Astir Beach — Attraction in Municipality of Vari - Voula - Vouliagmeni

Astir Beach is no longer what it used to be, at least not like it was two years ago. The location hasn’t changed, of course, but the philosophy has. It’s now just a simple beach, lacking what used to make it special. Bathers no longer feel like they’re enjoying themselves beyond just swimming — the experience used to be enhanced by other elements that complemented the beautiful surroundings. There is no music at the background. Now it has become completely impersonal. The vibes are gone. I believe it caters more to those who just want to say they’ve been swimming at Astir Beach in Vouliagmeni. For someone paying a premium to enjoy their swim, it feels completely bland. It’s like a beach you just go to, swim, and leave. As for the restaurant, even though there has clearly been an effort to present it as an Italian eatery, in my humble opinion, the prices are outrageously high without justification. It’s outrageous when a bottle of wine that retails for around €13 is being charged at €85, or when a burrata salad is served on a bed of plain tomatoes — tomatoes that aren’t even fresh from a farmers’ market. No matter how much of an animal lover someone is, it’s incredible that after all these years, there hasn’t been any effort to find a friendly way to keep the seagulls away. The seagulls have become accustomed to human presence and have now turned aggressive. Tourists, in particular, who are unaware that the seagulls are lurking to snatch their food — which they’ve paid a high price for — are often shocked when the birds suddenly swoop in to steal it. On the one hand, it’s beautiful to watch the seagulls fly or standing so close to you, but on the other, it’s awful to be hit by their droppings while you’re sunbathing and enjoying the sea. This remains a downside for anyone paying a high price for their beach experience. If there’s an effort to bring back the identity and soul of the place, and the restaurant’s pricing policy changes, they might start winning back...

Such a shame this place didn’t meet our expectations.

Stupidly we should have done a bit more research and read the reviews.

We paid €160 for two single sun loungers and an umbrella. To say this is expensive is an understatement - it’s like Mykonos pricing but missing everything! Having travelled and live abroad, we are not a stranger to beach clubs and their usual concepts (towel provided, partially redeemable, water / water bottle included etc).

The lady who greeted us was friendly, thankfully on a hot day we didn’t have any queues. We showed our presentation and she escorted us to our beds.

The venue is very big. Currently a Dior pop up and lots of beach hut style shops.

When we made the reservation linked there didn’t appear to be many beds available. Didn’t seem to be the case today or thought the day (the venue never filled).

You have to bring your own towel and nothing else other than the bed is included in the price.

Staff were okay - a lot didn’t seem to have much of a clue or could confidently answer any question you may have.

No drinks menu available, food on the beach menu was okay - slightly limited but okay. Restaurant menu just full of pasta, pizza and sandwiches. Not our idea of fun having a mostly carb menu for a beach day..

Staff were quite slow and we waited a long time for 2 sandwiches on the beach (orders around 4pm so wasn’t peak lunch time).

DJ was dreadful.

Really disappointing and sad experience, considering the area is so nice and ‘posh’.

Positive - the beach has lovely sand, water is so clear and beautiful (rather chilly!) and stays shallow a long way out which is good for families and children. I did like the fact the beach is segregated adults area, family area etc.

Really hope management take the feedback from guests seriously and really relook at their current model. Really could be an amazing and much...

We arrived at around 11:30 AM on a weekday (Friday). There were no more sun beds available so we went for the €120 “day bed”. It would have been more worth it if we were a party of 4 rather than 3. As others mentioned, you do not get to choose where you sit unless you pay extra and reserve online. We were seated by the Temple of Apollo, which was a nice bonus.

Swimming: The sea experience is phenomenal! The water is extremely clear and quite clean. There are some stores available and some water activities. There are also changing rooms, and there is a shower.

Food/drinks: We had several interactions throughout the day with the bar/restaurant. We first went for some ice-cream (around €10 for 2 people), it was rather delicious and the service was friendly. Shortly after, we sat at the bar to order some drinks. It took quite a bit of time to get someone to take our order, as well as some time for the drinks to arrive (~€17 for 1 beer, 1 cider and a cappuccino). Finally, we ordered some food to our day bed. The food was much below expectations, the only thing that was of decent quality was the feta wrap (€7.5). The superfood salad (€10.5) with shrimp (€8) contained only 4 small shrimps and was a bit bland. The club sandwich was pretty basic and definitely not worth €17. We also ordered some Greek coffee (€3.5) which was great.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience, but quite costly (€194 excluding tips). I would recommend the sea, because it truly was one of the best in Athens, but I suggest you avoid the...