Grande Bretagne Hotel Athens: timeless and affordable luxury

Last spring our wanderings took us to Athens for a birthday trip. Our choice fell on the Great Britain, a safe bet at Luxury Collection. Note that the hotel is adjacent to the King George,also Luxury Collection, something that must be almost unique in the world.

Located in the center of Athens, right next to the parliament, its imposing façade does not go unnoticed.

The lobby is of course empty and the check-in only takes a few moments. The tone is immediately set: we feel that we are in one of the most historic European luxury hotels.

As usual, we had booked standard rooms which, as usual, were transformed into superior rooms in application of the loyalty program. In this case we got two “Grand Suites“.

The “Grand Suite” at the Grande Bretagne

The rooms are of course in the same style. The Grand Suite opens onto a decent sized living room.

The living room opens onto the bedroom.

Then we find the bathroom equipped with both a shower and a bathtub.

And to top it all off, the room has an impressive terrace.

But as usual, a video is better than all the text.

So to be honest at Travel Guys we are often very skeptical about this kind of vintage decoration and hotels that we try to keep “in their juice” at all costs even if it means looking lost between two ages. Typically we often have trouble with the Victorian “pseudo vintage” style of some London hotels and without denying the undeniable qualities of the hotel we find that Westin Palace in Madrid is much too stuffy and smells of dust despite its recent renovation.

Nothing like that here. Tradition has been kept without overdoing it. It looks like historical luxury but not old. A good point then.

Superlative bars and restaurants

Who says birthday trip says that we took care to test all the services of the hotel, luxury that we can rarely afford on a business trip where time is usually limited.

Let’s start with the restaurant that we tried for both breakfast and dinner.

This restaurant alone justifies a visit to the Grande Bretagne for two reasons. The first is the breathtaking view as it is located on the roof of the hotel. You have a clear view of Athens, the parliament, Syntagma square and ….. the Acropolis.

If you are looking for a good spot to admire the Acropolislook no further.

Besides, the hotel knows it and plays with it:

You can eat indoors or outdoors, depending on your wishes (and the weather). In these first days of spring when the heat returns without being stifling we will choose the second option every time.

Breakfast Table:

The buffet is of high quality and very varied.

The pastries are delicious and for good reason: the hotel has its own baker.

And here’s the result:

Nothing to complain about on the dinner either.

The service is professional and efficient. Not sure that we had better in a starred restaurant.

During the day the bar also serves delicious cocktails.

Among the “home-made” creations we recommend the Athens Taï.

But to have a drink in the evening there is even better: the second bar, named the Alexander.

In addition to a very cosy setting it also offers an excellent cigar cellar (yes it is a smoking place).

We made him undergo the “Travelguys Bar Test”: bloody mary, dirty martini and americano. Three classics on which a bar worthy of the name cannot fail. Test passed with flying colors.

Closed pool and noisy spa

At this time of the year the outdoor pool was still closed. It’s a pity, but it’s understandable that they didn’t anticipate that it would be nearly 30° in mid-March.

This led us to fall back on the indoor pool, which is part of the hotel’s spa.

Let’s start with the spa.

It is very large and is characterized by the presence of several hammams with a specific olfactory atmosphere. Very pleasant.

The facilities are numerous, saunas, steam rooms, light therapy shower. This spa has won numerous awards and it is easy to see why.

Disappointingly, however, the temperature was consistently far from the usual levels for this type of facility, so much so that we wondered if there was any problem. So pleasant experience for the smell, less for the heat that we had difficulty to find.

Then comes the superb swimming pool.

Nothing to complain about for an indoor hotel pool. The setting is superb, and its dimensions have nothing to envy to some outdoor pools. It is in the same vein as the Sheraton in Oman. But again, despite the signs announcing a water temperature of 28°, the real temperature was in our opinion much lower. The proof: no customer stayed there too long.

Another negative point is the noise. Since the outdoor pool only opens in April, families and children took refuge in the spa pool. But for a place in the basement that resonates a lot it produced a noise largely unbearable. Add to that the fact that the children took the opportunity to test all the facilities of the spa, we were far from the level of comfort and calm that we are looking for in this kind of place.

In the end the product is superb but the impression is mixed.

Finally, the hotel has a more than adequate sized gym, well equipped, but which we did not try.

Nothing to report about the checkout which took place in a few minutes and which could be done on our floor with the “buttler” without having to go through the reception.

The Great Britain Athens: a must-see

At less than 200 euros a night at this time of the year, the Grande Bretagne is a property where we like to return. The services are of a very high level and no flaw was noticed. The mixed experience of the Spa being more a matter of circumstances even if in the end such things should not happen in a hotel of this standing.