the hallway who gave us a very nasty look after taking the cart from our room.The next day, we returned at around 6pm after leaving at 0730 and it was not cleaned yet again. My wife wanted to get a snack from the little informal "club" area, which is just an area in the back of the lobby which is kind of blocked off. I passed by the desk and asked them to clean the room again, and I guess I was talking to the desk manager who apologized. We went to the little club area, and sat down and grabbed a few mediocre food items, and the waiter never once asked if we wanted a drink. Passed by several times, but never asked, and I even tried to flag him down once or twice, but to no avail. Overall, no one was ever rude or anything (although the housekeeping lady was pretty visibly pissed off), but the service just was not up to snuff at a Grand Hyatt. Dining Breakfast here was very good. The buffet was excellent, with a large variety of excellent local pastries, fruits, yogurts, cheeses, meats, hot western items, and fresh juices. Very good and one of those buffets where I ate way more than I should have every morning. An excellent value for Globs, and I believe it was 32 euro if you were paying. I did not dine in the restaurant otherwise. Location The location here is, as most have mentioned, pretty substandard. It also is not as bad as many make it out to be. The area itself is just fine, although it is filled with sex clubs and strip joints, but honestly, you see a lot of those all over Athens. It did not feel dangerous or anything. As for the main sights, it is about a 25-30 minute walk to the main sights of Athens for tourists, and it is a straight and easy walk. A cab is the only real other option (the Metro is about a 15 minute walk away and we never used it). The main issue with cabs is that honestly, while it should be easy to get a cab to the center in about 5 minutes for about 5 euro, 95% of the cabs in Athens are out to screw you and cheat you in every possible way and it gets tiresome. There were honestly a couple of times we did not leave the hotel when we kind of wanted to because we did not feel like walking and did not feel like dealing with cab nonsense. Having to always be demanding the meter be turned on, checking the money you give, watching out for BS added surcharges, incorrect fares, etc gets old, and since it is pretty requisite to being able to stay here, it has an impact. Sure you can walk once or twice, and while it is not hard, like I said, it is a solid 25-30 minutes. Maybe 20 if you walk fast. Overall I paid 120 euro a night out the door and given the room I received and the breakfast quality, overall I was happy with it. That being said, without a significant room upgrade using a Globalist upgrade instrument and free breakfast, I would be a lot less happy here. The hotel was fine, but was not great and the polish was certainly not there. The location was not horrible as said, but was a definite detractor overall. There is a reason the rates are so cheap. Would I return? As a Glob at that price...probably. I would definitely look closely at other options first though regardless. As a non Glob? No way.
Aug 31, 2019, 11:11 am
#62
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,578
Well, I did not say there were sex clubs in the Plaka per se, but I took several tours out of the city and went all over, and I recall seeing several sex shops in various locations in Athens, maybe just not in the center square. Point was that they were not a big deal to me.
Sep 5, 2019, 12:13 pm
#63
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Thanks @antonius66 for the review. But yikes, indeed. (And another reason to be thankful for Marriott's much better options.)
Nov 29, 2019, 11:21 am
#66
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Madison, WI
Programs: Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 973
They have base rooms (1Q, 1K, 2T), but those rooms don't ever appear to be for sale, so it's never available for points. It looks like a bug/oversight or they're playing games. I'd send a message to twitter/concierge (if you have one) to ask them to take a look.
Nov 30, 2019, 4:08 am
#67
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 775
Well, I did not say there were sex clubs in the Plaka per se, but I took several tours out of the city and went all over, and I recall seeing several sex shops in various locations in Athens, maybe just not in the center square. Point was that they were not a big deal to me.
Taxi drivers all over the world are the same!-I -I took a taxi from Paddington station in London to Hyatt Churchill and wanted me to pay 25 pounds- correct price 10 to 15 MAX
Feb 26, 2020, 10:50 am
#68
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,163
Most Grand Hyatts I can think of feature either some outstanding architecture, grounds or premier address, and then the amenities are equally top rate: Grand Hyatt Shanghai is in the top half of the 90-story Jin Mao building overlooking Shanghai, and there are 10 good restaurants in the hotel. The Grand Club is outstanding. You have Grand Hyatt Kauai or GH Tampa with elaborate grounds and then something high end in terms of restaurants, Grand Club etc. GH NYC and GH San Francisco are at premier addresses next to Union Square and Grand Central Terminal, respectably.
Enter Grand Hyatt Athens... We stayed for two nights at the end of January. It’s smack up against an urban expressway and frontage road in a dilapidated neighborhood across from several strip clubs, and there are no sidewalks. You can’t cross the road so the strip club clientele is at least kept at bay. When we woke up in the morning, the traffic noise was so loud that I thought we had left the balcony door open. So they skimped by not installing triple panes in this new gut rehab hotel property. Aside from the looks of the neighborhood, I will say that we never saw any shady looking characters nor did we ever feel unsafe. It’s just - why put a Grand Hyatt here? A cab to Acropolis, Plaka etc will only set you back 5€, and you can hail thru Uber so there’s no haggling over the price. The Uber taxis were very professional and efficient.
The restaurant on the eight floor is gorgeous. The food is delicious and the drinks are very good. The breakfast buffet was elaborate and well prepared. There’s a bonafide mixologist on duty every night. The view of the Acropolis only comes into play from the elevated pool area at about a 60-degree angle NNW, maybe from some of the guest rooms on higher floors. Pool was closed for the season, of course.
The Grand Club is sort of lame as it’s just a poorly screened off area behind the lobby bar with complimentary basic alcohol beverages between 5pm and 8pm. Some hors d’oeuvres between 3pm and 8pm but I’d say on the skimpy side - couple of spring rolls, cheese cubes, olives, miniature pastries and such.
Bathrooms are nice but it’s true that some of the spray from the shower hits the floor outside the stall. Someone upstream had asked about the bathroom products. They’ve changed - see picture (Balmain Paris) - seems like other GHs are switching to that from June Jacobs.
Bed was very comfortable, hard-ish memory foam till you sink in. First rate!
The thermostat in the room was impossible for us to figure out. It was constantly too hot, and we were unable to figure out how to turn on the AC and eventually had to have someone come up and show us.
Overall, the staff is very friendly and helpful, front desk included. Proactive and efficient.
At a rate of about 100€, it’s hard to beat. But I’m sure that’s because January is low season. By the way, among the most limited WOH inventory I’ve seen anywhere.
[img]blob:https://www.flyertalk.com/8e1b7aa2-57f6-4f6a-bcf4-922f6b54dfd2[/img]
Enter Grand Hyatt Athens... We stayed for two nights at the end of January. It’s smack up against an urban expressway and frontage road in a dilapidated neighborhood across from several strip clubs, and there are no sidewalks. You can’t cross the road so the strip club clientele is at least kept at bay. When we woke up in the morning, the traffic noise was so loud that I thought we had left the balcony door open. So they skimped by not installing triple panes in this new gut rehab hotel property. Aside from the looks of the neighborhood, I will say that we never saw any shady looking characters nor did we ever feel unsafe. It’s just - why put a Grand Hyatt here? A cab to Acropolis, Plaka etc will only set you back 5€, and you can hail thru Uber so there’s no haggling over the price. The Uber taxis were very professional and efficient.
The restaurant on the eight floor is gorgeous. The food is delicious and the drinks are very good. The breakfast buffet was elaborate and well prepared. There’s a bonafide mixologist on duty every night. The view of the Acropolis only comes into play from the elevated pool area at about a 60-degree angle NNW, maybe from some of the guest rooms on higher floors. Pool was closed for the season, of course.
The Grand Club is sort of lame as it’s just a poorly screened off area behind the lobby bar with complimentary basic alcohol beverages between 5pm and 8pm. Some hors d’oeuvres between 3pm and 8pm but I’d say on the skimpy side - couple of spring rolls, cheese cubes, olives, miniature pastries and such.
Bathrooms are nice but it’s true that some of the spray from the shower hits the floor outside the stall. Someone upstream had asked about the bathroom products. They’ve changed - see picture (Balmain Paris) - seems like other GHs are switching to that from June Jacobs.
Bed was very comfortable, hard-ish memory foam till you sink in. First rate!
The thermostat in the room was impossible for us to figure out. It was constantly too hot, and we were unable to figure out how to turn on the AC and eventually had to have someone come up and show us.
Overall, the staff is very friendly and helpful, front desk included. Proactive and efficient.
At a rate of about 100€, it’s hard to beat. But I’m sure that’s because January is low season. By the way, among the most limited WOH inventory I’ve seen anywhere.
[img]blob:https://www.flyertalk.com/8e1b7aa2-57f6-4f6a-bcf4-922f6b54dfd2[/img]
Last edited by AirbusFan2B; Feb 26, 2020 at 11:04 am
May 10, 2020, 12:53 pm
#69
Join Date: Dec 2008
Programs: M&M FQT, BA G, Bonvoy LTT, WoH GLOB
Posts: 960
I booked a suite at a low cash rate for October, and it says it comes with Club Access. Would there be breakfast as well ? I am only Explorist. I guess at 99% of hotels of course there would be club breakfast, but here it sounds different ?
May 10, 2020, 1:38 pm
#70
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,163
The ‘club’ at this property is a screened off area at the back of the lobby bar where complimentary afternoon snacks and evening canapés are served. Breakfast is served in the restaurant on the top floor. It’s very good and complete buffet style in a beautiful space. I’m not sure what will happen with buffets going forward but Greece is looking promising in its fight against COVID19. Being spoiled myself as a Globalist, does your rate specifically say that breakfast is included? I’m unsure as to whether ‘club access’ implies inclusion of breakfast but maybe others can elaborate?
May 11, 2020, 7:31 am
#72
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
Posts: 8,965
Following other travel forums devoted to Greece...they are very slowly opening up. One requirement is that you must have a certificate showing a negative covid-19 test within 72 hours of your arrival. There is speculation that Americans will not be allowed to travel to Greece anytime soon regardless. Most everyone ( except for a few hopefuls) have suspended any thought of returning to Greece until 2021.
May 11, 2020, 12:36 pm
#73
Join Date: Dec 2008
Programs: M&M FQT, BA G, Bonvoy LTT, WoH GLOB
Posts: 960
I am EUR based and pretty hopeful it will work out. Interestingly the hotel contacted me as apparently the rate was filed in error and the suite would have been much more expensive. Kudos to them, they offered two connecting rooms instead and comped breakfast which is greatly appreciated. I’ve stayed there a couple of times, and like the rooms, staff, food, pool deck. Granted location is sub-par, but not entirely out of the way, either. It’s a much better deal than the prohibitively priced Marriott hotels around Syntagma.