Our two night stay at the Electra Metropolis Hotel, Athens
Location:
The modern luxurious Electra Metropolis Hotel is perfectly placed to explore Athens. A short stroll from Syntagma Square it enjoys the advantage of being close to the vibrant Plaka district but away from the hustle and bustle of the square itself. We took a taxi from the airport at a cost of 40 Euros and the taxi from the hotel to the cruise port in Piraeus was 20 Euros but there is a good metro system available for those looking for cheaper options, especially getting rom the airport to the city centre. The hotel itself has a relatively small footprint but with ten floors it is one of the taller buildings in Athens. This gifts it one of the best features of this hotel, the most amazing view over to the Acropolis and Parthenon. The view is best appreciated from the rooftop restaurant, bar and pool area where residents can eat breakfast with one of the most impressive backdrops ever. There are some rooms on the higher floors at the back and along one side of the hotel which are also blessed with this view.
When venturing outside of the hotel it is perfectly possible to cover most of the infamous sites of Athens on foot. The Acropolis is only a 10-15 minutes walk away through the wonderful alleyways lined with traditional tavernas. We had visited the Acropolis on a previous visit to Athens so we decided to climb Mount Lycabettus, the highest point in Athens, for the best view over the city. Although this was quite a challenging climb there is a furnicular to the top for those wanting to take a less challenging option - and it really is worth it for the view from the top. From the mountain top we walked back to the city to visit the Panathenaic Olympic stadium, the beautiful National gardens, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Arch of Hadrian and the foot of the Acropolis before making our way back to our hotel via Plaka, stopping off for a delicious Greek lunch in one of the tavernas along the way. Speaking of food, there are so many restaurants, tavernas and bars within a ten minute walk of this hotel you could stay here a year and never eat in the same place twice!
Our Superior Double Room:
We had a superior double room located on floor 8 at the front of the hotel, overlooking the street leading to Syntagma Square. The room itself was extremely spacious with twin beds made into a large double bed and a large ‘living area’ complete with a three seater sofa, coffee table and a writing desk. The rooms are entered using a keyless card system complete with electronic ‘do not disturb’ and ‘please make up my room’ buttons. Upon entering the room there is a fully tiled bathroom to the left of the door with a bidet, toilet, contemporary rectangular sink and bath with a large rainfall shower over it. The sink has a large mirror over it with an individually lit magnifying mirror, shavers point and hairdryer. The amenities included some nice shower gels and hair products and lots of bathroom kits, including a dental kit, shaving kit, shoe polish and sewing kit, shower cap and hygiene kit. The towels were large and lusciously fluffy and there were bathrobes and spa slippers in the wardrobe.
To the right of the door is a large storage area perfect for putting suitcases and housing a pair of scales (though I’m really not sure I would want to be weighing myself whilst staying in Greece and eating all that delicious buttery, creamy food). There is a large mirror and tall storage cupboard here too. Inside the main room the bed is flanked by a bedside table on each side complete with phone, electric socket, bedside light and reading light. At the foot of the bed there is a large unit housing a safe, mini fridge, some storage drawers and tea/coffee making facilities. Above this is a large flat screen TV. The bed itself was firm but comfortable and the bedding and pillows were lovely and soft, although we would have preferred our bed to have been made up with a double sheet and duvet rather than two single duvets.
One of nicest features of the room was the available lighting options. There were bedside tables with reading lights, subtle ceiling strip lights hidden behind ceiling skirting, spotlights over the sofa and in the corridor area, curtain lights in the curtain skirts and a table lamp on the writing desk, all individually controlled to provide a plethora of ambient lighting options. We also loved the two soft feel rugs covering the wooden flooring. There was one at the bathroom side of the bed, perfect for a warm foot reception when getting out of bed. And another, larger one in front of the sofa covering most of the floor in the living area of the room.
At the end of the room there were large patio doors leading to a very small balcony (more a Juliet balcony than anything) but it did allow for you to open the doors and enjoy the view up and down the street and over to Mount Lycabettus. Although it would probably be amazing to have one of the more expensive rooms looking out towards the Acropolis, as one of the more reasonably priced room types in the hotel this really did serve us very well for our two night stay.
Restaurants and Food:
As we were staying for two nights and were arriving quite late in the afternoon following a very early start, we had reserved a table in the rooftop restaurant on our first evening. Upon check-in the hotel gifted us with a welcome drinks voucher so we made our way up to the rooftop bar just before sunset to enjoy a drink before our meal. This has to be one of the most romantic pre-dinner drinks we have ever had with the sun setting over Athens creating a beautiful pink sky as a backdrop to the Acropolis. Watching the light fade and the city light up for the night whilst enjoying a glass of crisp white wine we really could believe heaven was indeed on earth.
When the sun had set we were shown to our table which was perfectly positioned in the corner of the restaurant to give us the best view of the Parthenon. We chose not to have a starter in order to ensure we had room for the delicious looking desserts. The waiting staff were excellent and helped us to choose a bottle of white wine to suit our taste. Admirably they only really offered Greek wines but we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wine, not previously having thought of Greece as great wine makers but being proved wrong. Whilst we waited for our main courses to be served we were given home cooked warm bread accompanied with a rich extra virgin olive oil. Four our main courses we had chosen a fillet steak and a traditional Greek pasta dish served with a slow cooked ragu and Parmesan cheese. For desserts we chose a chocolate fondant cake served with vanilla ice cream and a lemon slice served with lemon sorbet, both of which were delicious. It has to be said that this was a pricey restaurant with two courses and a bottle of wine coming in at about 140 Euros, but the view and level of romanticism definitely make this worth a visit. However, we would recommend making a reservation, especially on a Friday or Saturday evening, this restaurant is extremely popular with non residents and locals too.
Breakfast is also served in the rooftop restaurant and was included in our booking price. The food on offer is varied, fresh and delicious. There are a variety of pastries (hot and cold), lots of freshly made breads, a full array of cooked breakfast fare, cold cuts and cheese, cereals, fruit and breakfast desserts (the rice pudding one was to die for, although Rich said the same could be said for the chocolate pot too). The restaurant was open from 6.30 to 10.30am and we probably outstayed our welcome enjoying a very leisurely breakfast whilst totally mesmerised by the view!
Public areas:
The hotel boasts two pools, a rather chilly, non-heated one on the rooftop and a warmer one with an inbuilt jacuzzi in the spa located on the lower ground floor of the hotel. The roof top pool is surrounded by sun loungers with some rather wonderful floating padded beds on wooden decks cantilevered from one side of the pool, perfect for enjoying the warm October sun when we were there. Downstairs in the spa area, the pool is accompanied by a steam room and sauna, as well as offering some treatment rooms for those who wish to indulge in a massage or such like.
There are two bars, one accompanying the rooftop restaurant, which has a few bar stool seats at the bar, a large covered terrace with seating and a few most treasured tables in the small balcony behind the bar, with the best views over Plaka and the Acropolis. There is also an atrium bar with very comfortable sofa seating but this really does struggle to compete with the rooftop bar and its magnificent vista.
As well as the rooftop restaurant there is a street side restaurant which offers more casual fare at a more reasonable price than its haughtier sister. We did not eat here, choosing instead to cross the road to a fabulous little traditional Greek restaurant, strangely named V1935, run by a local family and offering delicious authentic sharing dishes. We started with a meze board of humous, baba ganoush and taramasalata served with crisp breads and then shared a lamb shank, moussaka and Greek salad. We didn’t have room for a dessert even though they looked delicious. But the proprietors wouldn’t let us leave without a taste of something sweet in the form of a small dish of what could only be descried as honey marmalade, shivers of orange rind in sweet gooey Greek honey, all washed down with a shot of an unknown very sweet liquor - why would you say no?
Summary:
Overall, we really couldn’t recommend this hotel highly enough if you are looking for somewhere to stay pre or post cruise from Athens. It is modern, clean, luxurious and perfectly located with the most stunning view in the city. The staff were friendly, helpful and nothing was ever too much trouble. Whilst the infamous Grand Bretagne in Syntagma Square may be thought of as the place to stay in Athens, for us this hotel offered a much more contemporary stay at a much more reasonable cost and an almost identical location, only a few hundred feet from the busy square. Perfect!
Our superior double room with buffet breakfast cost 269 Euros per night for a Friday and Saturday night in October 2019.
If you would liked this review and would like to see another pre or post cruise hotel review then please take a look at our review of the W Hotel, Fort Lauderdale.
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