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This was a TP inspired BA holiday to Athens beginning of February .
We booked CE for BHD-LHR-ATH-LHR-BHD for 480 TP each costing £1200.
We didn’t get off to a great start when the first flight was cancelled due to weather, but took advantage to book into a nearby Marriott and avail of a free dinner and breakfast. We live an hour away and didn’t feel like going back home. Double elite night credits also softened the blow.
We were supposed to be on a night flight to LHR and staying at the renaissance with the ATH flight early morning. We finally landed in ATH at 1.05 am. Technically this meant we didn’t have the car hire 5 nights, but previous similar experience suggest the bonus TP’s will post anyway. The rerouting meant we lost 1A and 1C seats on both outbound flights.
We spent some of the long layover at the F checkin decks sipping the water and waiting. P2 has asthma and prefers to be able to get fresh air rather than sit too long in lounges. We chatted away to others sitting about, including Jon Snow and his family.
The luggage appeared quickly. The car hire pick up with Avis though was not straightforward. They couldn’t find the booking, then decided because we were late the rate had now changed – upwards. We stood our ground and refused to pay more. It was now 1.30 am and patience was non-existent. Next came a hard upsell for snow chains. Again we refused despite being told we would definitely be fined 85 euros by police for not having them. As it turned out we didn’t encounter any snow or police. So far all BAH Avis bookings have been added to my account to gain the perks and upgrades, but not this time and we left in the Class A car booked and laughed as we struggled to fit the luggage. This took a good 20 minutes of playing Tetris.
We finally made it to the Marriott Athens around 2.30 am, where we would spend the first three nights and leave on Saturday to get the double points promo, alongside the double elite night credits and 1000 bonus points per night.
The welcome was outstanding and they swiftly took the car hire and delivered the luggage to the room. We were invited to help ourselves to the mini market and then found the sparkling wine and chocolates and Greek pastries/sweets in the room. As Titanium we were upgraded to a suite with large balcony and a see view. We loved the room. The lounge was ok though we never managed to be there between 5-7 during happy hours. We did enjoy the unlimited soft drinks and coffee, with biscuits and sweets.
We discovered the next day we could park for free round the corner of the hotel and avoid the hotel parking charges, though they never billed us for the first night anyway.
The first day we went to the Temple of Zeus and other ruins, there did seem to be endless amounts of things to see and do. We almost went island hopping but decided on a coastal drive instead. We spent the next day at the Acropolis which was interesting, the views were amazing and not to be missed.
Much of the rest of the time was spent in the warren of streets with shopping and endless things to look at it in Athens city centre. There is an antique shop on every corner much to P2’s delight.
The nightlife is thriving with numerous quirky bars and rooftop restaurants and bars. It proved to be an ideal place for a pub crawl. The reasonableness of prices made it all the more enjoyable.
The highlight of the trip started when we arrived at Marriott Grand Bretagne. Of the 100+ Marriott properties we have visited this wins hands down for many reasons.
We successfully used 2 SNA to be upgraded into the Grand suite overlooking Syntagma Square, from the entry level room we booked. We had booked the valentine package at 370 euros a night. This included breakfast in the room and champagne – which was Tattinger and, chocolate dipped strawberries. Both were delicious! We also had a butler, who was amazing with great recommendations for another pub crawl.
The hotel met every request we made. Including early checking in at 12, a balcony overlooking the square, and late check out. Nothing was too much bother. The welcome was outstanding with champagne and private checkin on the 6th Floor. The room was impressive in every sense.
We dined in the roof top restaurant overlooking the Acropolis and also had the afternoon tea. Every item of food in this hotel was delicious and I’m a really fussy eater.
We had breakfast in the room for the first morning which was an experience watching them efficiently set up. The following morning we had breakfast at the buffet overlooking the Acropolis again. The waffles made to order were heavenly and P2 enjoyed the cooked breakfast. The orange juice was possibly the freshest I’ve tasted.
The balcony of the room proved to be a highlight. We watched the changing of the guard, the parade on the Sunday morning at 11am and were entertained by numerous buskers in the square which were still playing at 3 am when we went to bed. The room did not carry the sounds once the balcony door was closed.
We have stayed in many top end properties, but the service here and the friendliness, coupled with the quality of food and location left us sad to leave this hotel and we both agreed we would be back. We rarely visit properties or destinations twice as we like to get a varied experience in property and location.
All in this was an amazing trip and definitely one of the best we have enjoyed in Europe.
Future trips include a weekend break to Barcelona next week and then the annual family trip with all the kids and grandkids to Lanzarote in March. This is followed with Singapore and Bali in mid April and then a TP run to Sofia in May.
At least one of us with have GUF2 by May. Which is thanks to all the help and advice found on this forum, so I’d like to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone for this and of course Rob and team for an amazing site!
Thanks for posting, sounds like a great trip. We are off to Athens in a couple of weeks for similar TP reasons. Flights and hotels for us, staying at Electra from recommendations on here.
Any specific bar or restaurant recommendations?
Thanks
The Kook bar was a great experience, where it is Christmas all year round. The MS Rooftop bar was also good, and many of its nearby bars. There is too many to name and you will understand once you are in that area as each bar is uniquely different.
We mainly dined at the hotels but we did have a lovely Chinese lunch at East Pearl. There was a constant queue to get in. This was recommended to us and did not disappoint.
Love Athens, off there in a couple of weeks to work from the sunshine for a week. Easyjet rather than BA and apartment rather than hotel.
Prefer neighborhood restaurants like the Kalamaki Bar in Koukaki.
We’re currently in Athens staying at the Gem Society Boutique Hotel. It’s a lovely small boutique hotel. The staff are really friendly and helpful. It’s centrally located – you can walk anywhere easily. They provide massages which are excellent. They only have a steam room and the hot tub is closed due to Covid, strangely.
We went to the rooftop bar at the Marriott Grand Bretagne with an amazing view of the Acropolis, for cocktails. There is also a hotel rooftop bar called A for Athens in the main square with more budget priced drinks also with an amazing view of the Acropolis.
We flew BA which, at the time was a similar price to Easyjet and Wizzair, a tiny bit more, but less hassle booking than Easyjet and Wizz with their bag policy etc.
How long did the bonus TPs take to arrive? The SLA is 60 days but that’s too long for me. I’m pondering a BAH before may for the points
Double TP’s are now posting around a week or so after the holiday generally.
Just coming back to add my tuppence worth. We were in Athens last weekend on a BA Holiday – EDI/LHR/ATH return and 5 nights at Electra Metropolis. Flights were fine, short delay due to de-icing farce at EDI but had breakfast in First lounge and onto Athens.
Electra Metropolis was great – basically a brand new hotel, great location 5 mins from Syntagma Square, rooms decent size, great breakfast, staff couldn’t do enough for us and superb views of Acropolis from the bar/ restaurant on the rooftop. Highly recommended, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back.
Stuff we did far exceeded expectations:
– archaeological sites. Acropolis was superb, a real highlight, both the Parthenon and the south slope. Ancient Agora and Kerameikos also v. impressive. Buy a EUR30 pass at one of the smaller sites to avoid queue, all worth a visit though Socrates’ Academy in particular required a bit of imagination.
– Acropolis museum was great and we went to the museum in Piraeus which was smaller but very high quality exhibits.
– Food. We ate at Soil which was absolutely world class, multiple courses of tasting menu – clearly expensive (c.EUR200 each including drinks) but I would say good value, I couldn’t fault anything about it at all. Also at top end we had lunch at Varoulko Seaside in Pireaus, classic fish restaurant. The rest of the time we ate at bars and cafes we liked the look of. Nothing less than v good – Sisinely by the Ancient Agora, Kosmikon in Plaka and were particular highlights.
– Bars. Lots of decent bars but never realised Athens has a world class bar scene (3 bars in the 50 Best Bars list). Baba Au Rum was our favourite, The Bar In Front Of The Bar (not listed but on the 50Best Discovery list) also v good and The Clumsies v. decent. Cocktails for <EUR10, what’s not to like?
– Getting around. We walked pretty much everywhere but used the metro to get down to Piraeus and back to airport. NB airport trains are every 36 mins so check times on Citymapper or Google Maps, it’s not exactly turn up and go.Airport on way home was fine, the check-in was smooth, security and passport control (Tuesday lunchtime) was slick, no more than 10 mins, and the lounge that BA use was fine – nothing exceptional either way. We found 4 full days to be comfortable, could have done everything we wanted to do in 3 but nice to be a bit more relaxed.
Overall HIGHLY recommended,
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