Looking for Olympic lodging help
 

I've been trying to find reasonable lodging in Athens for the Olympics and have had no luck. I've contacted all kinds of travel agents and the prices they're looking for are insane.

Anyone have any advice on other ways to find a place to stay?

Check Athens 2004 website and contact the hospitality desk for their special program of rented , fully serviced and equiped flats/villas etc...

Keep sending emails to individual hotels and hostels. Eventually you'll find something. I understand that a lot of the hotel rooms that have been snatched up in quantity by speculators will be offered up later in the year.

Um hello??? This is the OLYMPICS!! Every hotel in Athens and surrounding outskirts will be bursting at the seams with guests. Did you not know that the press/media from all over the world will be covering this event and they need a place to sleep and keep their stuff (as well as their tech crews)? There's also the matter of the athletes who choose not to stay in Olympic Village and their families who will occupy hundreds of rooms. This is a WORLD event, not some annual regional happening. All Olympic hosting cities charge astronomical hotel rates. Sorry but methinks you're SOL. I really hope you didn't already purchase nr airline tickets.

Since you've been working on this a while, you may have already given these a try. I know of some people from another board I visit who recommended trying some of the nearyby islands - at least two of them are staying on Aegina. One of them used a Greek agency - Kaspar, but didn't provide any websites.

Someone posted this same query on another travel board a couple of months ago. I though the best answers were -

1) stay in a nearby town and travel in/out each day

2) rent an RV in another area of europe (therefore at a reasonable price) drive to Athens and stay just for the pice of hooking up in a campground

Good luck!

Six months before the games, the only rooms available are through tour operators specialising in Olympic tours. Each country has a designated agent by NOC. It will be very expensive, but you will get a room and a ticket.
Nearby islands with fast connection with Athens are already full. Every hotelier has apparently raised his rates 5-fold in the capital. Even camp sites are charging astronomical rates, like 140 euro ($150) per head per night with a minimum of 3 persons and they too are running out of space.
While rooms did become available close to the event at Sydney and Japan/Korea (for soccer World Cup), that was more to do with the high cost of travelling from Europe/US. Being in Europe, Athens will be packed for the games.

Just when I thought no one on Fodors was going to the Olympics!

Try a home share or swap. You may be too late to qualify for a swap but getting a rental in a private home would be awesome.

I have been to three different Olympics and we have stayed in private homes for all three.

What event tickets did you get?

Happy Travels,
Oaktown Traveler

So I've actually found quite a few places to stay in and around Athens (thank you Hee_hee_hee for your wonderful useless advice).

I've reserved a room at a hostel in downtown Athens and I'm using this as my final option. I'll continue to look for rooms as the games get closer and the prices come down. If nothing better for a decent price comes along then I'll just keep what I've got at the hostel.

I've got tickets to track and field, beach volleyball, diving, soccer, boxing, fencing, volleyball, and taekwondo. It should be an amazing time.

This will be my third Olympics (went to Atlanta and Salt Lake) and I'm really looking forward to it. I don't care how crowded or crazy it gets, nothing can beat the Olympics in Athens.

Make sure,that this is not one of the'red light distict'hostels,or one used by the UN HCR for the refugees.
Ask if they have done any renovation or if they have been checked by the 2004 comity.

on AGISTRI ISLAND just one hour away from the games there are still rooms....just ask

All those hotels rooms in Athens are NOT booked yet..what HAS happened is that tour operators have reserved entire blocks of rooms which they will re-sell at the higher rate.
You've answered your own question already when you said you are looking for "reasonable lodging" in a city famous for the Olympics that is now going to actually HOST those Olympics...I'd still try e-mailing directly but unless you are willing to PAY then this may not be the time to see ATHENS...I'd stick to the more interesting parts of Greece and Western Turkey if I were you.

roderick:

So glad for you!

You are going to have a great time.
I too thoroughly enjoy the Olympics and all that it means...

If you are going to continue looking for improved lodging then your best breaks will come from folks who had hoped to retire by renting out rooms in their homes.

The hotels do not do the massive discounting because some corporations wait and make this a nice junket for their employees.

I get to attend the Olympic Track and Field Trails for eight days in California! I purchased a "platinum package".

That's as close as I get this time. SMILE

Happy Travels,
Oaktown Traveler

Roderick:

I did not read in detail the other posts so forgive me if someone suggested this already but, try and spend a little bit of time on the Olympic Boards. Folks are really nice and you just might catch a break that way too!

My Best,
Oaktown Traveler

roderick, i'm also searching for lodging in athens for the games and am curious as to what places you were able to find that still had accom. available. so far i've only been able to find private rooms for rent. any help would be appreciated.

Good luck finding a room. I read an article last year that Athens needed an
extra 11,000 rooms in order to accomadate tourists for the Olympics which they did not have. One solution to the problem was going to be commissioning cruise ships and using them as hotels.

app. next to the olympic stadium,sleeps four pax.........ask info

I have the same concerns and have been raising these on this board since Sept. Fortunately, after e-mailing various web sites (attained via a "Greece accommodations" search), I heard back from a Hotel Lilia in Piraeus in Dec. indicating room availability. I quickly booked an 8-nite stay there.

In contrast, staying on a nearby island will cause you to waste alot of time in line in that the ferries will be taxed to accommodate the crowds. Plus security checks when boarding will be a delaying factor too.
Also, re: home/condo stays, be prepared to not only put a deposit down but also your CC will be charged a multi-thousand security deposit too. To be presumably returned if lodging is in great shape upon departure.