Hestia - Kolokotroni 23 — Hotel in Athens

Avoid at All Costs – A Nightmare Stay

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. From the moment we arrived, it was clear that this so-called “luxury” apartments has no interest in hospitality. We showed up in the afternoon to find the building locked with no staff in sight. We were left stranded outside with our toddler for an unacceptable amount of time before we finally managed to get in.

The horrors didn’t stop there. The street noise at night was unbearable, making sleep nearly impossible. But even if you could tune out the relentless noise, the filthy conditions of the room would keep you awake. The “cleaning service” is an absolute joke—there was hair in the shower, a dirty towel & a red thong with chains (yes, i’m dead serious.) stuffed in the wardrobe when we checked in. Clearly, attention to hygiene is non-existent here.

And then there’s the fire alarm fiasco. Not once, but twice—at 9 PM and 11 PM on consecutive nights—the building-wide alarm blared for 20-30 minutes, yanking us (and likely everyone else) out of our much-needed sleep. The worst part? Management blamed us for the alarms going off, absurdly insisting that our nonexistent shower steam triggered them. So, according to their logic, showering in this place is basically a fire hazard. To make matters worse, the staff handled it with a rude and accusatory attitude, as if we were the problem when we were the ones being disturbed.

It was so bad that I didn’t even finish my stay. I packed up and checked into a real hotel where basic hospitality, cleanliness, and customer service still exist. If you value your peace of mind, stay far, far away from this place. Spend your money somewhere that actually cares...

Great location, clean furnishings with lots of storage and comfy bed. |however terrible service and faulty door. |When you rely on a door code, and see the number pad with wedges of paper/cardboard type of substance behind it, you might be a bit concerned. |When you note the obvious finger smudge (aka, indicating the digits that are part of the code) in the bright sunlight, its not reassuring. |When you flag the fact that the code doesnt actually unlock door, regardless of how much or how little time you 'pause' before pulling the handle, the force with which you press numbers and/or pull door, very frustrating. |When you flag this to the listed WhatsApp and voice number and they refuse repeatedly to answer both = problematic. |When at last they respond and request that you send a video so they can "give you tips on your technique" = very concerning!! |When hours later and you're locked out on the street... not fun. |This place is a really lacking for customer service and needs to take the security and access challenges seriously. |Not what we've encountered anywhere else in Greece, and really sad, as the hard product in the room (minus a few towel hooks) is...

Overall a good experience. Clean and modern and location was excellent. A few things need improvement though. |The text service was not prompt. I was asking for the entry code to get into the first night and I got told the info was sent via the booking website but I could not see any message. I ended up waiting outside the front door and they asked me to send them a picture of my passport before they sent me the code via WhatsApp. Surely they could have made available the code to my mobile beforehand as I had noted that I was checking in later in the evening. Suggestions for the room. More hooks for towels, a larger safe, some kitchen roll, more bins and a more customised cleaning schedule. I stayed for 5 nights and the cleaning was made on the last day (i.e.after night 4). They gave new towels after night 2 without touching anything else. Having 2 little bins (including the bathroom one) and emptying them twice over 5 nights is not...