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Greece itinerary for 3 families traveling together

Greece itinerary for 3 families traveling together

Old Feb 16th, 2010, 06:34 AM
  #21  
 
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Depends on how fawncy you get .... I always use budget hotels, and in 9 trips have never been required to pay in advance: I give them my credit card information in case I would fail to show up for the first night, but no advance payment. PLUS (a secret for getting a big welcome) I tell them I'm providing Credit Card information for security, but when I actually stay there I plan to pay in Euros, in CASH. Hoteliers loooove that. Gives them more "flexibility", come tax time.
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Old Feb 16th, 2010, 06:37 AM
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And did you mean Greek economy, or GREED economy? If you meant the latter, let me assure you that Greek prices have stayed very stable compared to elsewhere ... it is mainly the exchange rate that goes up and down. And although the rate has improved markedly in the past month -- don't count on that lasting until June. As far as the Greek economy goes, The big EU countries are taking strong measures... and our country has troubles of its own.
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Old Mar 16th, 2010, 01:37 PM
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The latest is that the Agali Houses would like full payment! to reserve the several rooms we need. We are actually booked through a third party since I was unable to contact them directly. They hve now contacted me and requested full payment. I have not complied, but am unsure of my status with the third party. Agali houses was giving us a little break on the price, but not enough to take the risk, in my opinion. Any familiarity with Agali Houses? New on the Greek econonmy brings concern when paying in advance.
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Old Mar 16th, 2010, 01:48 PM
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Ps-Agali houses is in Firestefani.
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Old Mar 17th, 2010, 08:22 AM
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If I were in your place I would,walk away.... or rather, tell them you will deposit money for first night, that's it. No reason for full payment in advance, first week in June!!! Maybe the owner is having trouble paying his bills .... or maybe it's the "3rd party" ... is this a legit Greek-based agency? like Aegean Thesaurus or Dolphin-Hellas (2 agencies that have a rep for reliable dealings with N. American travelers). You need to know more.
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Old Mar 17th, 2010, 08:59 AM
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Holding enough rooms to accomodate 13 people with only a minimum payment is a big risk for a hotel. The hotel has every right to ask for full payment to insure they don't lose business in case of a no-show. It may be that the 3rd party is following their agreement with the hotel but you need to know for sure. It does sound a bit suspicious. I agree that it seems extreme, but the question is, how badly do you want to stay there? Try contacting the hotel directly again, but this time put their email address in your address book in case your email server was reading their response as SPAM/Junkmail. That, or invest in a phone call to them.
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Old Mar 17th, 2010, 10:03 AM
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I e-mailed the 3rd party, which is booking.com, just to change and confirm the rooms...made no mention at this time of being contacted by Agali.You may have something there with the spam idea, because I haven't always received the messages they say were sent. I did speak with a representative after the initial contact from Agali, at my insistence, and discussed the room arrangement. I said I would be happy to put a deposit , maybe even half, but didn't feel we should pay in full. Something is not right. I haven't heard from them since they gave me a final date, March 6, to confirm. All of this correspondence is not with the booking company, it is supposedly with Agali Houses directly.
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Old Mar 17th, 2010, 11:11 AM
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Bite the bullet and call the hotel directly. If you want to resolve this and stay there you need to make sure you're really dealing with them and not the booking website.

011-30-22860-22811 or 24043

http://www.agalihouses.gr
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Old Apr 26th, 2010, 12:00 PM
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Well, we are set with the hotels now,got lucky and bought airfare when it plunged a couple of weeks ago, and we're getting excited. I know travererjan you said we didn't need a tour guide, but some of the party feel we should have one to hold the interest of the younger people. We can arrange one through the hotel in Athens, but wanted to see if you all have a particular recommendaton. Yes, we are staying right outside the Acropolis, but is all of it within walking distance? Also...is it better to book our flights from Athens to Santorini and Mykonos to Athens, before we go, or when we get there? Is there a cheapest way to do this? We will take a boat from Santorini to Mykonos. Thank you for your advice!
Secondly, should we book our flights and
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Old Apr 26th, 2010, 12:28 PM
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Book your flights now. Go to the Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air and Athens Airways for price and departure comparisons.
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Old Apr 26th, 2010, 06:27 PM
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If you will read my post carefully MJ, you will see that I did NOT say that you didn't need a tour guide. On the contrary, I recommended the Athenswalkingtours.gr program ... and I said you can get them to do you a customized tour for such a large group... probably at a savings. Read what I said, not what you THINK i said.

Be sure that your hotel is not arranging a TAXI tour, which is a cab driver with no guide license who is not allowed to accompany you on to any of the famous sites... so all he could do would be to drive you a few blocks here and there. Insist on knowing if this is a LICENSED GUIDE. And if it IS a licensed Guide, did you check the athenswalkingtour.gr previously for what a customized tour would cost, so you could compare with the hotel. If you do not wish to follow up on suggestions, then why do you keep asking for advice..

About "walking distance," when every day posts on Fodors Forum Trip Advisor, FRommers, Thorn Tree and Virtual Tourist say repeatedly that everything is within walking distance, why do you think we are not telling the truth? Did you look at the link to a map which I provided in a previous past, that shows how clustered-together the major sites are?? Here it is again: http://www.cretetravel.com/Athens/At...Athens_map.htm
The roundish area bounded by Monstiraki at the top, Acropolis Metro stop at the bottom, THisseio to the West and National Gardens to the east is about ONE MILE across, and 3/4 of a mile N to South. I call that walking distance.
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Old Apr 29th, 2010, 03:57 PM
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Sorry! Yes, I reread your post, travelerjan, and saw that you did indeed recommend exactly who I have booked, Athens Walking Tours! However, I have not asked for anything special...and will attempt to do that in hindsight...ugh!I must slow down!
I am planning to book the flights now also...thank you.
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