President Hotel Athens — Hotel in Athens

Having stayed at the President Hotel several times previously this was a huuuuuge disppointment. The hotel was undergoing extensive renovations which the hotel nowhere informed of either directly on their website nor any of their booking agents. This was also not informed at the point of checking in so when I asked if I could have a renovated and quiet room I was told they could give me a quiet room and part renovated room. The room I was given was next to the lift so not quiet, was part renovated however soooo cold with a heater that did not work unless an engineer stood next to it to restart it every time. I went to reception to ask to move room expressing as I had explained upon both booking request as well as when checking-in that I had a medical procedure so quiet and now also a warm room was more important than a renovated room. Was then moved to another room which was freezing again without the heater working. Third tile lucky I went and spoke to the reception and was then told that apparantly they did have 2 renovated rooms available but that I would have to pay for it. The lying about availability and the inconvenience of moving rooms so many times and being insistent to charge the 22 euro extra to a previously loyal customer was beyond me and I said it was farcical at 23:30 to be having THAT convesation but the night manager said he had no authority to waver that and I would have to discuss it with the mnager next day… Why I was not initially told that there were renovated rooms available was at that point beyond me and all this moving around was a waste. It did however at 8:30 next morning become crystal clear why they had avoided those rooms as there were renovations going on and it sounded like they were drilling in my room. I had accupuncture booked to take place in my room which was impossible due to the noise so once again complaint. They did kindly allow me to use another room which was freezing but at least away from the noise. I was assured that by 16:30 the works would stop for the day as I explained I had another follow up accupuncture session booked for 17:00. The drilling however did not stop until 19::15 when I called down and complained about the noise levels. I also had lunch in the roof top restaurant which had massive works going on and should have been closed based on the renovations. I spoke to the Manager and expressed my disappointment with the lack of transparancy of the works going on both when speaking to staff as well as it being nowhere on their website. I was still charged the 22euro for the renovated rooms which is what it is but what a poor poor service and I will advise anyone considering the President to reconsider as the service is just poor and the staff clearly have no authority to make any decisions. My medical procedure did not go as we had hoped for and likely the stress of having to complain along with the moving around, cold rooms and noise levels could all have added to the disappointing outcome. I will be back in Athens soon enough but I wont be staying in the...

Don’t book this hotel. The rooms don’t look like the pictures… first disappointment. It’s like a throwback in the 80’s… Moreover, our room was really dirty. Scratches in the toilet, dirt on the bathroom’s ceiling, dirt on the window (hand trance, …), dirt on the seats. There was also an used plastic on the ground. The safe didn’t work as well. We went to the reception just after our arrival to signal those problems at the reception. The lady understood and told us the hotel is fully booked for tonight and it’s not possible to give us another room or to solve our problem but she invited us to come again at the reception the next morning to ask for another room. Next morning, we did. But instead of the comprehensive lady, it was a rude guy. He cut us off when we tried to explain each problems. He was like “yeah, I’ll tell the house keeping” even before we finished to explain the situation. It looked like he didn’t care at all and just want us to leave. He was really impolite and didn’t stop to cut us off every time we wanted to explain something. We told him about the used bag, the dirts, … and about what her colleague told us the previous day : asking for another room. He didn’t check his computer, had a smirking smile, and told us that they’re fully booked for the week and that he won’t give us another room or anything. We were surprised of that answer because the lady checked the previous evening. We had a check on their website, and on booking, and there are still plenty rooms available. The thing that the room is dirty is one thing but the receptionist who doesn’t care about the customers and who is LYING I think that is unacceptable ! After we signal the dirty problems 2 times, we found our room “cleaned” (the bed was done) but the used plastic was still there on the ground, and same for other dirts. To tell you about how good the cleaners are (sic).

More - : Wi-Fi doesn’t work properly. You have to wait for like 5 minutes to download a picture or to watch a story on Instagram. The receptionist keeps telling us “it’s probably because someone is using the bandwidth” but it’s the same at any time day or night. hairdryer doesn’t dry or yes maybe if you keep trying for an hour. they say “soundproof window” but you can hear the kids playing 2 blocks away, the traffic, … everything. Even if we are at the 13rd floor. the “doormen” or I don’t know what they are force the way when they need to pass and don’t let you come in or go out. They need some workshops about how the attitude to have with customers.

Some + (to not be too negative but it was hard to find some) : repair guy was quick and efficient. breakfast buffet is “ok” (employees are smiling) view is nice from the rooftop

If we have to keep it short : avoid this hotel. It doesn’t worth 4 stars at all. Even some 3 stars are better.

We used to travel and we never had such a bad experience. I hope the hotel will do something before our departure...

We stayed in this hotel from July 6 to 10th.

CONS:

UNPROFESSIONAL/DECEITFUL? STAFF at the FRONT DESK. The front desk person called Nikkos, charged us twice under the claim that our reservation was not registered in the system. He blamed Agoda for being a "very weird" platform. We insisted him to double check but Nikkos rushed the whole thing out, did not dedicate time enough to double check the reservations system. He said it was either making a new reservation or leaving. Then he asked us to move away to attend another guest who was queuing behind us. We had to pay for a new reservation on the spot as it was 12.30 midnight and we had no place to go. Once we made the payment Nikkos jerked the invoice to us. Fortunately next day my bank alerted us of a suspicious movement in my account and found out that the hotel had charged us twice same amount. The hotel refunded us the money only the last day of our stay. The person who charged us twice, Nikkos, did not apologize at all and kept his rude attitude until the end of our stay. He was also rude and unhelpful towards a middle - age man who was attended after us and who needed advice on taxi transportation.

UNCLEAR CHECK OUT TIME: Check out time was at 11 am however, the front desk Nikkos provided us with an invoice in which reads check out was at 12.00.

WORN OUT ROOM: we stayed in two different rooms 1207 and 1204. Carpets worn out and stained, yellowed stain on the wall in 1204, bath towels also worn out with holes in 1207, outdated hair dryers, vanity boxes empty (?) in both rooms, safe box did not work in 1204.

FACILITIES? : you have to pay up-front 8 euros to use the gym for 45 minutes. Swimming pool is free but you can not enjoy it after a day visiting Athens as it is closed at 6pm. It opens at 10 am and you need to get a deck-chair right away as it gets easily crowded and you need to wait long by the bar for someone to leave.

MEDIOCRE BREAKFAST: we missed healthier options. Besides, almost no vegan/vegetarian options.

RANDOM WIFI: did not wok in the breakfast restaurant.

PROS:

PROFESSIONAL FEMALE STAFF AND BELL BOY. Particularly the lady who helped us to fix the issue with our reservation. Once we explained to her the problem, she was able to find our reservation in no time despite her colleague Nikkos claimed it was not in the system. She mediated between us and the hotel management. We are very greatful to her. We felt the whole thing quite stressful and her professionaliy made us feel safer. I regret not asking for her name. She is a tall young woman, brunette hair with blonde highlights.

The bell boy who works at night shift at the hotel welcomed us as a professional front desk would do. He was also helpful explaining us breakfast time and how to find facilities and how to...