InterContinental Athenaeum Athens Review

The Intercontinental Athenaeum Athens has been a mainstay of Athens hospitality for decades. The hotel is located about a 25-minute walk (or a short taxi ride) from the nearest Acropolis entrance.

I had been here before a few years ago and remembered the great beds but rather old rooms. This has changed as all the rooms are now remodeled.

The check-in agents mentioned that the hotel is running at just 20% occupancy despite several floors being blocked off completely. In fact, I just saw a handful of other guests during my stay.

I felt the room wasn't exactly brand new - it did not feel old but neither did it feel modern and it came in an odd shape. However, it was spacious and there was a bit of a view (through the very dirty windows).

The airconditioning worked brilliantly and it was freezing despite the 100+ degrees outside. The Internet also worked fast at 10MBit+.

We made our way to the swimming pool and to our surprise it was rather packed. The pool is quite small and just allows for a few benches. All were taken at 4 PM and just a few opened up later. Indeed the Intercontinental Athens is a Business hotel and that was a mainstay of their revenue. As with many other hotels - business travelers are missing but leisure travelers are coming back. Well, this did not help the enjoyment of the pool (which is in a rather odd shape to being with).

Not surprisingly it was very quiet otherwise and I could sleep quite well.

The hotel has the same 50% discount offer on breakfast like many other IHG properties. However, I chose one of the local bakeries and coffee shops instead.

In sum - the Intercontinental Athens is a good business hotel. The upgrades of the room aren't spectacular but the rooms are clean, functional and the amenities work for me. However, for a purely leisure trip the hotel is too far away from the sites and the swimming pool is way too small for such a large hotel.