Electra Palace, Plaka Hotel, or Other

[Aquaticdreams]

Working on booking a hotel in Athens for one night post cruise in early February. We want to stay in Plaka. We mainly want to walk around and visit shops & cafes. We have a very early flight so we’re not planning on a late night out. We need to be at the airport at 4:30 AM and don’t want to take public transportation at 3:30 AM. We will arrange for a taxi ahead of time or through the hotel. I’m looking for a hotel with a 24 hour desk and very reliable with customer service in case we need assistance at that late hour. I think I’ve narrowed it down to the Electra Palace and the Plaka Hotel. The latter is certainly cheaper but I’m mostly concerned about staying somewhere with good service for peace of mind. Any feedback or suggestions between these hotels? Also any other recommendations are most welcome!

[CruiserBruce]

That situation, I would be staying at a hotel at the airport...

[edinburgher]

15 hours ago, Aquaticdreams said:

Any feedback or suggestions between these hotels? Also any other recommendations are most welcome!

Reading reviews could help you decide.

 

You could look at reviews of both very easily on eg Tripadvisor also the reviews on accommodation booking sites where the reviews are verified as having been posted by guests who booked through them.  

 

Same would apply to airport hotels which you may decide would be worth consideration and with your airport arrival time in the early hours that would be your best option.  Even better would be one from which you could walk to the terminal building instead of having to rely on a taxi or a hotel shuttle bus.

[drew69]

18 hours ago, Aquaticdreams said:

Working on booking a hotel in Athens for one night post cruise in early February. We want to stay in Plaka. We mainly want to walk around and visit shops & cafes. We have a very early flight so we’re not planning on a late night out. We need to be at the airport at 4:30 AM and don’t want to take public transportation at 3:30 AM. We will arrange for a taxi ahead of time or through the hotel. I’m looking for a hotel with a 24 hour desk and very reliable with customer service in case we need assistance at that late hour. I think I’ve narrowed it down to the Electra Palace and the Plaka Hotel. The latter is certainly cheaper but I’m mostly concerned about staying somewhere with good service for peace of mind. Any feedback or suggestions between these hotels? Also any other recommendations are most welcome!

Stay at the Sofitel at the airport - 3 minute walk to terminal and go into Athens for the day on the metro from there and return in the evening.

[CCJack]

We were recently in Athens at stayed at the A77 suites (in Plaka)  3 nights pre cruise and stayed at the Sofitel airport 1 night post cruise.   Both were excellent hotels.  A77 very small and personal, Sofitel large but nice and excellent food.

 

In this situation, I would take a taxi or Uber from ship to central Athens. (in Athens, Uber basically calls a regular taxi but fare is set by Uber... worked great and inexpensive)   Find a luggage storage place - there are many.   I would take a guided walking tour of the Acropolis and then you would still have time to walk through Plaka, then Uber to the Sofitel.   Our dinner at Sofitel was better food than what we found in Plaka.

 

You could also go to the sofitel first as suggested, but our ship to airport transfer was over 1.5 hours due to traffic, and then you are backtracking somewhat to get back to city center.  City center is "sort of" between ship and airport. 

 

If you haven't been to Athens, then this busy day effort is worth it to see the highlight of the city.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wandb]

We are doing the same thing about 2 weeks after you!  Never even thought about staying at airport. We have booked rooms at the Amalia Hotel for the night after our cruise. Near Parliament and Changing of the Guards. I think we will be able to walk the Plaka area, possibly see a museum, and see the Parthenon lit up at night. Early to bed, early to rise, and get to airport by 4:00 or 4:30. I contacted the hotel and they sent a list of ways to get to airport. 

[goose&mav]

We stayed at the Electra palace in 2009 when we did our first NCL cruise - for a few days prior to the cruise. Great location, had a great view of the Acropolis at night from our room.

 

We booked it again for our RC cruise to Italy and Greece. 

[Aquaticdreams]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Ironically we were initially debating staying at the airport Sofitel or the Avra in Rafina (for their all night shuttle) but it was suggested we not miss out on spending the time in Athens. We ended up booking the Electra Palace. They offered to arrange for transportation to pick us up at the hotel at 3:30 AM. I wouldn’t be comfortable with public transportation at this hour but I’m sure a prearranged taxi will be fine. We’ll just turn in early but at least we’ll get to see some of the sites.