My wife and I and another couple will be spending four days in Athens in mid-October. This will be the first visit to Athens and the surrounding area for each of us and we are excited to experience this great city. We are asking you Fodorites out there who are familiar with the area (which we obviously are not) to give us a "heads up" on where within the city we ought to consider booking our lodging. We would like to be in a neighborhood that is centrally located to the sites that we, as tourists, want to visit and that will also offer us a bit of the local flavor of Athens. We look forward to your suggestions.

The best areas to stay in Athens are Monistiraki, Syntagma or the Plaka which all centrally located to everything one goes to Athens for. There are numerous accommodations in a budget & taste for everyone.

I always stay at the Attalos Hotel on Athinas St. Nothing fancy but can't beat the location.

A budget will help make recommendations for where to stay.

A lesser-known quiet area is on the south side of the Acropolis, between it and the Akropoli Metro Station.

An excellent place to stay is the Beautiful Mansion at PLAKA square. It's on booking.com or just google it.

I agree... giving us a budget indication is a must -- otherwise people will recommend things too upscale or downmarket for you... and not just "moderate price" or "comfortable" ... if you can, please state a range, in Euros, not US$, because many helpers are not from US, and also, many hotel websites quote in Euros. Here's an Instant conversion website: https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/

FYI the place I recommended is currently running about 149 € a night but will likely be higher in coming months. It does have 3 bedrooms.kitchen, dining room, living room plus balconey and terrace overlooking the Acropolis. Very nicely decorated. A real bargin IMO.

Yes, I should have mentioned our budget. I expect about 90 euro (100.00 U.S. dollars) would be our limit. I'm quite interested in the 3 bdrm place historytraveler has mentioned. I intend to check it out as well as lodging in the other areas already mentioned. I really appreciate this feedback.

Not quite clear on the budget ceiling -- is 90E ($100USD) your limit for ONE couple or for BOTH? ..., but since u seem interested in the €149 place, you must mean per couple.

I should clarify. The 90 euro limit is per couple.

The Plaka and the area around Syntagma Square are quite convenient as you are next to metro stations, major attractions and endless restaurants and cafes, however these are business and not residential areas.
If you would like to be more among locals then Makrigianni ( just south of the Acropolis Museum) and Koukaki further south of Makrigianni would be ideal, as these are traditional residential areas, very popular among Athenians.

Another central residential area is Pagrati in walking distance from Syntagma Square through the national Garden or a short ride with the trolley bus.

AirBnB should have many apartments on offer in all 3 areas