My husband, 17 year old daughter and I will be traveling to Greece in late July from the U.S. We will have a very short stay in Athens at the start (2 nights) and then venture on to Crete and another island where the accommodations will be quite modest. Hence, I would like to find a very nice hotel for our two nights in Athens. I would appreciate recommendations for hotels that accommodate 3 in a room (which may mean a suite) and that are memorable. I am not going to wear my "green eyeshade" on price here. Thank you in advance for input.

Think you want the Hotel Grande Bretagne.

A very nice Boutique hotel (rated the #1 boutique Athens Hotel by Trip Advisor) is AVA hotel & suites - http://www.avahotel.gr because it's small & high-rated, difficult to book but perhaps in July they'll have a vacancy.

Grand Bretagne is the Queen Mother of Hotels ... traditional, large, on Syntagma Square... but with all the traffic that's involved. AVA is within the Plaka District, only a few hundred yards from the South entry to Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum, and just off the lovely pedestrianized promenade ... almost no car traffic, lovely ambience. When u step out of the door, to your Right looms the Acropolis, to your left, Hadrian's Arch.

Next to the Grand Bretagne you also have the King George and the Athens Plaza. Nearer the Acropolis you have the Electra Palace and the Royal Olympic.

With no limit on price I would stay at Hotel Grande Bretagne and reserve a room or suite with views of Syntagma Square. There are fabulous views of the Acropolis from the GB: http://www.grandebretagne.gr/webcam

We loved our hotel Athens Gate

http://www.athensgate.gr

Great location, some rooms overlooking ruins and breakfast on a rooftop terrace overlooking Parthenon.

I very much appreciate the feedback. All of these selections are quite attractive. I booked the Ava because it most closely fits our preference in a hotel - upscale and modern (but not coldly modern). Also, there was only one suite available for our two nights in July so I did not want to delay (any longer than I already have, that is!). I am able to cancel so if others have suggestions, I would love to hear. Thanks again all.

The Grande Bretagne.

You have world-class shopping and the cafe society of Kolonaki just across the street. (Wear your Cutler & Gross sunglasses whilst you fish through your Prada bag for a Kolonopin if you want to look like a local.)

Easy walk to the spectacular Benaki Museum.

Plentiful taxis in front of McDonald's on Syntagma Square.

Thin

We loved staying at the Grand Bretagne! Top service, beautiful room, rooftop dining including wonderful breakfast. Perfect location. Easy access to dining in Kolonaki. Meteo nearby. Views of Syntagma Sq.

Glad to hear you booked AVA! We've stayed there many times and will be back in July.

If you are looking for a wonderful and reasonable restaurant near AVA, check out ATTITCUS GREEK HOUSE, which has excellent food and views of The Acropolis lit up at night.

Here's what we found about Grande Bretagne: Hotel rooms are gorgeous, as is rooftop restaurant with it's incredible view.

But... some of the rooms even in higher categories were seriously the size of my hall closet. And they were not cheap.

So after many years of staying there, we switched over to AVA, which had rooms three times the size for about 1/2 the money of Grande Bretagne.

And the location, in the heart of The Plaka, is one of my favorites for Athens. Much prefer it to Syntagmna Square.

I meant to say PUBLIC rooms at Grande Bretagne are gorgeous. Hotel rooms are really hit or miss.