The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens, Greece is opulant and expensive!! (A bowl of sherbert is 16EU. 24 hours of internet access is 20EU.) At check-in, they refused to acknowledge our Acropolis-view room saying that it was a request and not part of the reservation. I luckily had printed out the Starwood reservation from the internet which said "Acropolis-View Room." It took them another 15 minutes but they found us one... with a nice balcony to boot. I would suggest you email or call the hotel directly if you made reservations off the internet and ask if they have any specific room descriptions included. The front desk said that these are "requested" and not guaranteed despite what might be printed on the Starwood.com confirmation. I had to raise a little fit to finally get the type of room I thought we had reserved. I gave the receptionist a tip and, in the end, I think she was more embarrassed than pleased.
Our room rate was 340EU a night including breakfast with the fourth night free for a deluxe room. This is by far the most beautiful and service-oriented hotel that we have ever stayed in.
Our large room was lavishly furnished and overlooked the Acropolis and Parliament building. Our room had a double balcony twice the size of any other I could see. We had requested a non-smoking room but none was available with the view. Although when we checked in they showed us several rooms (smoking and non-smoking) and to be honest, the smoking room we eventually chose smelled fresher then the non-smoking rooms. There was every amenity you can imagine in the room but only a few TV channels in English. The hotel charges you for music at the rate of 6EU for 24 hours. At turn down, the maid put little rugs by the bed so that your feet touch fresh linen when you wake up.
The spa is amazing and I suggest you bring a bathing suit to take full advantage of its facilities.
The buffet breakfast, which was included in our price, was ample, delicious, and gourmet. Our enjoyment was only marred by the profuse cigarette smoking by nearly every other guest in the room. This is my one complaint about the hotel: major smokers here! I had been warned about Greece and cigarette smoke, but no where on our three week journey was it ever as evident as it was at the Hotel Grande Bretagne. Their bar was uninhabitable because of it.
We returned to the Hotel Grande Bretagne for three more nights after a beautiful 10 day drive throught the Peloponesse. Like any other entry into Athens by car, we arrived at the front door of the hotel pretty hasseled. The front desk staff was so accomodating and took pity on the four of us (probably because of our rather stressed out appearance) and gave us extraordinary rooms even though we were paying low rates. My partner and I had booked a deluxe room (245 EU) with a request for an Acropolis view. He came through and gave us our deluxe room on the prestigious 6th floor with a sweeping terrace overlooking the square, the Parliament building and the Acropolis. The view stretched all the way to Pieraeus. The terrace was so huge, in fact, that the four of us had breakfast on it! Apparently, this setup is only available to about 6 rooms in the hotel so we felt very lucky. The trade off was that the room was smaller then our first and the bathroom was about a quarter the size of our first... but, oh, the terrace!! Our friends had booked a jr. suite for 305EU (unheard of!) a night got upgraded to a 3 room suite with butler, flat screen TV in the shower and boxes of chocolates through out their room.
This hotel is really first rate. We all agreed it was the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in, even for our friends who are much more seasonal travellers then us.
Review subbmitted by David L..
Posted at February 25, 2006 1:30 PM
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August 14, 2007 12:00 PM. mauld said:
I recently stayed here for one night, and as a Platinum I have to say I was less than thrilled. I arrived around 1pm on a Sat afternoon via the Metro. There was no one at the front entrance, nor in the main lobby who asked if I needed assistance (which I didn't--but I would have thought a LC would have doormen etc). I found the SPG desk and was not told of the Executive check in on the 7th fl, nor that I could use any of the facilities until my room was ready. Merely that my room would not be available for an hour and I could use the Ladies room on the lower level if I wanted to freshen up?? I wanted to call my husband to let him know I'd arrived, but was told by a number of people that there are no public phones in the hotel-- only in guest rooms. When I finally was able to check in I asked if I could be upgraded to a suite with Acropolis view, and was told I could have one or the other-- but not both. I took the view and was given room 304, which was small, but did have a side view to the Acropolis. Later I found just about all guests were given the same choice, regardless of SPG status or not. I asked for the local wine as an amenity to be sent right up. (Three calls and 8 hours later it was delivered-a bottle of red wine & 2 glasses-- no fruit, cheese or other items that have been mentioned). Perhaps it was because I was on the 3rd floor, but there was no turn down service offered. I checked out the next day in an empty lobby-- and still saw no bellmen, doormen etc. I found my way back to the Metro and my flight back.
While I may return here due to the Starwood connection, I did not feel this lived up to a Luxury Collection property.
Here are some pics:
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=690...=SYE/otsi=SALB