The Residence Christokopidou Hotel & Spa — Local services in Athens

Ok hotel in a great part of Athens but would not stay again due to multiple issues.

The Residence - Christokopidou Hotel & SPA is located in a really great spot of Athens. It’s super close to a lot of the popular sites and there’s a ton of restaurants and little shops around. The lobby is nice and clean. My main issue with the hotel was our room and the noise. We stayed in room 4 - which is located literally in the lobby, right next to the entrance door and maybe? 10 feet away from the receptions desk. You could hear everything. When people checked in, I could literally hear the speech the receptionists give every time. Any talking in the lobby could also be heard. On top of that, room 4 is also located with both of its walls to the city street so I could also some of that noise. For the most part, it wasn’t too bad. The exception being the first night when some guy with a drum kept on walking back and forth in the alleyway probably until 12 AM. And then some lady would periodically scream at him to go away (at least that’s what I assume was happening).

Another issue was the AC. During the first night, it just entirely stopped working and we woke up to a hot room. It was just blowing warm to hot air. I spoke to the receptionist about it she they had to come into the room and do a power reset to bring it back on (literally turning off all power to the whole room to reset it). She was very nice and helpful (as were all of the receptionist’s / staff) but it was just inconvenient.

Other details

The breakfast was good. Nothing special but it’s worth it for rooftop view. It’s also only $10 Euro per person which is nice.

The swimming pool had to be reserved if you wanted to use it. It was ok - nothing special. It’s below ground so no views and kinda small but it was nice that it was private.

The cleanliness of the room wasn’t the best. The shade to block out light from the street in our bathroom was covered in mold. There were also several ants in the room.

Overall, not terrible but based on the issues I had, would...

Since 7.30am and throughout most of the night, the front door of the guesthouse has been making a loud clanging noise because of the annoying door opening mechanism the hotel has (doors only open using app). In summary: DO NOT STAY IF HOTEL GIVES YOU A ROOM ON THE GROUND FLOOR OR FIRST FLOOR FACING THE STREET/ ABOVE FRONT DOOR. The rooms are absolutely not soundproofed - not only will you hear the door, you will hear every guest talking in the small lobby.

Stayed here 2 nights: yesterday was woken up at 7.30am by receptionist talking to guests (could hear every exchange - i kid you not) and again at 9.30am by reception calling to ask if a technician could come to do works on the room. Not acceptable.

Last night and this morning, if guests don't close the door properly, as most don't, the door makes this loud noise. I had to apply a DIY fix of propping open the front door with a chair. (Do I even dare mention the drilling that started at 8am? Would you believe me if I did?)

Pros: newly renovated rooms, comfy bed (but absolutely no use if can't actually get a good night's sleep) -Nice roofdeck with a couple of loungers. Kind of pointless dipping pool (just a big bath tub really) -Good central location

Cons: -Rooms are not sound proofed in the slightest. I can hear every single person speaking in the lobby -The checkin process is the most annoying and cumbersome (fill in a form, then download an app, make small talk etc etc) -The app used to open doors is annoying as hell. Great idea but it's annoying -Seems to be a wifi deadspot.. hotel wifi is weak and , for me, very little coverage on mobile -Run by amateurs it seems.. did the receptionist actually know what she was doing? -Nicely designed rooms but not really finished properly. -Very little privacy.. feels a bit like an airbnb guesthouse.. not my scene at all

FINISH THE HOTEL AND SORT OUT THE PROBLEMS BEFORE YOU START RENTING OUT TO...

The front desk staff seems more focused on pointing out what can’t be done rather than offering solutions or clear instructions. When we arrived around 10 PM, we were told check-in had ended—even though we had sent all our information via WhatsApp. The staff member’s tone was condescending and unhelpful.

Upon finally entering our room, we found a large cockroach and later discovered ants all over the floor. We messaged the hotel and called twice—no response. With no assistance, we were forced to sleep in that room, and my friend was bitten by ants.

We left early for a tour and didn’t reach anyone until after 7 AM, when someone finally answered and apologized. When we requested to change rooms, another staff member downplayed the issue and suggested it had already been resolved—which it hadn't. The roach was still there, and ants were on the bed and bathroom floor. Only then were we moved.

Later, we messaged to ask about the pool. The response said it was open until 10 PM, with no mention of needing an appointment. When we arrived, the same staff member shouted that we couldn’t use it without a reservation and claimed someone booked it 20 minutes prior—this was never communicated, and it felt dishonest. She then escorted us out and claimed all of this had been explained during check-in, which absolutely did not happen. Currently staying at this hotel and our experience has been incredibly disappointing from the start.

Overall, the experience has been frustrating and unacceptable. The customer service is poor, communication is unclear, and the attitude from some staff has made a bad situation worse. This hotel needs serious improvement in professionalism, cleanliness, and...