Hotel Katerina — Hotel in Athens

UPS: Excellent location, central, close to everything you could want to see or do. The decor is a little old fashioned, very 50s-60s Mad Men business style, with lots of wood veneer but we actually quite liked this. Old school but spotlessly clean. Plenty of space. Solid air-con. Got a room on the 6th floor with a really charming little balcony, you could watch Athens traffic go by and people drinking at the fancy hotels across the square. Cute little elevator. The staff were very helpful and friendly and gave lots of advice about where to eat, airport travel and so forth. |DOWNS: Yes, there does seem to be some kind of junkie meeting point about three streets down. But this would also apply to all the other fancy hotels around here. And it didn't worry us at all. The poor old junkies were just begging but were not in any way worrying, if you live ina big city, this won't be any kind of problem. In our room, we could hear what was going on in the corridor but not in neighbours'rooms. If folks were noisy coming in, that could be a problem and we tried to be extra quiet leaving early to catch a flight. Slightly musty smell in the bathroom. Only thing that seemed a little weird was price-value ratio. We paid around 115 for a night here and then later noted the bigger, more modern hotel across the square was 140 a night (may have been a late booker discount). Then again no idea about the rooms there. |CONCLUSION: Nothing to rant wildly about but great location, a little old fashioned style wise (so if you're not into that...), clean, and great for a couple of...

Hotels are expensive in Athens and my friends and I decided to choose to stay at Hotel Katerina. I found the hotel easy to find, just a short walk to the metro station. It isn't in the best part of the city, not too far away in one direction are quite a few homeless and drug addicts. My flight arrived before check-in was open, but I could store all my luggage fine. I had a late flight and I could also store the luggage after check-out. The room was very small and not much space to put your luggage down and walk around. The room was clean and tidy. The bathroom was tiny and a squeeze for space. The hotel looks quite old and dated, they still use a big key with a lock to get into the room (not a swipe card like modern hotels). The breakfast buffet was good, although it wasn't amazing compared to other hotels I stayed in Europe, the coffee wasn't good. The guys on reception were really friendly and helpful and it was nice to have such great staff at the hotel. I wouldn't recommend for a romantic or honeymoon trip but the hotel is good if you are looking for a cheaper option in the city for solo people and friends...

This is typical shoebox hotel, which is not a problem if you plan there just to take shower and sleep. Although their elevators might be a serious problem for the people with claustrophobia. The place is like frozen in 1960's of 20th century. They don't have electronic locks so key must be left on reception once you're living the place and picked up back when you come back. Although the place is right on the one of the city's squares, there is nothing worth to see and explore in the vicinity of the place. The nearest tourist attraction is at least 25 minutes of very energetic walk. And I mean the shortest way, which means taking local streets. They are not well maintained, dirty and sometimes borderline safe, as I saw 5-6 bums laying on the street just few blocks away from the hotel. So my advice take a taxi especially if you're coming back late. The good thing about this place that is only 30 meters away from hop-on hop-off bus stop. Although the price is quite competitive, I won't stay there again. I rather pay more but be closer to a better neighborhoods...