Hotel Rio Athens — Hotel in Athens

Total nightmare

Our family of 4 had a delayed flight from another island. I contacted the hotel to let them know of our late arrival. I spoke with a female who was polite and understanding. We arrive around 11 pm exhausted from a long day of activities and travel. Our hotel arrangements was a package deal prepaid in advance with our travel agent. I previously looked up the hotel on various booking sites which looked ok. Boy, were we wrong. We walk into a completely empty lobby except for an elderly man sitting at a small desk. He sees us walk in and avoids eye contact. I ask him if this is the check in area and he lets out a grunt that sounded like yes. He asks our last name, looks at a paper list and immediately starts accusing us of a credit card not going through. I try and reason with him and explain that our reservation was prepaid in advance and he simply would not listen. He ranted on about how the card they had on file did not go through and to put money in it or give him another card. I was very reluctant to provide another card thinking it was a total scam. My husband then provides him the printed voucher for our stay from our travel agent. He doesn't even look at it and rips up the paper in front of us and my boys. No joke. I had to step away at this point and my husband tries to see how we can resolve the situation since it would not be possible to book another room at that late hour. My husband figures out that this front desk guy looked at the wrong name and thought we were another party. He does not apologize for his error and finally gives us a key for the room (if you want to call it that). He also gives us a WiFi code that's only valid for 3 hours. The dingy elevator was able to only hold 2 of us so we had to go separately. At that point I think we may not see each other every again. We get to our room and the room next to us was occupied with a wide open door, disheveled sheets in plain view with lighting coming from the tv in the room. Our room had 4 beds crammed side by side with very sub standard amenities. There was graffiti inside the closet. The window had a ledge that had access to the room next door. Sheets and bedding did not look sanitary. The bathroom had a hole in the shower straight up from the movie psycho. I immediately booked another hotel and basically told the kids if we survive that night we're leaving first thing in the morning. I sent a desperate email to that hotel if we could please check in early due to our circumstances. We all slept in additional clothing as a barrier to the bedding since God knows what we were sleeping on. I didn't sleep at all thinking someone would break in the front door or window trying to abduct or harm us. I got an early response from the 2nd hotel I booked who promptly sent a luxury car for us first thing in the morning. That hotel was Noble Suites which was so amazing btw (you'll see my 5 star review on them). We left in a hurry as you can imagine at daylight and ran into a lady in the lobby. She didn't even identify herself and asked for the keys. We gave her the keys and she asked why we were checking out early. I briefly described our horrific experience the night before and told her we've never been treated in such a manner and would never stay there again. I added that the front desk man is a terrible person that should never be dealing with the public. We didn't even ask for any compensation because we were just happy to see daylight again. I urge anyone who considers staying here to seriously reconsider. Staff was rude, rooms were dirty and it's located in a ghetto area. Safety was really the...

Horrific Experience – Unsafe, Unprofessional, and Unacceptable||Our family of four arrived at this hotel around 11:37 PM on July 7, 2025, after a long, exhausting day of travel and a delayed flight from Oslo. We had prepaid our hotel through a package deal with lastminute.com, which clearly stated accommodation for four people.||Upon arrival, we found the lobby completely empty, except for an elderly man sitting at a small desk. He made no effort to greet or assist us, avoided eye contact, and responded to our inquiry about check-in with a dismissive grunt. When I told him we had a reservation for four, he immediately began shouting that they only had a room for two people and insisted we would have to pay for an additional room.||Despite showing him our printed voucher confirming the prepaid reservation for four, he refused to acknowledge it. Shockingly, he tore up the voucher in front of us and our two young children. His aggressive behavior escalated, frightening my children to the point of screaming. Attempts to reason with him were met with hostility.||Eventually, after I contacted lastminute.com for support, the hotel staff reluctantly offered us a room under the condition that we return the key every time we left the building—even just for a coffee. The elevator was so small it could only accommodate two people, so we had to go up in shifts, which added to our stress and safety concerns.||The room itself was completely unacceptable: four beds crammed together, poor sanitation, graffiti in the closet, and a bathroom with what looked like a hole in the shower. There was even a window ledge connecting to the adjacent room, which was left wide open. We felt unsafe and deeply uncomfortable the entire night.||The next day, after speaking with a representative from lastminute.com (Mohammed), he acknowledged the severity of the situation and informed us that even they were unable to negotiate with the hotel manager. Thankfully, lastminute.com intervened and relocated us to a proper 4-star hotel with excellent service at no additional cost. We are very grateful to Mohammed for helping us out of this nightmare.||When we checked out early the next morning, we handed over the key to a woman in the lobby who didn’t identify herself or show any concern. When I briefly described the incident, she offered no apology or explanation.||To say this experience was traumatic is an understatement. This hotel is located in a sketchy area, the staff is extremely rude and unprofessional, and the rooms are dirty and unsafe. The front desk staff, especially the man we dealt with, should not be working in hospitality. I strongly urge anyone considering this hotel...

This is an old hotel that has not been renovated much. I was in Athens a month ago, but because I am involved in the extension of my stay, they suddenly informed me that I have to come back, so I chose the hotel because it was cheaper. It is acceptable if you are not too strict. It is relatively clean, now the bedding and blanket have a little stain! The ventilation does not work well, but since the weather was pleasant, it did not matter. The closet door was broken and would not close. The safety box was not working properly. The toilet siphon was constantly working and the water was wasted and the sound was annoying. The refrigerator was working properly. Cannery did not have electricity, it had a small balcony with a good view. Breakfast was supposed to be a buffet, but it wasn't. It had a fixed menu but it was acceptable. The reception desk was a fixed desk with a fixed middle aged lady. The doors were opened with a key and a card for electricity. When leaving the hotel, we had to hand it over to the reception. Because they said that customers lose the key. The location of the hotel is excellent. Around the hotel, there are many cafes and restaurants with reasonable prices, one to three minutes away. The lady who is in charge of the reception is a polite middle-aged lady, in any case, it is acceptable...