Grand Meteora Hotel — Hotel in Meteora Municipality

This hotel listed itself as a 5-star hotel, and after staying there with my family on vacation for 2 nights, I had to give a 1-star review for a 3.5-star hotel at best. This means that the price of the rooms are not justified. I don't normally write reviews but compelled to this time.

Upon arrival at the hotel, which is a bit of a detour through dark and narrow roads from the main town Kalabaka (hence 1-star for Location), my family had to bring our luggage bags in ourselves (no bellhop or concierge so you can see why it is not 5-star). The large hotel building looked solid but just about 4-5 cars in the parking lot.

During check in process, I was asked to prepay for 2 nights for 2 rooms. I did not think much of this as I had prepaid for some other hotels in Greece on this trip. There are 2 guest elevators and each is so small that it can fit at most 4 slimmer persons or 2 persons with 2 luggage bags (you can decide if this is a 5-star hotel by now). Two of us ended up taking the stairs as the other elevator was not operating.

The rooms are fairly spacious but furniture is old, and while fairly clean on day of check in, I did pick up a still alive insect/bug on the floor, small issue to me. Bed is clean but seems old, definitely not as comfy as I would expect of a 5-star hotel (hence 3-star for Rooms).

Breakfast at the hotel the next morning seemed fine with a nice spread of hot food items (which my family appreciates), cold cuts and a limited selection of desserts and fruits. There were about 2 tables occupied in a large room of about 50 tables so the waiter was nice and polite to settle me in a table of my choice.

After breakfast slightly past 9am, I was shocked to find housekeeping maids in our rooms. My wife's hand bag and phone were clearly still in the room. Our pyjamas were still on the beds, and were moved away from the clean white part. How does housekeeping proceed with cleaning and making beds when we are clearly still in the hotel with valuables like bag and phone in the room? Could they not check with reception if this is appropriate? The irony is I found shoe prints on the toilet floor after housekeeping left (They apparently came in again after my family left the hotel as the shoe prints were gone when we returned the 2nd night).

In shock, we approached the reception with 3 female staff. Two of them were extremely rude and unreasonable. They even blamed us for not putting out the “Do Not Disturb” sign. They claimed that they have seen guests leave the hotel without phones and personal belongings. They argued that housekeeping has the right (beware of this right to intrude on guests' privacy given valuables are clearly still in the room) to enter guest rooms any time during breakfast hours. I asked one of them if they would sight-see and leave behind her hand bag and phone in hotel room, and she said yes (you can figure out this response yourself). One of them even called my son a liar. Instead of helping, the supposedly customer-oriented reception made the whole incident worse by not immediately apologizing and continued to be rude (hence lowest rating for Service).

Feeling uncomfortable and disrespected, we asked to check out immediately with refund for the 2nd night (since I prepaid for 2 nights). We wouldn’t ask to leave if not for this intrusive housekeeping and offensive reception. However, we were forced to stay for the 2nd night because our request was rejected by hotel (customer satisfaction does not seem to rank high in the hotel's goals).

We did stay in another hotel in Kalabaka town for the 3rd night in Meteora and while it was rated a 4-star hotel, a male staff helped to bring our heavier luggage bag up and down the stairs as this hotel has no elevator. The price is also more down to earth.

This review is to state the facts and let readers come to...

Was assaulted by a tour bus driver on the property. He put some suitcases in the way of my car so I couldn't get out. I simply asked if he could move the 4 suitcases in the way. He for some reason refused so I moved them. I'm then helping my dad back out of the spot because the bus was parked so closed and the driver came behind me and pushed me from behind. (Thats assault where I come from) the manager promised he would not be allowed back on the property. That was a lie. First thing in the morning there he was. Back on the property. I was then assaulted by one of the workers there when I called them out on their lie. Please do not go to this place. It's a joke

Also let's remember, if I assaulted one of their customers, I guarantee you I would immediately be banned from the property no questions.

June 10 Edit - I got a response from this place of basically complete lies because of course they want to protect their business. Just remember if you are travel by yourself, they will protect a large tour group over an individual because that is what brings in the most money. If you really do have security camera footage of what I supposedly did then please post them. I know you won't because you don't have that. When we met with the manager he acted like he couldn't speak English and had to have a translator yet the next morning somehow he must've learned English over night because he spoke perfect English on the phone. I at no point asked you to call the police. I asked for the police phone number which the receptionist acted like she didnt know what it was. Come on now. How do you not know the phone number of the police in you're area. If you are going to lie at least make it believable... Did we forcefully remove the luggage out of the way after I asked the driver nicely and he completely refused? Well of course I did. It does take some force to do that. I can't levitate them. How else do you move something? With that being said you still can't assault someone. Anyways after you refused to give me the police phone number we were outside packing up the car and then the police roll up. If I did something illegal then why didnt you press charges on me? I was also assaulted that morning by one of the hotels staff but I'm sure you will lie about that. I will admit that we absolutely raised our voices the next morning. Of course I did. I was promised by the manger who pretended to not speak English and had to have a staff member translate that the bus driver wouldn't be allowed back AT ALL. Not even to pick them up. If the tour company can't find a replacement then I guess the bus has to park down the street. I can guarantee one thing if I assaulted someone on your property, I would've immediately been kicked out and never allowed to return. But of course like I said the tour group brings you in way more money than me and you know I won't be back so why would you care. And of course I'm going to film this incident. I was assaulted twice on your property in a 12 hour period and wanted to record for my own protection. I think that's...

Supposedly a 5-star hotel, we were excited for our two-night stay at the Grand Meteora Hotel. The location is indeed peaceful and offers breathtaking views of the Meteora rock formations, which was exactly what we came for.

The first night, we were pleased with the spacious, clean room and comfortable amenities. After a good night's sleep, we woke up early to take advantage of the many activities in the area. Breakfast at this hotel runs until 10am. We went down for breakfast at 8am, and were pleasantly surprised by the vast spread of food options available.

Unfortunately, the positive experience thus far was completely overshadowed when we returned to our room at around 9am, only to find housekeeping staff already inside. This was DEEPLY unsettling. Our personal belongings—including phones, wallets, and valuables—were CLEARLY visible lying around upon entering the room, and our pajamas were STILL on the beds. Despite this, housekeeping had already begun cleaning and had even moved our pajamas onto the bedside table, disregarding hygiene and personal boundaries.

Instead of confronting housekeeping, we approached the front desk reception staff to express our discomfort and shock. However, we were met with defensiveness and blame. Rather than attempting to resolve the issue, the staff insisted that WE (as guests) were at fault for not putting out the "Do Not Disturb" sign. They argued that "housekeeping has the right to enter guest rooms any time during breakfast hours." They continuously claimed that they "did not do anything inappropriate."

While we acknowledge that we DID forget to put out the "Do Not Disturb" sign, the other side of the sign, which reads "Please Make Up Room," was evidently NOT displayed either. It is ENTIRELY inappropriate for housekeeping to assume that guests are no longer in the hotel simply because they are not in their rooms when breakfast hours HAVE NOT even ended. As seasoned travelers, we have stayed at numerous hotels worldwide, and even when we have forgotten to use the "Do Not Disturb" sign, we have NEVER experienced housekeeping entering our rooms before breakfast hours had ended.

The BASIC fundamentals of running a hotel is about respecting and accommodating guests, especially when issues arise. Privacy is a basic expectation, and the way our concerns were handled left us feeling not only violated but also disrespected. A hotel claiming to be 5-star should know better than to intrude on guest privacy, especially in such a careless manner.

Feeling uncomfortable and distressed, we requested to check out with a full refund for the SECOND night. We would not have considered leaving if not for the intrusive housekeeping and offensive reception. However, our request was rejected, forcing us to stay against our will.

If the Grand Meteora Hotel chooses to respond to this review, I fully expect them to once again prioritize defending their actions rather than addressing guest concerns. This experience has left a lasting negative impression, and I would STRONGLY caution others against...