Fresh Hotel Athens (Member of Design Hotels)
Room 507
Suite
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Stats
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- Suite
Stayed 3 nights at the Fresh Hotel Athens. There are a couple of affordable options for SPG members in Athens if you don't want to go for the two Luxury Collection hotels.
Location
The hotel is well situated in the center but far from the crowds. You can reach it by metro. The closest is Omonia (lines 1 and 2) and the other one (direct from the airport on line 3) is Monastiraki (lines 1 and 3). The walk from Monastiraki is ok, not the nicest and longer than if you got off Omonia.
It's very near Monastiraki Square, Hadrian's Library, Stoa, Agora and the Plaka area. Walking distance for everything if you are not afraid of walking.
The street in which the hotel is is not what I would call sexy or nice haha. Nothign bad but yeah, bit run down. There's an adult cinema around the corner as well but honestly, everything felt fine and safe. Lots of families with young kids were staying at the hotel.
Check In
Check-in was easy and quick. The staff was friendly and efficient (at least for hotel related tasks, it was a different story when I had to ask questions regarding buses, metro, attractions). Surprisingly, I got upgraded to a corner suite on the 5th floor, that was a very nice surprise as Design Hotels do not have to upgrade Elite Members. I'm Elite Gold. My initial booking was a Superior Balcony room. The hotel was maybe full as I saw a bus (40-50 seaters) arrive right after I checked-in with a lot of people arriving...
Anyway, nice surprise.
Room
The Suite was big. There's a small corridor, a sitting area with couch, TV, DVD player, a surround sound system installed on the ceiling, a desk, water kettle for powder coffee and tea bags. Then a big room with a nice bed, ample space for suitcases and clothes in the hanger as well as we big bathroom with a shower.
The entire space (room + living room) was surrounded by a balcony, which is a nice bonus and I was not expecting it to go around the entire room and living room. As an Elite member, I had two bottles of water for free and two loukhoums. They were delicious.
The general feel of the room was a bit underwhelming though, a bit "plastic-y" or "Ikea" :) Certainly not the same feel as the Sir Savigny in Berlin where I stayed before arriving in Athens. It's a lot of pink and some citrus yellow-green colours.
Plenty of plugs around the bed as well with international inlets so most of us won't need an adapter.
Dining
Tried the roof top restaurant as I arrived during Easter weekend and almost everything was closed or operating with limited choices and hours. The roof top is worth a visit, it has a small pool, an outdoor lounge area and the restaurant/bar with nice views over Athens and the Acropolis.
The food was really good. I usually avoid eating at hotels but I was pleasantly surprised. The portions are good. I took an appetizer and a main and had too much... The waiters were friendly and super accommodating. I could see and hear them tend to the family next to my table with young kids and well, I can tell you that not all waiters would be that nice. So thumbs up for the team there. Prices were ok, nothing surprising.
Breakfast was good (my rate included breakfast but I think all rates include breakfast as no one checks your room number when you walk in. Almost any stranger could walk in from the streets and have free breakfast). But boy, it was crowded... one morning, I decided to head back to my room and wait for a bit before going back down. Selection is not bad and has your usual cold and hot buffet. A fresh orange juice squeezer (no idea how it's called but it's those machines where you put whole oranges and they go through tubes and the juice is squeezed out, really nice!).
Pool
Nice roof top pool, it was still a bit fresh (April) but people were soaking in it. It's quite small but still a good amenity to have.
It's located right above the lounge area and the view you get from there on the Acropolis is just nice!
Overall
Overall a good hotel for the price paid (around EUR 100 per night including breakfast). I'd come back but I will try the other Design Hotels around as well.
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