Web Resources

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

HOTEL
One of Seabourn’s recommended hotels for this port was the Athenaeum Intercontinental Athens. It was just 15 minutes from Piraeus and the modern lobby was busy with Americans (other cruise passengers) and, get this … a Jehovah’s Witness convention, a definite first for me.

SEABOURN SERVICE DOESN’T END
A Seabourn employee who lived in Athens was stationed at the hotel the whole day while the boat was in port, to greet and answer questions from incoming and outgoing passengers. She was there until 4pm and did a fine job providing us with maps, distances, prices and best times to go places.

HOTEL TO CENTER OF THE CITY
I was bummed when I found out the hotel wasn’t in the center of town but stoked to find out that the hotel offers a free hourly shuttle, which takes just 10 minutes to get there. But if you don’t want to be dependent on a shuttle schedule, taxis are inexpensive; I was charged just three euro for the trip.

ATHENAEUM INTERCONTINENTAL
The Athenaeum InterContinental Athens hotel has 543 guest rooms and they’re supposedly the most spacious in all of Athens. All rooms are built solid (so you don’t hear the neighbors), come fully equipped with high speed Internet access (19 euro a day), 32” flat screen TVs and stylish interior features like the specially commissioned works of modern Greek art adorning the leather clad walls.

HOTEL RENOVATION
The hotel is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar guestroom renovation and we were in one of the 181 completed rooms. The others will be finished next year. My only complaint is that the tub/shower was too narrow for my size 13 feet.

NEW DESIGN
The design firm in charge is based out of Paris and their portfolio includes some of the finest international city hotels and resorts. I love what they did with the hallways, using vivid oranges, reds and yellows. They’re smart to have 350 authentic works of modern Greek art, consisting of both paintings and sculptures in private and public spaces.

HOTEL VIEW
But what I will never forget about the hotel is the view of the Parthenon – it’s surreal, especially at night when it’s all lit up; they leave the lights on all night and it looks just magical.

CLUB LOUNGE
We were granted access to the Club Lounge, which was on Level 8 and reserved exclusively for rooms on floors seven, eight and nine. The staff in there were friendly and helpful and besides offering a quiet place to eat a daily buffet breakfast, enjoy a full open bar, evening canapés and computers with free Internet (one hour a day), it has the best view of the Parthenon (there’s a high powered pair of binoculars for seeing it up close). I also loved the fact that they even sold tickets to the new Acropolis Museum (one euro each) so we didn’t have to wait in line.

ATHENAEUM INTERCONTINTENTAL
Athenaeum InterContinental Athens, 89-93 Syngrou Avenue, 117 45 Athens, Greece; Tel: +30 210 920 6000.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | LAST PAGE >>>





Copyright 2009 JohnnyJet, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.