Hotel Athens Gate Reviews

We stayed at the Athens Gate Hotel for 2 nights at the beginning of our island hopping holiday. As it was our first visit to Athens, we were not sure what to expect but the hotel was easy to find, we just got off the Metro at Syntagma Square, walked up the main (8 lane!) road for 5 minutes and we were there.

Although the hotel seemed nothing special at the time, looking back I can say it's a nice place to stay.
Our room overlooked the main (8 lane!) road and the Temple of Olymian Zeus. Although the traffic noise was there 24hrs a day, we found watching the traffic strangely entertaining. I think the comment I read in a travel book that Athenian drivers look on traffic lights as a ";mere suggestion"; is a very apt observation.

The hotel room was the usual, fitted with TV and mini bar and the breakfast was extremely good. There was bacon, eggs and sausage if you wanted it, various cereals, yoghurts, fresh fruit, pastries, breads and cake.
The hotel is very well placed for all the sights, the Plaka district is just behind the hotel, along with the Acropolis and across the road are the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the National Gardens and the Zappion Gardens which contain an open air cinema.

The nearest Metro station is actually the Akropoli at the back of the hotel, but if it's your first visit, it may be tricky finding the hotel initially.

From the airport to Syntagma, the Metro was 12 euros for a 2 person ticket - which is quite reasonable, as a taxi journey was 35 euros. However, for 2.95 euros, you can buy a 24hr ticket and travel anywhere you like - including to the airport. When we returned to Athens at the end of our holiday, we attempted to buy a 2.95 euro 24hr ticket to get us from the airport to Syntagma, but they would only sell us the 12 euro double ticket. Shame.

Anyway, to sum up - a very comfortable, convenient hotel - but if you can't stand traffic noise, give it a miss. We enjoyed it.