5 Best Hotels in Plaka and Anafiotika, Athens

This comfortable pension offers friendly service and an excellent location in the heart of Plaka—incurable romantics should ask for one of just three rooms looking toward the Acropolis. If you like being in the thick of things, enjoy your buffet breakfast (May–October only) with a view of the famous monument from the shaded roof garden, and ask instead for one of the rooms with the spacious balconies overlooking the café-lined square.

If you want luxurious elegance, good service, and a great location, this is the hotel for you: rooms from the fifth floor up have a view of the Acropolis, and, in summer, you can bask in the sunshine at the outdoor swimming pool, taking in the view of Athens's greatest monument, or catch the sunset from the rooftop garden—if you're not enjoying some serious pampering in the spa. Located on an attractive backstreet close to the area's museums, its classically decorated, recently renovated guest rooms are comfortable with ample storage space, though some bathrooms can be small. Before setting out in the morning, fill up with one of the city's best buffet breakfasts. The hotel also now has a top-tier new restaurant, Zohos, which serves creative Greek cuisine.

Athens's small, modestly priced establishments have generally relied on little more than convenient central locations to draw visitors, but the Hermes goes further, with sunny guest rooms with brightly colored decorative details that feel warm and welcoming, and marble bathrooms. Breakfast is served in the cheerful dining room, and you can enjoy a sunset cocktail at the cozy roof-garden bar before setting off to sample the city's nightlife. A travel concierge can help you arrange day-trips. Family rooms are available on request, and there's a children's playroom.

The guest rooms in this charming, centrally located three-star hotel offer a comfortable place to rest your head while in the heart of old Athens. Part of a family-owned chain, which includes the hotels Hermes and Athens Center Square, this budget hotel flourishes in its location; some rooms have views of the Acropolis, which you can also enjoy from the roof garden while sipping an evening drink. The staff is helpful, the rooms small but well maintained, and breakfast is served in a glassed-in, taverna-style space overlooking the shopping thoroughfare of Ermou, Syntagma, and the Monastiraki metro. Some connecting rooms—ideal for families—are available.