Magna Grecia Boutique Hotel

4 star
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7.5 / 10
182 reviews

182 traveller reviews of Magna Grecia Boutique Hotel

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7.5/10
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7.5/10
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7/10
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8.5/10
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9.5/10
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I have been travelling to Athens on... by C R DE GRUCHY
3 / 10

I have been travelling to Athens on business for the last 14 years and I am still searching for a centrally located, reasonably priced hotel, prices in many hotels have become exorbitant after the introduction of the Euro and the 2004 Olympic Games. I thought that the Magna Grecia ticked all the boxes, it was centrally located and within walking distance of many of my customers and the metro, it offered free wifi access and I liked the sound of a 4* boutique hotel rather than one of the larger chains.

My initial reaction on arriving late on Sunday night was "this is different, quirky but fine". I had an Acropolis view room, the bathroom looked like it needed some renovation, the tiles were brown which gave an appearance of dirtiness though it was clean but the shower worked fine. There was a lack of cupboard and drawer space with only a small wardrobe in which to hang things. I have subsequentally read many reviews commenting on the fact that the safes in the rooms were loose in the bottom of wardrobes and the security in the hotel was not good and can only concur with these views. The room locks were basic and could easily have been forced and it would have been easy for an intruder to get in and up the stairs when the receptionist was not at the front desk which was regularly as they all seemed to spend a lot of time in the back room next to reception from which there was no view of who was entering or leaving the hotel. The TV only offered Greek channels and the reception was, at best, very fuzzy.

The day staff at the hotel were friendly and helpful but the night receptionist was not. However, the staff, generally, seemed incapable of conveying the most basic information to guests. During my 10 day stay the Archbishop of Greece died and the hotel was located opposite Athens Cathedral where he lay in state for 4 days. On the morning of the funeral, I opened the shutters of one of my windows to find a photographer on the balcony. I feel I should have received a warning that the hotel were loaning the private guest balconies to photographers and camera men.

Then half way through my visit I was asked to switch rooms as my room was due for reburbishment. I was given an interior room which was the most claustrophobic hotel room I have ever stayed in. The 'window' opened out onto the stairwell and lift so the shutters had to be permanently closed as otherwise there was no privacy. Being the weekend, the hotel was full and the majority of the 10 rooms seemed to be occupied by a party of noisy Germans who caused a lot of disturbance by running up and down the wooden staircase between each others rooms, banging doors and shouting to each other, the sound proofing in the hotel was non-existant. I also found out that I had had to move rooms to accommodate a party of young Greeks who presumably wanted an Acropolis view but they were only there for 2 nights and I feel that as I was there for 10 nights and, thereby, spending considerably more money, I should not have been expected to move.

The final straw was on the day I came to check out. I had an early morning flight to Thessaloniki. I came downstairs and the night receptionist was still on duty. He informed me that there was a taxi strike. My response was "how am I going to get to the airport". His response was "take the bus". It was pouring with rain and my luggage was heavy so I asked if they could provide a transfer which they claimed to offer. The response was "wait until after 9 am when Maria is here", the whole point of my checking out at 6.45 am was that I had a flight catch. I asked why guests hadn't been informed about the strike and the response was, " you should have watched the news" to which I pointed out that the only available TV channels were in Greek. I then asked for an invoice and I was told I couldn't get one but I could have a receipt, this was handwritten and in Greek which I am sure the Inland Revenue are going to love. I have subsequently e-mailed the hotel twice asking for a proper invoice and although I received an acknowledgement of my first e-mail I have not received a proper receipt. I have stayed in many hotels for business and pleasure and I can categorically say that, with the exception of a hotel in Algeria, this is the worst I have ever experienced

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My wife and I – both middle-aged,... by Fabio Colasanti
5 / 10

My wife and I – both middle-aged, seasoned business and leisure travelers (more than 60/70 hotel nights per year) – spent two separate nights at the Magna Grecia in February 2008. It was not an unpleasant experience, but it was not what we expected, and we would not recommend the hotel to our friends.

The hotel has a number of positive points, but falls short of what you would expect from a four star hotel. The price/quality relationship is not bad, but we have stayed in three star hotels which were much better (even if more expensive).

The hotel is housed in a XIX century building, which we consider a plus. Its location, in the heart of the Plaka, is very good. The breakfast room on the roof is very pleasant, with a magnificent view. The variety and quality of the buffet for the breakfast was also good. We had reserved “de luxe rooms with panoramic view of the Acropolis” (at 117.00 euros a night including breakfast) and the last promise was certainly met. We could see the Acropolis from our beds; it is difficult to do better in terms of views.

However… The renovation of the building has not been very thorough or appropriate. The bathrooms in the two rooms we were given appear as masonry cabins dropped in a corner of the rooms. They formally have everything you need, but are very, very small. In room 103, you have to put your left foot in the shower when you sit on the toilet and, in room 203, you have to wriggle out of the shower to pick up the soap if it falls on the floor: crouching or bending are not possible.

If space is a structural problem, management could do more to fix a series of simpler, daily issues. In both rooms, the TV sets were unplugged and we had to try and find the right cables and plugs ourselves. None of the remote controls worked. We operated manually the first TV set and gave up on the second. In the – very simple – wardrobes there were combination safes, but they were on the floor (try and enter the combination in a safe on the floor!), they were not fixed to anything (though quite bulky) and, above all, they were closed. For some strange reason you had to ask the concierge to open them! In room 203 there was a small, cheap and old electric fridge in a corner to serve as mini-bar. It looked awful and totally out of place in a room that was pretending to retain some of its past glory. We do not particularly care for mini-bars and would have certainly preferred not have one instead of having that ugly thing next to our suitcases.

We were particularly disappointed by the fact that our remarks on some of these problems were met by the arrogant statement that nobody had ever complained and, yes, they were a four star hotel!

We must have stayed at more than twenty hotels in Greece and are impressed by the good quality they usually offer. We cannot understand how this hotel could be classified as “four stars”. It looks like a nice two star proposition that could be a good bargain for young travelers. Next time we will be in Athens we will look for something more expensive and of at least three/four star quality.

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great location but not so great hotel by malousadiua
4 / 10

My husband and I stayed at the Magna Grecia on Sept.2-8, 2006.

We were picked up by someone the hotel had sent and we had a great ride to the hotel.

We got in at about 2:00 am and they said that they were going to put us in a temporary room and then in our real room in the morning when other people check out. It seemed, because of the late hour, to be a reasonable request, we okayed that.

We ended up in a room I would call a closet. It was long and narrow and had a small window to the inner courtyard/elevator area. It had a small adjoining room, without which we would not be able to open up our luggage!

It was a dismal way to start a month long vacation in 5 cities, but we figured it would all be over in the morning.

In the morning they did get us a much better room, quite roomy by European standards, with a view(not a great one) of the Acropolis.

We thought that was the end of our travails, but not quite yet.

We discovered that the airconditioning unit was malfunctioning so they said they were going to repair it while we were out during the day. When we arrived late in the afternoon, they were not able to repair the unit, they also left all the balcony doors open so that anybody from the adjoining room could have taken anything from our room!

Their hotel safe was not bolted down to anything.... it could just be taken away by lifting the whole safe,since it wasn't very big. So my husband had a fit! We could not understand how the hotel could have exposed us to losing money,clothes,everything we had. Even if we had them in the safe!

The lady in the front said sorry but nothing in our mind could have saved them after this fiasco!! After all, it was the hotel manager who had opened up all the balcony doors (we left them closed before we went out) and he was the one who left them all open!

What kind of security does one have staying in a hotel like this?

We chose it because of the positive reviews here, but we would have to say that anywhere else would be better to stay than here.

They ended up moving us to a smaller room because they were full and because they couldn't repair the airconditioning in the nice big room we were supposed to have.

I would advise you to skip this hotel and opt for the AVA Hotel in the same area. We stayed there on our way back and it is very updated with huge rooms, the staff very professional , and most of all, the safe is bolted down in the closet, and is literally quite SAFE!

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Super Staff! by six-travelers
10 / 10

Having read the reviews of this great little hotel, we made it our

home base between a four day bus tour of the mainland and

a five night stay in Santorini. Stelios (owner) and his staff,

Maria and Nick helped us immensely, providing tips on best buys for wine, restaurant recommendations, directions, taxi

reservations and greek language lessons! They were like family!

We looked forward to the beds which were much more comfortable than any we encountered in our Greece travels.

The breakfast on the roof top basking in the view of the Acropolis

was very good, and one of our travelers invented the "cake" sandwich. Having tried several of the rooms, we agree that the

inside rooms are much quieter, but the nearby cathedral bells

and the large clock meant we always knew what time it was when we slept on the Acropolis side! Wonderful location,

but the staff made it home away from home.

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Perfect by Bob48
10 / 10

My wife and I stayed there Sept. 17 and 18, and again on Oct. 4. The location in the Plaka can't be beat. It's family owned and everyone went out of their way to make us feel at home. I noticed some complaints about noise and the size of the bathrooms in other reviews. Small bathrooms are the rule in boutique hotels all over Europe. If you want a big American style bathroom feel free to pay two or three times more. Regarding the noise, I suggest staying in one of the interior rooms, which are off the street, quiter, and bigger than those rooms offering an Acropolis view. Take a bottle of wine and go up to the garden patio on the roof - where breakfast is served - and watch the sun set on the Acropolis. One of the world's beautiful sights. I highly recommend this hotel.

Bob Wisehart

blwisehart@aol.com

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Great Location! by belarex
10 / 10

The magna grecia is a great little hotel in the best location for exploring athens! right next to chic cafes frequented by athenian crowd and great shopping, and a quick stroll to the acroplis. it's also not buried in the very touristy part of the plaka...it's close enough to walk everywhere, yet you feel like you are around athenians too - not just the tourists.

It's easy to take the subway from the airport to the center of athens (either Syntagma or Monastiraki) - and then walk the 5 or so blocks to the hotel. (it's right between the two stops) very quick, efficient way to get to and from the airport.

The rooms have vaulted ceilings and antique furniture...very comfortable beds. We got there early in the day and had our choice of an acroplis view room or a bigger, inside room without a view...we chose the inside one, because we had just flown in and wanted a dark quiet night to get over jet lag....and it was great. you can just go to the rooftop lounge area to get your fill of a great view of the acropolis!

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Magna Grecia-Truly Magnificent by Tisch
10 / 10

Magna grecia was a great hotel. We (2 couples) stayed here for 3 nights Sept. 18-20. Hotel is in the perfect spot, right in the middle of everything. Within walking distance to all the toursit sights: the acropolis, hadrian's arch, the agora, plaka, monastiraki, and psiri areas as well. Easy access to busses and metros. Hotel also gave us the recommendation at eating at Taverna Psara's our last night in athens . I will truly say it was the best greek food I had while in greece - great restaurant. We had a big room with an acropoils view, it was well kept and maintained. We loved going up to rooftop terrace at night and looking at the acropolis, what a way to end your days in athens. Overall great experience. The hotel staff was very friendly, allowed us to keep luggage there before our actual check-in and very helpful. We were told by management that in the next few months they will have internet access, and full bar service on their rooftop terrace. I truly think magna grecia is a great find, and best of all very decently priced. I would definitely return to Magna Grecia!

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Great hotel! by michelle4226
10 / 10

We stayed at this hotel from September 8-11, 2006. It was easy to find, just a short walk down the street from where the bus from the airport let us off at Syntagma Square. We were greeted by a very friendly woman who showed us to our room and gave us a restaurant recommendation for dinner (Taverna tou Psaru - very good!). Our room was a beautiful, small room with a balcony overlooking the square and catholic church below and with an Acropolis view. The roof top terrace has stunning views of the Acropolis, especially at night when it is lit up. My husband and I went to the terrace and had drinks while gazing at the Acropolis each night of our stay. The bed was especially comfortable (the most comfortable bed we slept in during our visit to Greece). The room had everything we needed - safe, fridge, hair dryer, etc.

The breakfast wasn't the greatest, but was adequate. And yes the church bells chime every half hour, but that didn't keep us up at all. If you are a really light sleeper, maybe it would bother you. It didn't us.

This hotel is in a great location to walk to all the sites and to many, many restaurants. We really enjoyed our stay at the Magna Grecia and we really enjoyed Athens. We would definitely stay here again.

CL, Saint John, NB

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Great bargain in good location by ajwhee
10 / 10

We stayed for 3 nights and were delighted. The hotel is tiny on 3 floors with about 12 rooms. Rooms and public spaces were spotless. The location is on the square in front of the Cathedral right in the Plaka. You can walk to everything you would want to see. The room was spacious and well-appointed. The roof terrace for breakfast and late night was delightful. The views of the Acropolis were better than advertised. A totally positive experience. (Be warned: the cathedral bells chime the half hour around the clock. We tuned them out after awhile).

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Magna Grecia Boutique Hotel also called

  • hotel magna grecia boutique
  • magna grecia boutique athens
  • magna grecia hotel
  • Address: 54 Mitropoleos, Athens 10563, Greece

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Map for Magna Grecia Boutique Hotel Closest airport: Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International (ATH) 5.2 miles

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