Greeks pride themselves for their philoxenia, or hospitality. Even in antiquity, many of them referred to Zeus as Xenios Zeus—the God in charge of protecting travelers. Today, Greek philoxenia is alive and well in the capital city, whether displayed in the kindness of strangers you ask for directions or in the thoroughness of your hotel receptionist's care. With 18.5% of the small country's GDP derived from tourism, philoxenia is vital, and since the advent of the financial crisis almost a decade ago, Greeks have woken up to a whole new level of awareness when it comes to quality service and customer satisfaction.
The city is full of hotels, many of which were built in Greek tourism's heyday in the 1960s and '70s. In the years prior to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, financial incentives were provided to hoteliers to upgrade and renovate their facilities, to the effect that many hotels—such as the Athens Hilton—completely renovated themselves inside and out as they increased their range of services.
But while prices have increased since the Olympics, accommodations are still available at all price levels. In Athens you can find everything from boutique hotels dreamed up by prestigious designers and decorated by well-known artists to no-fuss youth hostels that for decades have served the backpacking crowds on their way to their island adventures. Airbnb has shaken the waters for the hotel industry, with many visitors now preferring apartment and studio rentals over hotels, and this has also catalyzed the hotel industry to raise its standards. Athens's budget hotels—once little better than dorms—now almost always have air-conditioning and a TV in all rooms, along with prettier public spaces and Wi-Fi. In the post-Olympics years, there was a notable increase in the number of good-quality, middle-rank family hotels, and over a decade later the newest trend is the so-called "micro hotel," a style of accommodation that throws standard hotel features like an entrance lobby, set breakfast hours, and standard hotel layouts to the wind, offering guests the feeling of staying in a beautiful, homelike space (often a restored mansion or building) with exquisite furnishings and modern facilities. At the same time, the city's classic luxury hotels, such as the Grande Bretagne and the King George, continue to be considered the cream of the crop for anyone seeking the full package in hotel pampering, and not least because of their impressive spas, restaurants, and bars.
The most convenient hotels for travelers are in the heart of the city center. Some of the older hotels in charming Plaka and near gritty Omonia Square are comfortable and clean, their appeal inherent in their age, while there's also an enticing range of choices in Syntagma, an ideally central location for exploring the city. Makriyianni, the area that includes the Acropolis, makes for an idyllic location for those seeking elegant tranquility away from the hubbub of the city and morning jogs. Beware that as charming as some of the smaller, cheaper hotels may have become, you're bound to come across some lapses in the details—take a good look at the room before you register. The thick stone walls of neoclassical buildings keep them cool in summer, but few of the budget hotels have reliable central heating, and Athens can be devilishly cold in winter.
