christianj

eggzlot

thanks @christianj - I saw SLH but not sure I want to burn through Chase points as I do not have Hyatt points naturally. My wife has 240,000+ Marriott points, just enough for 3 days at Vedema. Still deciding if we want that or Mystique - I have some extra points I can transfer to her or just do cash + points to do Mystique - though if the schedule does not open for a while she may earn enough to get enough for Mystique for 3 nights.

Athens is easy - tons of options. Likely doing Naxos - and other than an SLH/Hyatt its all cash bookings which is fine. Trying to do Athens/Santorini for free, flights for free and just pay for a few nights in Naxos.

So June 2020 - my 40th birthday hence the early planning) may not open til this fall/winter? I guess that is fair, I can just obsessively check daily ;-) Would hate to book flights and then strike out on hotels. A few years ago we did Bora Bora at IC and they basically have 1-2 rooms a day, so its a big game/luck to even get rooms (i got 3 nights in a row which was pure luck). Are these Santorini properties just as much of a "game" to get booked with award points?

david55

Contacting the hotel directly will often result in an exact date that room inventory will open up for the next year.

eggzlot

Thanks - working on that. Marriott Bonvoy gave me the email address. The hotel replied back there are no listings after Oct 31 because they are closed - I assume for the winter season. Followed up with a bit more pointed of a question to try and get the proper answer.

christianj

@eggzlot...sadly since most of the properties on the Greek islands are in high demand you will have to be persistent and keep checking for availability to open up. We have been 3 times in the last 5 years and there has never been a time when all of the hotels we have wanted have had availability when I checked. It really just depends on when they load rates and some do that much later than others. On Santorini, most people want to stay at the Mystique since it has spectacular views over Vedema. Reality is they only have like 40 suites so only a small percentage of those are likely in the base award room category (Vibrant Suite) which is used for award stays. One of the things I really dislike about Marriott is that you cannot use more points to book a higher category room (at least at Mystique) but you could under the old SPG program. Being able to use more points for a higher category suite sometimes opened up more availability. Anyway.....keep checking and even though Mystique is not a perfect hotel (we just had spotty service during our stay 2 weeks ago) it's really a special property for a special trip and considering Vedema is the same cost I would definitely focus on Mystique over Vedema.

Athens is easy and sometimes you can get some pretty decent paid rates with or without Marriott if you cannot find any award rooms.

eggzlot

Mystique is a Cat 8 whereas Vedema is a Cat 7 - so wouldn't the point or cash prices be different? According to the Marriott page one should be 60k and the other is 85k. My wife and I also really enjoy wine (traveled the world to various wine regions) and it seems at least based on older reviews that Vedema is built on a vineyard and has daily wine tastings in their wine cave. I've read the views at Mystique are great but as you mentioned service could be spotty and its also is a super touristy area of town. I'd rather go to a louder touristy area for dinner and to watch a sunset vs deal with the tourists, cruise ships and noises for 3 days? Also I wonder if those base rooms as you mentioned at Mystique really have a decent view/balcony since they are the free award night rooms? Seems like we got about a month to go back and forth on our decision.

Vedema has been responsive via email - they mentioned Aug 2019 for loading the calendar. Not that I'd wait, but assuming Mystique is in higher demand, we may get lucky to piece 3 nights together at Vedema which is where I think where we are leaning towards at this point.

christianj

You are right! I thought Vedema was a Cat. 8 as well but I was mistaken. Sorry!

Not so sway you away from Greece but if your a wine fan you should also consider this hotel in Spain for a future stay. We stayed there a couple of years ago as part of a trip to Spain. https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...hotel-elciego/

lost_perspicacity

Not super recent, but last year stayed at the Grande Bretagne Luxury Collection. Was a phenomenal five star experience end-to-end. I was there as a part of a block of rooms for an event that was set up such that my gold status didn't "count" but still felt treated like royalty. We were in a deluxe room which was great. The rooftop breakfast with views of the acropolis was amazing.

Also had a pretty good "less fancy" experience last summer at the Fresh Hotel. Great location.

david55

The GB is the grande dame of hotels in Athens. It is a beautiful hotel that we have stayed in many times.

A few years back we decided to try a smaller boutique hotel ( AVA) after a stay at the GB where the room given us was less than expected. Unfortunately larger hotels like the GB have a wide range of rooms even in the same category and it is a cr*p shoot as to what you might get. I wanted to take the uncertainty out of our stay.... now choosing hotels where I know what room we will get.

eggzlot

Thanks for the tip - we did 2.5 weeks in Spain for our honeymoon which included a stay in Rioja for a few days. We stayed at 2 SPG properties in San Sebastian and Seville - in Rioja I cashed in some Barclays Arrival points for a small vineyard/boutique hotel and we did some wine tasting tours that took us up to Riscal and we tasted and toured the property but did not stay there. Though its a lovely place, its really not near much else - whereas in Laguardia or Logrono you are closer to a few small cities for nice day trips, restaurants, etc. It really is beautiful up there - all of Rioja. We've also been to Otago in NZ, Mendoza, Tuscany and this fall we are headed to Vienna and Budapest to check out their wines. We have been to a few spots in America too. Its always fun to travel and visit vineyards - usually beautiful landscapes, nice people and great food, the wine is a bonus!

ao40

Fizzer

There is also the Gavalas Winery with tastings of wines made with indigenous varietals within a 100 -150 yard walk of the Vedema. There are lots of wineries but having one so walkable frees up the tasting options.

damon88

We stayed at Grande Bretagne twice last October and really loved it. On our second stay they upgraded us to 614, one of their best suites, with panoramic views of both Parliament and the Acropolis. It's a wonderful hotel.

We could watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony

Our amazing view of the Acropolis

david55

The hotel at it's best.... jealous.

eggzlot

Mystique opened up for June 2020 so we booked 2 nights. Waiting on Vedema to book another 2 nights. Already have my flights to/from the area. I'll likely book Athens hotels using my Hilton/IHG points - though the GB above looks fantastic, we will be flush out of Marriott points after Vedema and I am sitting on 1.5mm points with IHG/Hilton between those two programs so it will have to do for Athens.