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. More »
