Divani Palace Acropolis — Hotel in Athens

The incidents occurred in Oct 2023. I thought about reporting it at that time, but I didn't want to shoot off a one-star review without giving myself time to cool off and giving the establishment time to apologize. They didn't say sorry, I got too busy, and it all got buried by other priorities. What prompts me now is that I just returned from Athens and stayed at a different hotel, so now I have some reference point and feel I can fairly write this. Disclaimer: I do not dispute any of the other positive reviews for the Divani Palace Acropolis. At the same time, please consider the particulars of my situation when you are looking for a hotel in Athens. Bottom line: The Divani Palace Acropolis is a terrible hotel for large groups. In my case, I organized a group of 13 couples to stay within visible range of the Acropolis. I give the location 5 stars as it was a pretty view of the Acropolis from the bar on the roof. I give five stars for the rooms themselves, although to be honest, I can't remember the rooms. My gripes begin with the elevators. They are absolutely tiny. You can hardly fit yourself and your luggage. Back in October, one of the two elevators was broken. So now you have one tiny elevator servicing 26 people that came together. This is why I say the hotel is horrible for large groups. The reason why I give it one star for service, is the reaction of the hotel to the elevator being out of service. There really wasn't much reaction. They did apologize it was down, but words do no justice to the nightmare of going up to your rooms one or maybe two at a time, when we are completely exhausted. Guess what, when we left there was only one elevator working again. Any sense that this hotel is 5 star should be discarded immediately. Maybe small details are 5 star. But if 5 star means a hotel humming along at the height of customer service, then this hotel doesn't have it. Next, the dinner which we had paid for was almost inedible. 26 of us were directed up to the rooftop bar where there was a very small buffet. They had run out of all the fresh salad, and had two mystery meat and sauce dishes. They had some nice looking desserts, but we were hungry for dinner and the mystery meats were dry. To be perfectly honest, our group suspected this dinner was left over from lunch. We complained, and the management promised to do better the second night. Well, it was hardly any better. There was a third entree and some fresh vegetables but once again those mystery meat and sauce dishes reappeared. So maybe they weren't leftovers, and this is the standard of their food. I don't think our group is very picky. We come from five different cities all around the United States, plus two countries in Eastern Europe and one country in Asia. We are used to different kinds of foods from around the world. I know the Greeks are known for philosophy and not food, but it really was difficult to eat. This time, we went to a different hotel and the food was much better, confirming that the Divani Palace falls short in food. One tip: don't get the buffet; rather, order off the menu. We saw others getting yummy looking burgers a la carte from the menu. If the management had offered such a thing to us, I might not be writing this review now. Once again, you can trace negative reviews to the inadequate responses of those in charge. And I have to mention that one member of my group, the wisest among us, strongly suspected racism; that if we were white, they would never dismiss our complaints so flippantly. In conclusion, if you have a group, high tail it elsewhere. Regardless, beware of "star inflation" regarding this "5-star" Divani Palace, which was less than "divine" and certainly...

Divani Palace Acropolis boasts an enviable location near Athens’ iconic landmarks, but its outdated facilities, inconsistent service, and operational shortcomings fall short of the 5-star experience it promises. Perhaps my expectations were high for the price point, but the hotel’s luxury billing sets a standard it doesn’t meet—consider other options unless location is your sole priority.

The Good:

• Excellent Location: Perfectly positioned just steps from the Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Plaka, and Herodian Theatre, it’s ideal for exploring Athens’ historic core on foot.

The Bad:

• Rooftop Bar Frustrations: The rooftop bar, Acropolis Secret, was inaccessible due to a large tour group. Staff provided contradictory explanations—one claimed it was fully booked, another cited a private event, and a third insisted on a reservation we couldn’t secure despite emailing the hotel in advance. The lack of clear communication was a significant letdown, especially as the bar’s Acropolis views were a key reason for booking.

The Ugly:

• Substandard Service: The service was a major disappointment for a 5-star hotel. Arriving early, we encountered curt receptionists who seemed inconvenienced by our presence. When we asked to be notified via text or WhatsApp when our room was ready, one staff member flatly refused, insisting we return to check repeatedly—a hassle after a long journey. Later, seeking dining recommendations, another staff member offered to help but dismissively suggested “other hotels” with no further guidance, leaving us feeling brushed off. Most baffling was a late-night request for an extra water bottle (provided by the hotel); the receptionist directed us to purchase one at the bar, an unexpected and petty response for a luxury property. These interactions left us questioning the hotel’s commitment to guest satisfaction.

• Outdated Facilities: The room was a far cry from modern luxury, with decor and furnishings that felt stuck in the 1980s or 1990s. The “king” bed was two single beds pushed together, a setup I’ve encountered in budget hotels but never at a 5-star property. No recent renovations were evident, undermining the hotel’s upscale branding. While the welcome snack box and handwritten note were thoughtful gestures, and the bellhops were courteous, our luggage wasn’t delivered to our room when ready—we had to haul it up ourselves, an surprising oversight for a hotel of this caliber.

I may have set my expectations too high for the price point, but Divani Palace Acropolis markets itself as a 5-star hotel, implying a level of service and quality it fails to deliver. The prime location is its strongest asset, but the outdated rooms, lackluster service, and operational missteps make it hard to recommend unless no other options...

We arrived a couple days early in Athens (staying at Divani Palace) before our dream vacation, a 7 day Saronic Island boat trip with friends to celebrate a milestone birthday! We dropped our bags off in room 624, quick grabbed dinner and when we got back I went to shower before bed and noticed the shower smelled strongly of stale piss (so bad that I showered with flip flops, no joke). When I crawled into bed I felt a little grittiness, but it was late and I was tired from the travel and didn’t think much of it (I should not have ignored this and inspected the bed…). I woke up to bites all over! It was bad! We do a lot of travel and I’d never encountered bedbugs. I pulled back the sheets and there were black specks everywhere. I wanted to get out of there immediately and didn’t think to take pictures of the bed for evidence as I was freaking out. I am 110% positive this happened in the bed at Divani (especially since I had no signs of bite when I showered before bed). Googling and putting the images of my bites into ChatGPT both pointed to bedbugs due to the bite formation. My husband reported the problems, they immediately moved us to a different room, but refused to refund us, claiming that bed bug bites take days to react (I have severe allergic reactions to all insect bites almost immediately) and said the shower smell was from the pipes. All they offered was a free breakfast which didn’t begin to make up for the anxiety of now traveling with bed bugs and overall pain and suffering (seriously uncomfortable, for a solid week my skin felt like it’s on fire from the inflammation, hot to the touch and incredibly itchy no matter how much antibiotic cream I used). What I expected to be offered was to help avoid the spread by offering to wash our clothes and fumigate the bags (nope!). Needless to say it was a terrible way to start a Greek vacation where the plan was to hanging out all day in a bathing suit on a boat and now feel mortified looking like you have a disease. Divani admitted hotels across Athens had a bed bug infestation last year and said they treat the hotel twice a month for bed bugs which tells you everything you need to know - they have a bed bug problem. Stay at your own risk, be prepared to be gaslit if there’s a problem and please learn from my mistake and ALWAYS check the bed for signs of bedbugs. Also, there’s no iron in the rooms which was the least of my concerns given everything, but...