My Fiance &amp; I are planning on going to Greece for our Honeymoon. We are looking at going to Athen, Mykonos, &amp; Santorini. <BR><BR>Has anyone stayed at these hotels:<BR>Athens: N.J.V. ATHENS PLAZA Hotel <BR>Santorini: KATOIKIES Hotel <BR>Mykonos: Hotel Royal Mykonian<BR><BR>If so, what did you think?<BR><BR>Did you book your vacation yourself or did you use a travel agent? We are currently working with Travel Agents in Greece. Is this the way to go?<BR><BR>Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.<BR><BR>THANKS in advance -<BR>Stacy<BR>

Hi Stacey,<BR><BR>I don't know about those specific hotels, but I can comment on my travel agent experience. We did a similar route to yours for part of our trip (), and I suggest you do it on your own. My trip was back in 1994, so things may be different now, but here's why:<BR><BR>You can easily research airfares, both to get to Greece and inter-island flights (go to Olympic Airways website).. <BR><BR>The hotel we stayed at on Santorini cost us $120 through the travel agent. When we got there, there was an airline strike, and had to stay on Santorini for an extra day. The room rate: $80. We could have gotten that rate if we had called the hotel directly. Not saying this would happen now. These days, you can probably do it online effortlessly.<BR><BR>Travel agents can certainly make it easy to arrange things, especially for complicated trips. (For example, we wanted to stay at a hotel near Mount Olympus, and no one there spoke English, so we needed our travel agent to book that one!). But yours is pretty basic and would be easy to do yourself if you wanted to. It just depends on what you feel comfortable with.<BR><BR>Good luck and happy travels!<BR>

We have been twice in Greece, each time staying for approx. 2 weeks. Greece is a small country, so both times we rented a car and visited it on our own. As for islands, we visited Crete (by plane) and Corfu (by ferryboat). Unless you stay longer than one week, consider restricting your trip to continental Greece, thus sparing transfer time to/from islands and associated costs. A few wonderful sites not far from Athens: Cape Sounion - Delphi (1 day) - Epidauro (1 day). Not so close, but very well worth the visit: Meteora (1 day), Olympia (1 day) and Corfu (at least 2 days). An island very close to Athens: Egina. You don't want a car in Athens, instead resort to public transportation and/or taxis. 2 full days in Athens will be enough: Acropolis, Plaka, Archaeological Museum, ceremonial change of the guard (euzones), Lycabettus hill. Organized swimming beach near Athens: Vouliagmeni. Hotels: we can't provide you fresh information. During low season, and away from Athens, you may switch to Bead&amp;Breakfast, which is less expensive and more instructive. Food in Greece is great, ouzo is the national alcoholic drink. Greeks are very charming and receptive (just a little bit less than we brazilians ...). Weather is poor (cold, rain, wind) in Greece from September to March. You must buy a good touristic guide on Greece, and surf the Internet for more information. Should you need more information, just ask for.

Iam from greece and Ican tell you that your hotel in santorini is excellent!they say that the view is the best in the world!have a nice honeymoon!

1/the Athens Plaza is a good hotel .but...the major problem is construction noise coming from the 2nearby hotels under renovation the king george and the grande bretagne.<BR>Even on week ends you should expect 'vibrations' starting at 7 am!!!!!<BR><BR>As you will be on a honeymoon trip why don't you consider to stay on a beach resort inVouliagmeni:to enjoy the sea,restaurants and the cafes and only 30 minutes drive from syntagma Square.<BR>an other option is to stay at a northen suburb of athens -only 30 minutes by train to Omonia square(very chic and upscale) with outstanding shopping and clubs and restaurants.<BR>The Theoxenia palace is a good option .<BR><BR>2/Katoikies is excellent<BR><BR>3/The Royal Mykonian is a new and good hotel but the problem is distance from Mykonos town.<BR>for the island way of life this hotel is too far<BR><BR>try the grecotel Mykonos blue www.grecotel.gr

My husband and I stayed at the Athens Plaza Hotel for the first 3 nights of our honeymoon in August. I thought it was great. The location is amazing. We made the reservation though a travel agent in NY.<BR><BR>The construction from the Grand Bretagne next door did not affect us at all. We never even heard it.<BR><BR>If you stay at the Athens Plaza, request a room on a high floor (I think there's only like 10 floors), and then you can have a view of the Acropolis.

Checked out Katikies - very elegant hotel and would be regarded as one of the best hotels on the island. Saw a couple of write ups on this website about enforced quietness around the pool from other guests hostile looks but probably then ideal for honeymoon. Don't expect Athens to be one of the most romantic cities in Europe. Some great sites but also pretty grim - I have not met any Greek that is particularly positive about Athens from a tourist point of view and I am married to one, but my wife still reckons that living in Athens was the best life style she has had (between Munich, Vienna, Sydney, Tokyo and London) as the Greeks know how to relax more than any other place she has been to - problem in getting urgent things done of course!.

Katikies is very stylish but slightly pompous as Nick says. but that or Perivolas must be the best in Oia.<BR><BR>I also loved Zannos Melathron in Pyrgos - superb place, amazing labyrinthine rooms.<BR><BR>Athens - have you looked at the Electra Palace (not sure if they are open again yet after refurbuishment)<BR><BR>Mykonos - I loved the Belvedere Hotel which is well placed at the top of town.<BR><BR>There's some good, objective hotel reviews on <BR>www.i-escape.com/greece.php<BR><BR>or email me if you want.