Super Larry

Early start today!!

I'll be travelling to Athens, Greece on holidays and I was wondering how would you rate the Intercontinental Athens as far as amenities and location to the main things to see in Athens

Looking forward to read your inputs.

Thanks!

DFW AA

Super Larry,

Just returned from the Athenaeum IC (please see my trip report in the Inter-Continental forum). I was not overly impressed with this hotel, but since some of the other hotels in Athens are closed for renovations (Hilton, Sheraton), your choice may be limited.

Not too bad of a location - halfway between downtown and the port area. The hotel offers frequent shuttle bus service to the downtown area, and there is public transport near the hotel (bus and tram lines near the hotel, and a metro stop about 600m from the hotel).

As for amenities, the hotel has all of the usual accoutements, although the swimming pool was closed during my visit. Exchange privileges were offered at another hotel 20 minutes away.

monahos

DFW AA's experience sounds about on par, although my front desk staff was a little better. The whole hotel has a slightly outdated, 60-70's feel to it.

There is currently a dearth of high-end accomodation in Athens as everyone is renovating before the 2004 Olympics. The Marriott, next door to the I-C, has been renovated a few years ago and is IMO nicer (one of the posher Marriotts in Europe), although small and offering limited services (e.g. only 2 restaurants, no taxis outside, etc.)

The area is not within easy walking distance of anything. The subway stop and taxis will have to be used extensively. I very much dislike having to rely on Athenian taxis, as a few bad apples will overcharge or take on other customers who are not going the same way, and make you pay for the detour.

DFW AA

As I understand the taxi system in Athens, pretty much all of the taxi drivers will take on other customers, and charge everyone for their cab ride. As with all taxis, there are also a few bad apples who will overcharge in addition to this accepted practice of ride-sharing. I avoid this system entirely by having my own taxi during my stays, which of course has its own added costs.

This is a system that will need to be fixed before the 2004 Olympics, or the Hellenic authorities will have a lot of irate tourists on their hands. I shudder to think of the first time a New Yorker is in an Athens taxi and finds out he is sharing it with total strangers going to different destinations....fuggedaboutit!

monahos

This is indeed correct. A cab with two passengers in the back will stay in the right lane for lone prospective fares.

While I have no major problems with the practice, one taxi driver during my last trip there took a 30 minute detour to go from Pireas to the Marriott (a 10-15 minute ride), and tried to overcharge me even for those 45 minutes. This in an old taxi without a meter.

Perhaps half of the taxi drivers in Athens are scrupulously honest, the rest acceptable, and a few dishonest.
Booking a trustworthy one for a day is always an option to consider in such markets.

milepig

The IC ATHENS has a bewildering array of options available.

I'll be booking a room for 3 nights for 2 people. Regular Ambassador, and I'll probably use my free night coupon.

The rock bottom lowest rate is EU200 for a standard room prepaid. (I've done the prepaid w/ coupon thing before and you do get a credit back.)

For EU275 I can get a Club IC room, and the web site does indicate that this rate includes club access.

For EU315 I can get a Club IC Acropolis view room.

For EU275 I can get a regular room with Breakfast, no club access.

All rooms seem to be the same 35SQM size.

I'm leaning toward the Club IC room for EU275, unless an assured Acropolis view is really worth EU40 more per night.

I've read some reports of guests being offered EU25pp for club access upon arrival, but that's not much different than just paying EU275 to begin with, and not having to deal with a prepaid rate.

Any chance of my ambassador upgrade being to "acropolis view"? And, is the breakfast in the Club decent?

JOUY31

Well, the Acropolis view is nice, especially at night. The views on the other side are on a bland neighborhood.

If you want the upgrade to be to an Acropolis view, I would suggest calling reservations at the IC Athens or the Club lounge.

Breakfast in the lounge is correct, not overwhelming, somewhat lacking in quantity. Breakfast in the Cafe Zoe restaurant on the ground floor offers a wider range of options. It is never offered to Club floor guests. Once, on a paid Luxury week-end rate on the Club floor, I was even charged EUR 12 for taking the breakfast at the Cafe Zoe restaurant, although it was included for guests on a luxury week end rate not paying for the Club floor. I usually like to split my breakfasts between the lounge and the Cafe Zoe restaurant.

nicolas75

This is the review I wrote in French on tripadvisor.com

Athens is not a beautiful city in the traditional sense, but it is a city full of life, and genuinely endearing.

The Athenaeum Hotel InterContinental is located in the business district and the residential area, out of action.

The hotel is also located in the immediate vicinity of a 6 lane avenue, which is not the most pleasant or the most quiet location.

The hotel is housed in a large V building, recent and quite elegant despite its massive size.

The decoration of the common areas, organized around a large atrium where there are sculptures, a fountain and some shops, is quite pleasant, but remember more the Trump Tower than Athens.

Suites with a view of the Acropolis are very spacious and comfortable, nut decorated but without real grace. The suites have a beautiful terrace on which it is very nice to have breakfast in summertime. The bathrooms are also spacious.

A very complete and delicious breakfast is served at Cafe Zoe, which is a pleasant restaurant on the ground floor (good mixing of Mediterranean flair and contemporary design, fast and efficient service).

Breakfast (medium quality) is served also at the club InterContinental. Located on the eighth floor, the lounge is rather large, with a beautiful view on the Acropolis and a pleasant terrace. It also serves beverages (only from 6pm) and canapés (poor quality). Two Internet PC are also available for free.

The pool is small, but pleasant.

All the staff is really charming and attentive.

In summary, the hotel InterContinental Athenaeum hotel is a very good hotel with spacious rooms and quality service. But its position and its lack of charm are not the best place to discover Athens. It is however an excellent choice to spend a night when flying by night to Athens (which was our case), then stay in a more central hotel (we then stayed at Fresh hotel, we loved).

milepig

Many thanks for the info! The EU275 IC Club rate actually is a Luxury Weekend rate, including breakfast, this is sounding like the best option. I'll put "Acropolis view if possible" on the reservation form and see what happens, unless others have other opinions. There is not a Luxury Weekend option that includes Acropolis view.

uk1

You really should aim for the view and if possible a terrace/balcony suite.

For some reason it makes sense with this hotel to negotiate directly with the local reservations staff, which I found out entirely by accident. If you search by my name and athens I gave a full explanation, but in summary for a relatively small couple of payments I upgraded from a standard room to an Acropolis view club level suite with balcony/terrace. Obviously RA improved this but the staff seem happy to horse trade and I was delighted with the price.

Do not discuss the cert in your communications but leave it until you arrive.

JOUY31

Sorry, it is the Cafe Zoe, not the Zen restaurant (as in Hilton LHR )

IAN-UK

I thought I'd been through most of the rooms at the Athens IC, but by a complete fluke I got one of the balcony suites on my last visit. There are only two per floor, and they are at the end of the chubby wing, a long hike from the elevators. But they are the best laid out of the suites I've seen there, and have large, private terraces with great A-views.

It's certainly worth asking for!

uk1

This was the suite I was referring to earlier and as it's difficult to locate through the on-line booking system secured it by direct hotel negotiation. Smething about that balcony and free mini-bar with the mini-champers ........

milepig

Just back from my stay.

The upgrade was indeed an Acropolis view and the room met our needs perfectly. I thought the chow in the lounge was more than adequate - a couple hot items plus lots of other things for breakfast, sandwiches and sweets throughout the day, hot savory and cold sweet sections with drinks that ran from 6-9, with the lounge itself closing at 10:00. Free internet access in the lounge - 2 computers - and complimentary printing.

By the time we got to Athens, late in the trip, I had completely forgotten that I was entitled to breakfast at my Luxury Weekend rate, and frankly what we got in the lounge was fine anyway.

The hotel is indeed away from the middle of town and on a busy road, but the room was wonderfully soundproofed and the hotel runs a free shuttle that drops you off right at Parliament Square.

nicolas75

I had the same problem at Café Zo.
The answer given was: you had the whole buffet breakfast (which is not the breakfast suppoed to be included in the weekend rate). But of course nobody told me that there are two different rates.
In Chicago, I had the same problem with breakfast.