We had a superior room in Athens Cypria for two differrent periods during our honeymoon in Greece. Both time they welcomed us with champagne in our bedroom - a very nice touch.
The hotel itself is simple but in a VERY handy location - close to Syntagma Square, Psiri, Acropolis, Plaka... Cafes, restaurantes, churches, stores, archeological sites.
The room was very comfortable and spacious, with a king size bed, jacuzzi, cable TV and a desk. No views (just the street)
Breakfast was good.
Most employees were gentle.
The cost/benefit of this hotel is excelent due to it location.

This hotel is a fantastic place to stay if you don't need/want a ton of "character" and "local culture" in your lodging.

It is spacious, clean, well run, has a great breakfast buffet (including English breakfast features like baked beans, bacon, etc.), is quiet, has reasonable internet connectivity, and has easy access to public transit while being tucked off of the main drag.

Syntagma metro (and all of the bus stops) is just a few blocks away. It is just a few meters off of a main shopping street that can keep buyers and lookers occupied for a long time.

Just a short walk from Plaka.

We stayed in Cypria early May 2008 for 3 nights. The hotel met all our expectations and some more. Our original criteria of choosing Cypria among the many budget hotels were confirmed after our arrival.

1. Location is a few small blocks from Syntagma Sq, which is the gateway to all the rest of Athens. Walking with our luggages from the hotel to the metro station (airport line) took about 10 min. It took us longer to find the hotel on the first day, since the street names are hard to follow even with a map.

2. The hotel is on a tiny alley only one block from heavy vehicle or pedestrian traffics on both sides. But our room was quiet like in the suburb. In fact, sitting on the sidewalk cafe/bar and enjoying our welcome drink (ouzo!) was quite a peaceful and relaxing moment.

3. The room is small by American standard, but large by Mediterranean standard. Besides the twin bed, there are desk, chair, small fridge below the TV, closet and open shelfing. The AC works by remote control and gets cool fast. There is a window facing the inside walls which are painted and clean to look at. The sky is visible too.

4. We were surprised by the welcome drink in the bar, and a small fruit basket in our room (courtesy of the manager).

5. The breakfast was really like what other reviewers had described. The room is spacious and feels like a regular restaurant. Too many food choices even for a big eater. Scrambled and hard-boiled eggs, sausages (cut up pieces), cheese and lunch meat slices, and selections of bread/pastries, fruits, cereals, and Greek yogurt (the best). The standard coffee was strong, and you can make your own Greek coffee too. The food here can make a motel complimentary breakfast or a B&B breakfast feel shameful back home!

6. The staff and front desk people are all very friendly and helpful. English is not an issue there.

In retrospect, Cypria is one notch above a similar budget hotel that we liked in Florence (Balcony Hotel). If anything else, wouldn't it be nice if free internet access is provided also? But we will gladly return to Cypria next time.

My wife and I stayed at the Athens Cypria three different times (always in different rooms) for several nights each time during our trip to Greece. Our stays were consistently pleasant and trouble-free.

The breakfast at the Cypria was very good: diverse, and of a fairly high quality - indeed, amongst the best we had in Greece. The rooms, though not luxurious, were clean, spacious by Greek standards, and had all reasonable amenities. The showers even had curtains - not something to be taken for granted in Greece - though somehow we still got water on the floor every time. No matter.

While the Cypria doesn't offer Acropolis views (in all but a few special rooms, if I recall correctly), the location is truly excellent. The hotel is located on a quiet side street, so I had no trouble sleeping (and I'm quite fussy about noise). It achieves this without sacrificing proximity to the tourist zone, as it's very close (a five minute walk) to Syntagma, a subway hub, and the Plaka district. The Acropolis and the other ancient sites of downtown are all easily within walking distance.

One thing to note is that while the hotel advertises a laundry service, it's not really aimed at tourists who need to wash several loads. Rather, it seems to be a business-level dry cleaning/shirt pressing service, and is priced accordingly. Try the Plaka Laundrette (Angelou Geronta 10) instead.

The Cypria isn't a bargain, but it had the combination of no-worries comfort, location, and low noise that we were looking for, and we were quite pleased by our choice.