Hotel Athena Reviews

Stayed at this hotel for ten nights at the beginning of the high season - lovely little hotel right in the heart of a pretty resort. Rooms all have separate entrances from the outside and are clean and comfortable. There is a pleasant pool at the back of the hotel with a pool snack bar which serves drinks etc from 10am until 6pm. The owners were extremely friendly and helpful and all spoke excellent English and German (as well as their native Greek). Most people in the hotel were Germans or Dutch who had come with tour operators, but there were a few British and Americans who had either booked completely independently or through independent operators such as Greek Sun.

Our room had the optional extras of: air conditioning, safety deposit box and fridge, all of which we decided to have. When the temperature reached 40 degrees centigrade we were glad we did. Our balcony was large and overlooked the pleasant gardens. The hotel is on the beach road and so is very convenient for Kokkari beach and the shops and tavernas. We walked to Limonaki beach most days, which was very pictoresque and a little more sheltered. All of the beaches in the area have pebbles, which are lovely as long as you wear 'swim-shoes' which can be bought in resort.

We did two excursions: one to Ephesus and the other to Patmos, both of which I would highly recommend. On another day we hired a car from Rhenia Tours (a very efficient agency which has offices all over the island including at Kokkari). We went to see the amazing Efpalinos Tunnel, the Temple of Hera and then drove 'over the top' of the island, noticing where fires had damaged the beautiful green trees, then back to the north side of the island where we visited some hill villages and enjoyed the serenity of the Nightingale Valley.

We would highly recommend the resort and the hotel