Help! We are plannig our first trip to Greece in mid-September. A week on Crete, 4 days in Santorini and 4 days in Athens.
We need recommendations for moderate priced hotels in Athens. Everything that we have checked out so far is booked. Any recommendations? Do you think some of these rooms are being held by tour companies and there will be openings closer to our travel dates? Thanks.

There may be rooms available closer to your date but the paraolympics will still be going on so Athens will be busy. A greek travel agency like fantasy travel that's listed on Matt Barrett's greek travel website may be your best bet.

Have you checked Hotel Plaka in Athens? I stayed there a few years ago. It's not glamourous, but it's in a good location and a great value.

Have you tried the Acropolis View Hotel? Its on the non Plaka side,close to the Acropolis entrance. Has a nice roof top terrace.

Part of the problem may be that the Paralympics are going on in Athens through mid-September. But yesterday I made reservations for September and October for the Hotel Adrian in Plaka by contacting the hotel directly by e-mail instead of going through one of the internet hotel sites. See if you can get a room with an Acropolis view. The e-mail for the Hotel Adrian is [email protected], and it is fine to e-mail them in English. (Check out the reviews of the Hotel Adrian on tripadvisor.com from people who have stayed there.)
The Phillipos and the Herodion, sister hotels with the Herodion, being the nicer of the two, both show as having rooms available in mid-September at octopustravel.com and hotels.com, two discount hotel reservation services that we have used successfully in the past.
You might also try contacting the Hotel Cypria on Diomia Street, a very quiet side street, near Syntagma Square. The phone number in Athens is 210/323-8034 and the Cypria fax is 210/324-8792 (you need to also dial the country code for Greece first, which is 30, plus remember that Greece is 7 hours later than the east coast of the US, and 10 hours later than the west coast of the US). They speak English at the Cypria, so language is not a problem.
Good luck!

Thanks for the information. Plaka has room and I'm still waiting to hear from the others..

You're most welcome. If you stay at Plaka, be sure to ask for a room with a view of the Parthenon.

Try the brand new (just opened) and super'hip' hotel the Fresh www.thefreshhotel.gr.

Superb design,fantastic pool with an acropolis view.some of the executive rooms have a private 'zen' garden.

The location is good right in the middle between Omonia and Monastiraki(Plaka)

My absolute favorite hotel to stay in Athens is St George Lycabettus. Bar none!

Athens has 2 hills, basically, in the town center- the Acropolis and the Lycabettus. Anywhere in town you can always orientate yourself by one of them. The beauty of St George is that it is on the Lycabettus hill (just at the beginning of it) and therefore commands an *unparallel* view of entire Athens- including the Acropolis and, on a clear day, view of the sea and the Saronic gulf islands all the way to Hydra. Great thing about its location is that it is also greener than the rest of Athens, which is notorious for not having any trees or parks..So, with the scorching heat of summer, being on Lycabettus provides a lot of respite.

Another advantage to the Lycabettus location is that it is right above the poshest area of downtown Athens- Kolonaki and its environs. All the best shops, cafes and restaurants are there, at yout feet...I never liked staying in Plaka, because of the noise and car polution and its overcrowdedness.

Speaking of restaurants, St George houses one of my favorites- in its penthouse- so even if you do not stay there, you have to go dine there- the cuisine is excellent and the view, of course, amazing.. They also have a super-cool bar in their park, a favorite among Athenians.

Another thing worth mentioning is its terrace that also has a nice pool, swathed in white gauze curtains, that, other than their beauty and practicality with Greek sun, also make you feel very Grecian..

The staff is great and friendly. The rooms are very modern - chrome and glass in hues of black and gray - and an extra touch- they all have CD player en suite.

Be sure to book a "superior" room, because otherwise you might not get that view. I booked one last year for as little as $160 through some internet promo, so do shop around. I am still amazed I got it for so little, as it is a 5* hotel...Yes there is the Grand Bretagne, yes there is the Interconti, but St Georges has always been special to me...

Kalo Taxidi

Sempronia?I'm so glad to hear this about the St. George. I will be staying there Mid September and booked months ago. But I hadn't heard much about it from anyone. You've reassured me and now I'm excited! Thanks a ton. Can't wait to go.

mzani: have you stayed at the fresh hotel, or just toured the rooms? I've been interested to see what would come out of the Athens Centre remodel.

cwanderer: on the st. george lycobettus -- this is partway up a hill, which means that leaving it everything is downhill, but coming back everything is uphill. not a problem if you are in shape, but you need to be prepared for the hill. the hotel does have a shuttle to syntagma though so if you think you might be tired after a day of walking around athens, make sure you know the details about the shuttle before you leave the hotel
because i like spending evenings in psirri, which has fabulous food and is very fun, i prefer not to stay at the st. george because it is just too out of the way and not very convenient. i also don't like their restaurant "le grand balcon" -- it's only claim to fame is its view, not its food. the view is wonderful tho.

totally disagree...don't know when this person went, but as of last year, I thought food at st. george was very nice and i routinely go to top-end restaurants for business and pleasure, so i do have a frame of reference..no, it is not traditional greek fare, but, frankly, after 2 weeks in greece- i get just sick of it (who wants another plate of tarama) .. but, this is all a matter of taste so- never mind...

what bothers me is the description of its location- st. george is at the very *beginning* of the hill and only 3 minute walk to kolonaki... i am so *not* in great shape, being a smoker, and have walked the kolonaki-st.george without even a deeper breath, much less breaking a sweat..and, girls, mind you, this is in stilettos or platforms! yes, it is out of the way if you want be in psiri (!?!), but if you want the most happening area of down-town athens- it is not!

given the two hotels that were recommended- adrian and cypria- which are both low 3*, i can see that we might not even talking different tastes, we are just talking different budgets and expectations...to each his own..

you'll love the place wanderer!

We stayed at the St. George with my mother-in-law who was 70 at the time, and the hill was too much for her, and made her very unhappy. That is why I mentioned the issue. We had to move to the Grande Bretagne, which was much easier for her and also more convenient.

You are right on the restaurant issue -- I would rather eat good quality greek food -- which doesn't involve tarama or tourist taverna food -- than the Greek version of upscale frenchie international fare which is what you get at the grand balcon. This indeed is a matter of taste.
As for the Adrian and Cypria, what Franandjim (original poster) asked was for moderate priced hotels, and that is, in fact, what the Adrian and Cypria are. Have you stayed at either? They are very nice in their price range, comfortable, and are centrally located. Both have rooms with Acropolis views.
The Kolonaki vs. Psirri issue is interesting. You say all the best shops, cafes, and restaurants are in Kolonaki; I much prefer Psirri. Like the Grand Balcon, Kolonaki and its designer shops that you can find in any large cosmopolitan city in the world, are really not my cup of tea. Psirri with its fantastic art galleries, restaurants and clubs is where i would prefer to spend my time. As you say, it is a matter of taste -- and I prefer a more Greek than a more international scene (not to say that there aren't lots of Greeks in Kolonaki, there are, but Kolonaki just has a more international rich-person flavor, and Kolonaki has a more local flavor. I think its sort of the difference between uptown New York City, and Soho or the village in lower Manhatten. Lots of folks prefer uptown, I'm just more of a lower Manhatten kind of person.
Thank you for your resonse Sempronia, because one thing that often gets forgotten on these forums is that people's standards, likes, and dislikes are so different.

PS: I do like spending time in the Kolonaki coffee shops during the day time. But at night, Psirri is where I want to be!

Wow! Thanks for all the comments on the St. Gerorge. Never having been to Athens I wasn't sure were to stay, I was just looking for a nice hotel. My Husband and I are in good shape, only 33 and non-smokers so the hill shouldn't be too much of a problem. But thanks for the advice on the shuttle, we'll ahve to keep that in mind. We're actually going to Athens to get over jet-lag before we head to Egypt for a month. So we wanted a nice hotel where we could rest and not too much noise and of course do a little site seeing. Knowing us we'll be all over the city anyhow. Usually the hotel is just for resting. Thanks can't wait to leave!

St George isn't a real deluxe property - I popped in on my recent Athens trip, it's a 5 star superior really, but if it's cheap you can't go too far wrong.

A moderately priced hotel between the plaka and Synatagma Sq. near the Cathedral is Hotel Athos at 5 Patrou St.

We stayed at the Hotel Amazon in May for 3 nights - great location and 78 euros per night. (see previous posting re: hotel in June)