Review: Hotel Grande Bretagne Athens, Marriott Luxury Collection

While it looks like a great hotel, it is way overpriced if the rooms are in the $1000 league. I wonder what their usual summer prices are like if you book in advance and it's a normal summer.

The bed looks a bit narrow for two. Did you find it wide enough in practice?

FYI. The hotel's name literally translates into English as Great Britain.

Was there a pre-arrival email? What about a concierge? How about a butler or porter? Did they provide newspapers? Those are the things a discerning customer pays attention to in reviews.

It is difficult to find a difference between the average Autograph Collection property and the average Luxury Collection property.

In general, many of the Autograph Collection properties are more modern whereas many of the Luxury Collection properties are older and more vintage in terms of decor — but necessarily in a luxurious shabby chic kind of way.

I think there are some legitimate luxury Luxury Collection-branded properties in Europe and Asia that rival the best St Regis or Ritz-Carlton properties, but in North America the brand is seldom nicer than a better than average JW Marriott.

To me, this looks like what an older Luxury Collection property in Europe should look like. It's what I expect. It's nice to see a property that fits the brand.

The cold foods were set up at room temperature?

Stayed there a few years ago with a balcony overlooking the changing of the Guards The hotel is lovely and had an excellent concierge that I worked with to book some tours and made restaurant recommendations in advance. I don’t recall if they had newspapers but honestly don’t recall the last time I saw a daily newspaper at a hotel (besides Bellagio in LV).

What a special place. I stayed there with my mother in 1995. We woke up in the middle of the night to hear the water in the toilet sloshing back and forth...it was an earthquake! (not serious, fortunately)

I guess this place has not changed much since I stayed there over a decade ago. View from rooftop restaurant was amazing. Food was very good too. My room had a view of the presidential palace which was nice. Gone were the day when I literally watched protestors march to palace from my window during financial meltdown in Greece. Hotel was pretty empty then with stray dogs on hotel entry steps.

You are right about the service in Greece. We stayed at the King George and it was impeccable. We had a suite with a view of the acropolis and overlooked the square. There were protests from time to time, but I thought it was very interesting to watch. The police have complete control while these are happening. The great thing about overlooking the square is you can watch the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was spectacular. There is one day a week where they close that street off and have an entire parade for the changing of the guards. Not to be missed.

Exactly as I remember. But pretty sure I paid a small fraction of that cash price.. The night view of Acropolis is gorgeous!

There does appear to be sliding doors between the living area and the bedroom. Were they not functional, or did you just not notice them?

I remember when it was an HRI- Leading hotels of the World property - it’s always been elegant and after it’s Euro112 million renovation it became even more so ..the random “American” candy seems like a typical Marriott addition which is weird to me - otherwise the property still looks great. I can almost hear the “Oh my god’s “ in the lobby

Gosh. 2008 days before the world market crash... stayed here for stupid over the top speculation architecture with Kempinski Hotels...
I remember that amazing rooftop view at the sunset bar Happy Hour (your pic was a breakfast set-up).
My room was an amazing King with views onto that beautiful square.

Plus one for this. I literally had to zoom in to double check my initial impression there were pocket doors, but on the LHS there’s definitely a brown door with a fold handle.

"The police have complete control" is such an interesting viewpoint from an American.
In reality, "the people are allowed their right to protest without the police pepper-spraying them" would be a more accurate sentiment.

I just completed a stay here and while all the staff was very good, the room was very dated and did not seem updated at all. If I were paying full price I would be very disappointed.

Great reviews of two beautiful Athens hotels (Hotel Grande Bretagne and King George). Are there any current reviews of the New Hotel by Design Hotels (Bonvoy) in the same city area?
Thx u