We were attending a wedding north of Athens in Sept 04 but wanted to stay downtown and see the sites. Our biggest concern was the location of the Marriott but that did not prove to be a concern at all. We walked daily to Parliment Square to meet up with our friends and tried a new route each time. As mentioned in a previous review, we recommend you try different routes each time and you will see more of the city. There is a shuttle as noted above. You can take the subway/tram, it is about a 15-20 minute walk to the closest station (Neos Kosmos) which is handy if you are going outside of downtown. We arrived at 5:30am, and WERE given our room right away (after our complimentary coffee!), which was a great relief after a long trip. The room was the largest we have seen in Europe as was the marble covered bathroom. Staff was friendly and efficient, and you cannot beat lounging by the rooftop pool. There is a grocery/drug store around the corner which was handy. The hotel was so relaxing to come home to after the wonderful chaos of Athens. We will definitely stay here on our next trip to Athens.

Tourist Athens is basically an small ancient town dropped into a sprawling modern city. Piraeus, the gateway to the Greek Islands is far away; the Saronic coast and Cape Souniam even further. The Marriott's 'tweener' location at 115 Syngrou splits the difference between Athens center and Piraeus, and is convenient for a traveller ambitious to see the whole of Attica; not just the area surrounding Syntagma Square and the Plaka. The hotel restaurants are pricey but the food is good. Room service is swift, the staff is polite and responsive, and will actually talk to you beyond the first sentence if you indicate interest. There's even a Starbuck's in the lobby. The rooftop bar-restaurant and swimming pool offers a clear view of the Partheon, doubly beautiful at night when the lights are turned on. I found it a good place to gather perspective and plot the next move. The area surrounding the hotel is filled with small, inexpensive tavernas, including one or two Italian and Chinese. The entrance to the Acropolis is a meandering 0.9KM up a through a pleasant non-tourist neighborhood. Walking through these streets I experienced more of how Athenians live in terms of street life, shops, and residences, and came away with a more indelible sense of a comfortable city at ease with itself, then the forced marches through the Plaka and Monastiriki areas with my fellow tourists. To be fair, I visited Athens in August when the line between a traveller and a refugee is blurred. Having been warned about Athens taxis I had an edge on when I entered my first several cabs; but in my 12 day stay I must've taken over thirty cabs and only had two disappointing experiences. The meter was 'broken' in one and flat rate charged; in the second the cabbie turned into a 'wild 'n crazy' tout and I had to refocus him on getting back to the hotel. You run into much worse in New York. It's time to lighten up on Athens cabbies. The Ledra Marriott was a good host, and helped make Athens a positive experience.