dixieland

We are going to be in Athens for 2 nights next September and I'm beginning to second guess my original thoughts about the hotel we've chosen.

I originally planned on staying at Attalos Hotel since it is close to the acropolis and other major sights, but the Plaka area is known as where the tourist go because it is so centrally located. We really don't like touristy areas.

We would like to get a good idea of greek life in Athens, so I was thinking maybe we should stay at Fresh Hotel. However, I'm not sure exactly where this is in Athens. The hotel looks nice and we saw it on a Samantha Brown episode of Athens recently. I went to their website and it just points to an area on a map of Athens and doesn't give any information as to what is around the hotel. We don't want to spend more than 140 euros.

Where is Fresh Hotel located and is it a good idea to stay in that neighborhood if we only have 2+ days? Would we have to take a taxi to/from the airport? Is it by the metro train?

Thank you!

brotherleelove2004

As far as locations go, both hotels are very near each other. The Fresh Hotel is closer to Omonia Square by a couple of blocks. Omonia now has a poor reputation because of druggies and prostitutes at night. The Attalos is on Athinas Street, around the corner and about 2 blocks closer to the Plaka. I'd definitely stay at the Attalos. I doubt if you'll be spending much time in your hotel room anyway. For exploring less-touristy areas of Athens, from the Attalos you can access the Metro from the Monastiraki Station and avoid Omonia altogether. You can also walk to the Psirri neighborhood where lots of locals hang out.

wug

You're only about a 5-8 minute walk from the Attalos if you were to stay at the Fresh. We stayed at the Hotel Economy, which is right by the Fresh. It's an easy walk to either Omonia metro station or the Monastiraki station. Very close to the produce and meat markets. I'd say it was quieter being off of Athinas St and a little more away from the major tourist area.

We liked the Hotel Economy. Basic but clean spacious rooms for a budget hotel. It was only 55 Euros for a double too. The people who ran the hotel were very helpful as well.

lhopp

Hi Dixieland.

We are looking at 2-3 nights at the Attalos aslo for our trip in September, so glad you asked this question. I saw the Fresh Hotel on Samantha Brown as well-the show gave a nice picture of Athens, and we're looking forward to it. I believe she has episodes coming up on Santorini and Mykonos if you are going to the islands.

Have you finalized your itinerary as of yet? If so, may I ask what your plans are for Greece and when in September you're going? We're really struggling as to which islands.

NikolettaG

The Attalos is not actually in Plaka, although it is very close: it's on a lively main street, Athinas Str., close to the central meat and vegetable markets: not very "touristy" at all. The Fresh Hotel is very close to the Attalos, on a street leading off Athinas. Both these hotels are very close to the Monastiraki Metro station. Since you want "to get a good idea of Greek life in Athens", maybe you SHOULD stay at Fresh Hotel! Here's the gist of what I wrote in answer to another post suggesting the website: ....."I've often passed this hotel and admired its exterior. Now I've checked out the interior and it is truly amazing! I hadn't realised it has 9 floors and a rooftop pool. The view over the city must be really something! I looked at the prices for November – 120 Euro for a double room seems very reasonable, in a hotel like this, but I can see why! This is a brilliant example of what hotel websites DON'T tell you!! I don't want to be too negative - actually, I love this part of the city – it IS 'the heart of Athens', close to all the main attractions, like Plaka and the Psyrri area, where there are really good restaurants and cafés, and there are some interesting shops on Sophokleous street, where the hotel is. This is where I come to buy fresh chillies and ginger, and spices from big open barrels. There are general stores selling unfamiliar fruit and veg in tins with Arabic labels, and sticky pastries at a fraction of the price in the patisseries in the main streets. Personally, I've never felt frightened in this area, even at night, when the shops are boarded up and the narrow streets are dark, and I've never seen any drug dealing, although I've sometimes read warnings about it on travel forums. However, I have seen the scantily clad ladies standing chatting outside some rather dubious looking 'hotels' in Sophokleous Street and others nearby – yes, this is a 'red light' district of Athens! (It's interesting that the website places the hotel 'next to the beautiful town hall', which must be intended to give it a certain grandeur, but it is actually at least a block away!)"

Miss_Maple

To Ihopp,

Here is an suggestion for trying to decide about which islands to visit -- go to your local library and in the travel section you may find some travel DVDs -- I found several on Greece -- the classic sites and also the islands. Most DVDs review the most popular island - and it's attractions -- it does not offer info accomodations however. For our trip in early May, I decided to visit Rhodes and Samos. Good luck planning -- and I also am staying at Attalos in Athens -- location and price were deciding factors.

dixieland

Thank you all for your insight to the location of both hotels. I didn't realize they were so close together! We will be out and about in Athens and hardly ever in our hotel room, so I think Attalos will be a better option for us. It is cheaper too!

Ihopp -We haven't nailed down our exact dates in September yet, we're waiting for cheaper flights, but tentatively Sept 12 - 26. Our plan is to fly into Athens and then either fly or take a ferry to Naxos. we're staying in Naxos for 4 nights and then we're taking a ferry to Antiparos for 3 nights. We're kayaking on Antiparos which I'm so excited about! We got back from Croatia in October and we kayaked there and it was a highlight of our trip. We'll fly back to Athens via Naxos (ferry from Antiparos to Naxos) and then we're off to Rhodes for 5 nights. We'll stay in Athens 2 nights.

We selected the islands based on A LOT of great advice from brotherleelove and heimdall and numerous others. We wanted a true feeling of greek life with beaches and hiking (Naxos). We also wanted to go kayaking (Antiparos) and my husband is really into the Seige of malta and other historic events in Rhodes. That is how we picked the islands. It's such a personal decision. We also didn't want to do the typical islands like Santorini, we wanted to explore islands that people don't normally go to. I started by finding a map of the islands and then picking one and googling it.

If our itineraries overlap at the same island we should get together!

Happy planning!

lhopp

Thank you Miss Maple and Dixieland.

Yes, DVD's and picture books from the library are terrific planning tools! There is a great DVD called "Visons of Greece" that I have watched many times for ideas. The problem is, everything looks so beautiful, you can't fit it all in one trip! Rhodes and Samos sound like a good pairing-have you been to Greece before?

Dixieland-I agree-the advice of brotherleelove, repete, heimdall, and other Fodorites has been wonderful. We're not sure on our dates yet either, as are watching airfares too. Our dates may overlap some...if it turns out that way, we will definitely have to meet. I really like your itinerary-it has a lot of variety.

Santorini is a must for us, but otherwise, we're pretty open. We're considering either:

Antiparos, Naxos & Santorini
Rhodes, Symi & Santorini
Driving tour for a week of the Peloponesse & Santorini

All would include 2-3 days in Athens as well.

I liked Rhodes & Santorini, but was concerned we'd have to fly Rhodes-Athens-Santorini and could not fly direct, but looks like your doing similar thing by going Naxos-Athens-Rhodes. The flights are short, so it probably won't be so bad.

Good luck with your plans. It's nice to see there are already a few people planning on Greece next year!

dixieland

Ihopp - We really want to go to Rhodes, so we will have to spend a little time traveling to get there, but from what I hear it's worth it. I think the flight from Athens to Rhodes is around an hour.

wug

dixieland, I envy you that you'll be spending time on Antiparos. We spent just a day there this summer and did a kayaking trip. What an amazing day!!! You're going to absolutely love it. Antiparos is very small and laid back. You'll spend a very relaxing time there. We look forward to returning there and spending a few days. You'll find that the coastline on the two sides of the island are very different. One side is white cliffs and rocks, the other more gentle and calm. the view from a kayak is breathtaking.

We stayed on Naxos for several days this trip too. Naxos was wonderful as well. The interior of the island is so beautiful.

ENJOY!

dixieland

Oh my gosh, wug, you are getting me soooooo excited to go kayaking! I think it was your trip report that sold me on kayaking on Antiparos beacuse you can also kayak on Milos.

Thanks again!

Carley

Just stayed at Attalos and enjoyed it very much. Not a fancy hotel and the breakfast was not as good as we had on the other islands but the location is wonderful and the rooftop bar was great. Rooms were clean and simple and bathroom was fairly large and ours even had a bathtub which I love.

We were able to walk to the Acropolis in about half an hour. Ate all of our meals in the Plaka area. Hope this helps

Tere

OOps! I just read this thread and have booked the Fresh Hotel for next June fro 2 nights, because I thought it looked awsome and had great reviews. I was also thinking it had a good location.

Now I am a bit scared as I am a woman travelling solo and maybe it isn't the righ place for me to stay. What do you think?

Thanks

Teresa

Miss_Maple

Ihopp,

College age daughter and I traveled to Hawaii last May -- I decided Rhodes would be a good choice to have a good combo of some interesting touring and relaxation if wanted. I also wanted to visit Turkey one day (Ephasus) as it is appealing to me from a Biblical perspective -- hence the stopover at Samos. I am sure what ever island you choose to visit -- you will love it. I have never been to Greece before -- and I doubt I'll return so I am going to have to make the most of it.

NikolettaG

Teresa,
Do not worry - NO ONE will bother you! I wrote my original message after Fresh Hotel was suggested in a response to a post asking about hotels in a "cool neighbourhood". I was quite amused when I looked at the website and saw how it avoids describing the district – but the original poster had youngish children and I thought maybe it wouldn't be ideal. This is a fascinating area, and the hotel itself looks wonderful – if I were going to stay at a hotel in Athens, I'd choose it rather than one of the big hotels on Syntagma Square. The hotel is near the top of Sophokleous Street, so if you do feel nervous about going out at night you should turn left outside the hotel and walk up to the main Athinas Street, which leads to Plaka. In June it doesn't get dark early anyway! Actually, Sophokleous Street continues on the opposite side of Athinas; then it's in the financial centre, where the Stock market is, so it's an area of contrasts! Here's something you might like, which I haven't seen suggested before – on the far side of Athinas Street, next to Sophokleous, just opposite the Town Hall, is one of the main Athens Squares - Kotzia Square. There's a big department store here called Notos Galleries: at the top (8th floor) there's a rather elegant self service café with a roof terrace. Lovely food and drinks – unusual juices! There's an amazing view of Lykavittos Hill, the Acropolis, etc, and you can look down on the recent excavations in the square itself, which are really interesting. It's a nice place to have lunch – and it's never crowded. I'm sure you'll have a really good time in Athens – it's one of the safest places I know for a woman on her own.

Tere

Nicoletta, thank you so much for your post, it made my day! I was already regreting having booked the Fresh Hotel and was thinking about cancelling my reservation.
Your post made me feel more reassured and calm!

Thank you also for your recomendation of the restaurant. It must be great and I will certainly follow your advice and have lunch there. Can't wait for my trip to Athens and Santorini next year, lol.

Teresa

Jackie

Tere,

I too am a single woman and stayed at the Attalos this past Sept. I took a tour that started at the Fresh Hotel so am familiar with the location. I walked alone at night (2 nights) from the Plaka area to the Attalos, which is closer to shopping, restaurants, train stop. On the second night, there were very few people out on the street and I felt uneasy walking alone and was very happy to be back safely at the hotel. I would not want to walk the extra couple of blocks to the Fresh Hotel. And, I'd stay at the Attalos again on my next stay.