Hotels Overview

As a result of the 2004 Olympics, Athens's hotels have risen both in quality and number of rooms. Nearly every hotel in town underwent a renovation before the games, with luxury hotels paying serious attention to style and design and many adding spas, pools, and gyms. Concept hotels like the Semiramis in Kifissia and Periscope in Kolonaki have not escaped the notice of the international media. Athens's budget hotels -- once little better than dorms -- now often have air-conditioning and television, along with prettier public spaces. Perhaps best of all is the increase in the number of good-quality, middle-rank family hotels, of which there was long a shortage.

The most convenient hotels for tourists are in the city center. Some of the older hotels in Plaka and near Omonia Square are comfortable and clean, their charm inherent in their age. But along with charm may come leaking plumbing, sagging mattresses, and other lapses in the details -- take a good look at the room. The thick stone walls of neoclassical buildings keep them cool in summer, but few of the budget hotels have central heating, and it can be devilishly cold in winter. A buffet breakfast is often served for a few euros extra: cold cuts and cheese, even poached eggs and other meat, but nothing cooked to order.