Novotel Athenes — Hotel in Athens

Our recent stay at Novotel Athens, part of an organised group traveling for work on Athens' financial ecosystem for tech, was profoundly disappointing. We had previously enjoyed excellent accommodations in corporate hotels in Prague and Warsaw. Unfortunately, our experience at Novotel Athens was quite the opposite.

Upon arrival, my partner attempted to check us in, as we had done at all previous hotels. However, just as the receptionist was about to give him the key, another receptionist, who was aggressive, rude, and condescending, abruptly intervened and told him to sit down (witnessed by other members of our group). Our event organiser eventually handed out the keys.

When we reached our room, we were met with a stale cigarette smell and a door that had clearly been previously damaged through force. I stayed with the luggage while my partner requested a room change. The second room we were assigned smelled of drains and dampness. My partner once again requested a room change.

Finally, in our third room, I attempted to connect to the Wi-Fi but couldn't find an access code. When I called reception, I was curtly told to check the key card. After finding no code, I called back and was told I needed to come to reception. When I did, the receptionist aggressively insisted the code had been provided and blamed the room changes for the issue. She then diverted the request stating that our booking was for only one person, despite our group lead verifying that my name was indeed on the reservation, she continued to be unhelpful and dismissive.

The situation escalated when I asked to speak with a manager. The receptionist smirked and claimed no manager was available. After insisting, she finally called someone and then stated that nobody was available. Someone then came, who then revealed themselves as the manager in an aggressive manner. His behavior was threatening, and he even falsely claimed to call the police when I tried to record the interaction for my safety.

This distressing encounter left me in tears and feeling threatened. Over 20% of our group left the hotel within 24 hours due to the unsanitary conditions and the hostile behavior of these two staff members, which overshadowed the efforts of the more courteous staff.

I will never stay at this hotel again and will be lodging a formal complaint with Novotel's CEO. This experience was beyond comprehension and unacceptable by any standard of hospitality. Furthermore the surrounding...

Before talking about the things I liked about the hotel, let me tell you about the parts that I didn't like.

Some guests (I saw at least 10) were not wearing masks inside the hotel (lobby, elevators, hallways, etc) and the hotel wasn't doing anything about it. And I mean that people were coming to the reception without a mask to request a taxi or some other things, and nobody from the staff was bothered about the fact that they don't wear a mask. Since Accor is advertising that they are taking all the measures to ensure our safety in the middle of the pandemic, enforcing masks inside (especially inside elevators) is a must.

I am quite disappointed because of the lack of action in this area!

Let's talk about noise. I stayed in room 605, which is exactly below the terrace and the pool. First, I could hear the pool pump humming all the time, which isn't very nice. Second, the guests and the terrace employees were scratching the chairs against the wooden floor all the time. This was a problem, because the terrace was mostly used in the evening, until 12 AM or even 12:30 AM. I was offered to change the room after the 2nd night, but I refused because it was too complicated to move all the luggage for just one night. Also, one night there was probably a malfunction at the pool, which translated in a lot of noise in the pipes, across the entire building.

I know the terrace on the 7th floor is lovely, but the main function of the building is to be a Hotel, where people come to sleep and rest. The terrace shouldn't impact the guests in a negative way, under any circumstances!

I had some mixed feelings about the location of the hotel. It's quite close to the center (20 min on foot) and to the central railway station (10 min on foot) but the area around the hotel looks a little depressing.

Finally, I will mention a few things that I liked:

The terrace: it is lovely to have a drink with a nice view of Athens. I was disappointed however by the food offering. The room: spacious and clean. Exactly what I expected from a Novotel. The staff was very friendly and tried to help me with the noise problem I...

I had no expectation when I booked Novotel Athens. I have stayed in other Novotel hotels before and it had been great experiences. Here are my pros and cons during our close to two weeks stay.

CONS: The room was smaller than I expected. There was no fridge in the room. I would strongly suggest Novotel Athens to update this for better satisfaction of the guest visit. Athens has hot climate, so coming to your room with fresh cold beverages in the fridge makes a huge different (every time we travel, we stock the fridge with cold nonalcoholic beverages). No coffee machine in the room. Instead, there was a hot water machine and packets of instant cappuccinos in the room.

PROS:

Staff are very friendly, welcoming and helpful. If you get to meet a housekeeping staff name Olga, she has been our saviour in this trip. The room might be small but Olga’s big heart and smile every time she came and cleaned our room made the stay a 5 star experience. Olga also made sure we had everything we needed during our stay. Thank you, Olga. We miss your hospitality and warm welcome already! The hotel location is perfect for what we needed. There are many delicious restaurants around with local prices. We read some low reviews regarding the location of the hotels. However, we felt safe to walk around and enjoyed the authentic Greek experience. We contacted the hotel prior to arrival to request early check in since our flight from Boston arrived before noon, the hotel was very responsive. When we arrived at the hotel before noon time, they could accommodate our early check in (Very HAPPY for this because we could clean up and relax before starting our Greek vacation). There was a laundromat around the corner that would do your laundry in a couple of hours without spending too much. The rooftop pool and restaurant are very nice. You can see the Parthenon during dinner or while enjoying your drink. Overall, it has been great experience and stay during our first visit to Greece. We will definitely recommend staying here and will stay here again in our future trips to...