ATHENS: GRECOTEL CAPE SOUNIO HOTEL (ATHENS, GREECE)
I have stayed at this hotel twice in the space of 3 years, both actually for conferences rather than as a tourist despite its deign primarily as a tourist venue.
This hotel opened as a Grecotel in 2OO4 in time for the Olympics held in Athens that same year.
It is about 65 Kms for the centre of Athens and about 35 Kms from the airport and on the Aegean coast. The hotel is on a small natural bay and looks directly across to the ruins of the still impressive Temple to Poseidon (Greek God of the Sea) on the top of a hill.
The hotel itself is very stylish in design with eclectic furnishings and decor in the public areas like the lounge and bar. It looks amazing and when you walk in to the lobby is very impressive. The rooms are dotted around a hill and are a mix of what they call bungalows and villas.
The bungalows are one large room with a balcony which has a great view across the pool and the bay and temple. There is a floor to ceiling divider than can be pushed back. Behind the divider is the basin and behind that a bath with large shower head. The toilet is the only area not in “open plan” and is in a small room with large frosted glass door. The one strange thing about the bath is that there is no tap to fill the bath and so if you want a bath you have to do this contortionist thing to fill the bath through the shower.
There used to be the well known Greek naturals range of toiletries called Korres in the room, but they seem to have been replaced by another up and coming Greek brand. The TV shows limited satellite channels and there is a DVD player though the hotel does not seem to stock DVDs for you to use! There is also a CD player so bring your own DVDs and CDs!
The villas usually have their own splash pool.
The bedroom in the bungalows which I stayed in were nice but not as stylish as the public areas and for the cost I thought were not that great. They are nice but as they cost so much you felt it was not great value.
The pool is salt water and is huge and very nice indeed with a very good beach bar/ restaurant serving lovely salads at lunchtime. The beach is ok, and reached by a tunnel under the road that runs in front of the hotel. It is clearly a man made beach and is fine though not that exceptional. There are very comfortable loungers made of wood with soft mattresses.
The food at the hotel is good but expensive. The breakfast buffet is included in the price and is eaten on the first floor of the main building with stunning views. Dinner is also served here with a choice of buffet or a la carte. Again expensive, as drinks where a spirits and mixer will be at least 12 Euros.
The spa area has an indoor heated pool with jets and a fitness centre that has all glass sides so gets very hot indeed!
I had a few days here as a weekend break and that was long enough. I would not recommend this resort for more than a few days stay as it is pricey and the beach is not that great and there are better places to stay on the islands. But fine for a few days of indulgence. The food gets a bit boring as it is always the same at the buffet.
The hotel is very popular as a venue for conferences and so check if there is one on. While we were there a German company had a conference and so at night there was loud music around the pool in the evening for their dinners etc.
In fact as they left the conference I was attending was moving in!
I have very mixed views about this hotel, as you can tell..
See all my photos on Flickr of the hotel and area: click here
Watch a video of the rooms (click to watch on YouTube) or on the blog posting:
A video of the pool area:
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