The Electra Palace is an extremely gracious hotel with a high level of service. The standard single room is tiny by most US standards, but it is organized in such a thoughtful and intelligent way that the size is not much of an obstacle. The staff are universally helpful. The breakfast buffet is interesting and has selections to satisfy a wide variety of nationalities. The sophisticated lobby is welcoming and quite beautiful.

I would, however, give dog lovers a warning about Athens: it is filled with abandoned animals, which is quite upsetting, and, for me, was a constant shadow.

A few minutes easy walk from the Plaka, the old restored part of Athens with shops and wonderful outdoor restaurants--outside of the ruins, this is all of Athens you need to see. Very elegant, great views of the Acropolis, although from the back side. Breakfast was huge but lacking in flavor. Staff very helpful and enjoyed my fledgling Greek.The room was smaller than what Americans are used to but lovely.

We stayed at the Electra Palace Hotel on a leg for a long European vacation, and after having stayed in quite a few Athens hotels over the years, I was pleasantly surpised at what a wonderful place this was! In the past we stayed at the Grand Bretagne Hotel, and in my humble opinion, this far surpasses in both location and quality (however in all fairness the last time I stayed at the GB was in 2001 prior to all the Olympic rehabs).

The rooms are adequately sized. We booked a double room overlooking the Acropolis which is well worth it. Cocktails on the balcony overlooking this amazing site was, well, amazing! On our last night we were upgraded to a suite, which if you are staying for a long period of time would be worth the investment. We had one additional family member joining us on the last night which would have definitely been cramped in the original room (typical Americans--we like lots of space!). The suite was perfect with the balcony facing the Acropolis, a living room area with a small couch bed and a bedroom with a queen.

The breakfasts were fabulous. Coffee was spectacular if you like it strong, which is much needed for those hikes to the Parthenon and various venues. The location is unbeatable. You are right in the center of the Plaka so you can walk to various restaurants and shops.

The recently rehabbed hotel has a small pool in its lower level, along with a workout room, steam, sauna and spa. The kids loved the pool (ages 3 and 6), and it was a welcome relief to the hot Athens sun. The workout room had a decent amount of equiptment, although we were always too pooped to use it by the end of the day.

We return to Greece annually to visit relatives and always make a stop in Athens. This hotel will now be the annual Athens residence for us for its price, quality and proximity to the Plaka festivities. It was terrific and I highly recommend it!

We had stayed at another five-star hotel when we first arrived, but I found this to be a much better value. Granted, they no longer had the rooftop pool (and what a view one misses though they said they were going to build another) and the "Spa" had lots to be desired and it had a very small indoor pool, but the beds were comfortable, the rooms weren't too small and they were quiet, the location was conveniently in the Platka area and the staff was most attentive. It is a simply gorgeous hotel and it was certainly not overly expensive. (The other hotel had service charges for everything and was just outrageous!) I would most definately return to this hotel.