LilZeppelin

Thanks for the insights, I really appreciate them. We also have an option to go with the Blue Palace. It is a little more travelling just for the weekend, but perhaps it would be worth it. Still considering it.

UA 100K

Can anyone give some insight regarding the Platinum Benefits at both Hotels?

Thx in advance!

MAN Flyer

Stayed at both last week on award stays.

Westin upgraded us to full Suite and there was a complimentary bottle of red wine and fruit plate in the room. No lounge there.

At the Arion we didn't get a Suite due to the property being completely sold out but they did give us access to the strange little lounge on the fourth floor where they served a very basic breakfast and had free evening drinks each day.

Football Fan

Staying at the Arion right now on a reward stay (from the free weekend night promotion). They upgraded us to a nice suite on the 3rd floor. The hotel is beautiful. Front desk staff was friendly. Staff at breakfast (which we were told is not included for us as Plat members) was hectic and not so friendly.

We were not told about the lounge. Today, we had a call from the guest relations manager asking if we liked everything so far and I politely inquired about the lounge and/or breakfast. She said the lounge is not included, only for people on the club floor. I said I thought there would always be lounge access for Platinum members and that I had heard from friends that some other Plats got free breakfast and/or access to the lounge. The friendly lady said she would call me back on that. Called back about half an hour later and said that the lounge benefit only applies to Westin and Sheraton hotels and that I could look this up at spg.com. I was honestly unaware of that, but just checked and found out that this seems correct (have been in other Luxury Collection hotels, though, where this has never been an issue - it is one thing only to do what the program dictates, but there are hotels which do more and they certainly get extra business for that (great example for this would be the Sheraton Sukhumvit in Bangkok...). Anyway, the lady said that the policy is no lounge access for Plat members because of their status. She then said they would make an exception for our stay because it is important to them to keep the Plat members happy.

The lounge itself is not noteworthy at all, it's kind of a semi-open area on the 4th floor.

The lady also mentioned that plats get free access to the spa (despite this not being mandatory for Luxury Collection hotels), which usually costs € 25 per person.

They do not upgrade to the bungalows. I arranged a paid upgrade from where we are now to a bungalow suite for our last night, for 200 EUR. They offer to check it out first, but I just booked it. Will post an update about the bungalow suite.

Edit: Should have checked out the bungalow suite first. This one is in the second row, so no direct seaview, plus, the explicit reason I mentioned to the front desk lady, having a plunge pool as depicted on the website, is not there...I couldn't see a plunge pool in front of any of the bungalows. I guess there must be at least one. I would say this bungalow suite is not worth the € 200 extra.

The beach is "protected" by some sort of fence in the water and one can stand in most of the little bay.

The Japanese restaurant (part of the Nobu Matsuhisa chain) is very good. All the restaurants in this complex are very expensive. Also tried the restaurant at the Westin (forgot the name, the one below the main lobby), the waiters there were a lot friendlier and more attentive than the waiters at the Arion.

Overall, this is a very good hotel with a nice beach and some nice pools. I would probably not come back here for a paid stay as I think this hotel is very expensive in terms of price/performance, but on an award stay, maybe.

As a sidenote, because of some raging forest fires north of Athens that are going on here right now, the air smells like smoke and there are clouds of smoke sort of blocking the sun at times. Also, ashes from the forest fires are carried to the property (and into the rooms) by the strong winds going on right now. But the fires are far enough away to not pose a threat to the complex.

zrudeboyz

Sorry I'm just getting around to posting this review. Maybe some amenities have changed.

I stayed at the Westin Astir Palace for my Honeymoon in June 2008. I had no status at the time and used Cash + Points.

You are supposed to get one free airport transfer. We arrived at the airport and they were not there. We got some help from an info desk calling the hotel and what not and the hotel said they had messed up, get a cab and they will reimburse. So we did, I think when we got there the cabbie tried to overcharge me and a nice Greek fellow told him that's too much and told me how much to pay him. I was then reimbursed at check-in. For our departure they agreed to give us a free transfer due to the inconvenience on arrival. I kindly asked for this and wasn't met with too much resistance.

I picked the Astir Palace because it was an easy trip from Barcelona (Wedding) and all rooms have a view of the water and large balcony. We were given a room at the end of the complex toward the ground, but still had a nice view. It wasn't the best view, but good enough for me. They had put rose petals on the bed and left us a bottle of wine and some fresh fruit in the room. Possibly SOP, or because I had told them ahead of time that it was our honeymoon. The rate (I think 4800 pts + 100USD) also included free breakfast buffet (or you could have it delivered to your room (for a reasonable charge)).

The room was quite nice, Westin linens and such. Quite large balcony, we moved the table and chairs out there when we had breakfast in the room. Nice large bathtub and a separate shower.

The salt water pool is great, the private lagoon/beach is great, the sun-bungalows on the water are great (good swimming jumping off of the bungalows). There aren't many food options on the peninsula (all resorts) and we ended up ordering room service every night. We only did this, because the first night we ordered a few things off of the kids menu (I'm cheap) and the portions were huge! So every night we would get 3 kids entrees and a dessert and would end up very full for 25EUR.

One day we ventured over to the other property (Arion at the time) and used their indoor pool/spa area. It was a nice change from laying on the beach pool at the Westin.

We also walked down the peninsula to the mainland one day and found a little eatery right on the main road at the peninsula. It was somewhat of a snackbar/cafe, but the food and beer were good and cheap. We also found a grocery store in the same area and bought some goodies. I believe the restaurant is to your left if you are walking towards the mainland from the peninsula.

The hotel offers a free shuttle to Athens each day (leaves in the morning and returns at about 5PM). We took advantage of this one day, boy was it hot in Athens. We were originally thinking of staying beyond the shuttle's evening departure and taking a cab back to the resort, but by the time 5PM rolled around, I was falling asleep on the shuttle. Worn out.

So it was nice to return to the tranquility of the Astir Palace and spend the next day lounging in the sun.

I don't often stay at too many beachfront properties (mainly in Hawaii), but this has to be one of my favorites and was a great value with C+P at the time. Maybe it's because of the great memories my wife and I have. I would love to return, but haven't found the opportunity yet.

Ahhh, the memories.

peteropny

We're still debating whether to stay at Westin / Arion or the Grande Bretagne and had some questions. Westin's website seem to indicate that if you're in a Club level room, you get an airport transfer - I'm assuming that as a SPG Plat, we should be upgraded to this level - would the airport transfer still apply? Arion has no mention of an airport transfer? On the subject of transfers, the Westin mentions airport transfers (plural) which I assume means boh ways (would it be a problem for the "outbound" from the property to be to Piraeus instead of ATH)?

The rooms do look very nice for both properties and we're not real fond of Athens so debating this.

Thanks again!!!

LilZeppelin

We stayed at Westin in September, and it was a really nice place. The room, the resort, the location. Next time we go though, we will stock up on Nespresson capsules beforehand though.

lucozade

I would prefer Grande Brettagne! Location is great and excellent platinum recognition!

1Konsultant

Thanks for the insights. I'm also debating the Arion R&S vs. Westin Athens Astir Palace. Since both are Cat 5 and are running at the same C&P rates, I'm confused as to the differences. Any recommendations or thoughts from folks who have stayed at both?

I like the spa at the Arion but concerned about not getting a seaside view compared to the all-see facing Westin. Also, as a SPG Gold, is access to the basic spa services (e.g., sauna, steam) complimentary? Does this matter if I'm staying at the Westin or the Arion?

Thanks!
1Konsultant

MAN Flyer

We stayed at both last August and really enjoyed both of them.

At the Westin we got a huge ocean view suite with a large balcony that we were very impressed with. At the Arion we didn't get a Suite as the hotel was completely sold out but we got access to the bizarre little place they set aside on the top floor for a lounge, which meant we got a (very basic) breakfast and also drinks and snacks in the evenings. Strangely enough we were usually the only ones up there most of the time so enjoyed a few drinks each night sat outside on the balcony.

We didn't use the Spa so can't comment on that or on how they treat Golds. We also did not get any free transfers offered, although we arrived at the Westin after a few nights at the Hilton in the city.

We would definitely return to both Hotels, and look forward to trying the W they are building next to them when that finally opens.

gpeso8

Just returned from the three day C+P visit to the Arion. I found the hotel to be excellent and the staff to be lovely. I am only a Gold but was upgraded to a very spacious ocean view room. The shuttle service that runs into Athens and Glyfada was always on time.

itsaboutthejourney

Congratulations on your first post gpeso8! Welcome to FlyerTalk.

clmsontigrs

i just returned from a 6 night stay at the Arion Hotel. I was there for a business conference.

A few positives:

- The hotel and grounds are beautiful.
- The food and drink was very expensive but very good (the lobby bar is a fun atmosphere at night when they have music and open the doors to the patio
- Stayed in what i assume to be a garden view room. The rooms are nice, good amenities, nice comfy bed.
- Business and meeting facilities were very good with plenty of space

The negatives:
- We had a group of 80 people on property, most for 4 night, eating all meals there
- The meals got tired at the end. There was no variation. We had the
same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. While it was good food,
it was boring. We saw leftovers from breakfast used at lunch and those
from lunch used at dinner (i.e. the spinach and feta rolls/pockets, the
chicken skewers, the pork with either a mustard sauce during lunch and
another type of sauce during dinner)
- Several people had items taken from the hotel.
- Since we had such a large party we had a Greek event management
company as planners. They had a secure room in the administrative wing
of the hotel. During one of the nights, one of their laptops was taken.
The hotel told them someone used a key card to gain entry in the middle
of the night but that they could not tell who.
- We had gifts for the "winners" of our events, to be given out on Sunday
night during our closing ceremony. There were teams of 5 and 6 and the
team that won had 5 on it, meaning there was one extra gift. That gift
was placed in the back room with 4 wrapped books to be given to our
keynote speakers as a thank you. During dinner someone took the box
out of the backroom with the remaining gift and the 4 wrapped books.
- I stupidly was running late on Monday morning so put pants on, leaving
my wallet in the room. I had 3, 20 euro notes in my wallet for the taxi
ride back to the airport. These were specifically set aside and folded
over in a separate part of my wallet. I didnt spend them because
everything at the hotel was covered by my company, except of course
taxi. I didnt think to look when i got back but when I checked out of the
hotel the next morning i reached in to get one of the 20 euro notes, with
the intention of asking him to break it into smaller bills. Imagine my
when there was only 2 20 euro notes in there. i had to change more
money at the desk to get to the airport.

One caveat with the above is that no one was caught. I do not know if it was the hotel staff that did any of the above but am working under the assumption that it was.

Aside from the obvious above, we had a nice time there.

bichoo

I'm trying to decide between staying at the Westin or at some other other property in Athens. How long does it take to get from the hotel to the Acropolis for example? Where does the shuttle drop you off? It seems like a pain to travel from Westin to get into Athens and back and if we miss the shuttle, taxi is expensive? I'm thinking of splitting 2 nights at the Westin and 2 nights in Athens. What do you think?

LilZeppelin

Hotel shuttle drops you off in the middle of Athens at Syntagma Sq next to Grand Bretagne which is within walking distance from the Acropolis. The shuttle is limited: only twice a day, but there is a tram ( detailed schedules can be found here) that brings you quite close to Voula, from where hotel has another shuttle that is a little more frequent. We took a taxi from Athens, and it was not too expensive.