The last stop on our five country European adventure was Greece. We were there for a couple of nights for a wedding. I won’t be reviewing that hotel, because trying to review a hotel when there’s a wedding block is both awkward and probably unfair.
Continue reading: Review: Grand Hyatt Athens, Greece
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Agree with Lucky. This hotel actually has quite a few positives, modern rooms and great service. One caution - we had a suite upgrade and used it for a one bedroom suite facing the main street up front. It is extremely noisy at all hours and with sliding doors, much of the street noise enters the rooms in this part of the hotel. Even with ear plugs, rest was hard to come by.
this is such a pet peeve while traveling. as someone with a life threatening peanut allergy, its looks annoying and makes me somewhat incredulous that they claim so many conventionally-safe dishes (including their bread, burrata, and oven baked chicken) contain peanuts. Either their chefs don't know what peanuts are (concerning) or else their recipes are bizarre (not sure what burrata recipe plausibly calls for peanuts?!). to clarify Peanuts are legumes, not nuts; so pine nuts, hazelnuts, etc would not be of concern to people with peanut allergies. maybe that's where their confusion lies. not especially inspiring for my confidence
I’m Greek and go back every year to see family. I hardly spend any time in Athens bc it’s honestly the most boring city to me (Thessaloniki is where it’s at!!!). But whenever I have a friend come with me who wants to see the sights, ERGON House is my favorite hotel to stay at in Downtown Athens. Centrally located, fantastic view of the Acropolis, spacious rooms, great food, and exact same price point as this hotel being reviewed. Highly recommend!!!
Although currently a construction site, the area is clearly under regeneration and Hyatt’s presence there is part of it. Sygrou is indeed a monster of a road going through the centre of Athens, however, if you walk round the back you can get “lost” in many lovely local neighbourhoods with some fantastic tavernas. You also have easy access to the tramline into Glyfada. All in all, I’d still consider it a good location for central Athens although not as central as some of the SLH properties in the heart of Plaka.
Stayed at the Grand Bretagne in Athens and would highly recommend it. Not only the hotel was very luxurious but the location was perfect. As for Joe Malone toiletries, they are not mid range but pretty high end stuff.
Why would anyone want to stay at a bland, chain hotel like this, that could be anywhere?? AirB&B or smaller boutique hotels are the way to go, not these mammoth hotels catering to the bus touring set with cash, Ick.
My wife and I and another couple stayed there a couple of years ago in October, shortly after it was reflagged as a Hyatt. I used points for us and did GOH for the other room. It was superb. Both rooms were bumped up to full suites with giant verandas with views of the Acropolis. The staff were just as nice as you could ask for anywhere. Breakfast was wonderful and never crowded. If you turn to the left when exiting the hotel, there are a number of restaurants a short walk away that have great food at very reasonable prices. The only real drawback was the location, and a taxi to or from the prime areas cost 5-10 Euro. To this day I still hear raves from my friends about how great the hotel was.
I think this might be the wrong blog for you shoeguy. While you point is well made, this blog concentrates on loyalty and the use of points, which sadly don't usually apply to your preferred boutique hotels.
I'm pretty sure a lot of this is because the food "contains" peanuts due to being prepared on equipment that also handles them, not because they're directly included. How the allergens survive cleaning is another question.
Hank - as a fellow allergy suffered who has been known to carry an EpiPen when travelling, I think these listings are precautionary, as sometimes a kitchen cannot guarantee strict separation between say utensils used with peanut oil, and those not. So its cross contamination that is the issue, not the actual addition of peanuts to buratta! At a good restaurant, I get asked, 'is it OK for you to eat a steak grilled on the same grill they use for fish? (it is). But for others, this cross contamination would not be acceptable.
“The hallway was beautiful, modern, and felt quite luxurious.” Hm. The hallway on the photo looks 100% generic and could be in any 3 to 5 star hotel?
Anyways, it is great that you are back traveling and your reviews are fantastic as always!
I stayed here for 2 nights before our cruise in September...I was able to make a GOH booking for a friend and paid the low rate for myself...I cannot say a bad word about any of it...I find that status recognition in Europe is only marginally better then in the U.S. and the team at the Athens GH went above and beyond my expectations...Breakfast later in the morning is indeed a "zoo" but we just went earlier the 2nd morning and it was perfectly calm...The 40Euro credit per day was a wonderful surprise and whoever mentioned all the restaurants/tavernas behind the hotel is 100% correct, also a wonderful coffee/bake shop just behind as well...If you are only in town for a night or 2, there is no reason to look any farther, assuming you are a Hyatt regular...
This is about a block away from a great rooftop restaurant called Hytra.
Went there in July and would highly recommend it.
Its about a 30 min walk to syntagma Square all downhill if I remember correctly
I note you didn't mention the adult entertainment across the road...
That downstairs bar was the club lounge alright when I there
I thought it was great value for what it was
The intercontinental is actually next door
The cheek of them to charge for the non-instant coffee in the room. And 3 bloody EUR? You could buy 2 espressos and get change for 3 EUR from a cafe...
Little things like that really annoy me.
The construction site next door is indeed an expansion project of the hotel which will eventually move from 309 to 550 rooms, making it the highest-capacity hotel in Athens.
My wife and I have stayed at the hotel and have had a wonderful time... Hotel was well run in our opinion and had a great view from the rooftop pool of that part of Athens. I would certainly recommend the Hyatt to any one thinking of booking.. When visiting Greece Athens should be a jump off stop between islands and returning home.. great location for getting to the airport..
Spent a week at the Grand Hyatt Athens in July 2023 and it was perfect! That construction added another more than 250rooms to the already more than 250!! And a wonderful spa in the basement floor. Its definitely worth returning to.