We have arrived in Athens.

I drive around (and no – Athens traffic is not that crazy either), with a list of hotels to look at, and they all look pretty bad.  We head to an area where we are due to have a conference, and the prices are sky high for hotels, or they are booked out.

Two hours later we park the car and go running in and out of hotels on the hunt for one that will make us feel good.  The one I was going to book on the internet was nothing like it ‘appeared’ on the web – and I have found this way too often.

Explorason has said a prayer on the way here.

“Please God – can we have a hotel with a pool, and a room with a view of the Acropolis, and wi-fi, comfortable beds with soft pillows, and that it is not too noisy with street traffic for my Mum”.

A pretty intensive list, which I admit I kind of forgot about as I was getting to the 4:00 p.m. panic mark.

What made it worse was that I put down the car keys in one of the hotel rooms we found. Where? – I had no idea!!!  So we had to go back through all the hotel rooms a second time to find them.  And fortunately, we did. I had put them on the bed when I used the bathroom.

The car park guy was brilliant. He spoke very little English and I am sure he thought I was a mad nutter. He was due to shut at 4:00 p.m. so I raced in and out 2 times asking him to hold on a bit longer.

So when we walked into the Dorian Inn, we said yes as soon as we saw the room.  “Have you seen our pool?” he asks?  “No – we will see it later,” we say – but we did see we have a view of the Acropolis out of the side room window!

The room was nice. Two beds, and comfortable pillows.  Lovely big bathroom – with a bath too!

We race back to the car park man and ask if we can drive the car up to the hotel to leave the bags, and then bring the car back to park for the week.

He kindly says he will wait.  So like a crazed woman, I tear up the street in the car.  I shoot past the hotel and then have to go around about ten one-way blocks to get back.  This horrible man in a vacant lot won’t let me stop to unload the car.  So I pile out the bags as fast as I can while he is screaming at me.  He makes my son cry. Why is he so horrible? I would pay him for the time. But he is just not nice. My first ‘not nice’ man in Greece I think.

We finally get into the room, and it is nearly dark.  I am stuffed.  I check out the sky. It is turning a hint of grey – but I can see a view of the hill on the side out the window and it beacons me.

We have had to race down the street two times to the car park and to get supplies. I feel like I am having a stress attack.  Who says traveling is all easy?  I can’t believe here is this lovely hotel – Dorian Inn Hotel, and I have looked at so many horrible ones for similar money. Some wanted more.  But I am overbooking hotels online that don’t turn out to be nice.

Now it is near sunset.  I promise Explorason a swim, and I really want a nice glass of chilled white wine.

I want to sit and watch the Acropolis.

He has a lovely swim as the sun starts to sink in the sky.

We get dressed and warm and we love the sunset.

And as we do I get my glass of wine – and watch the Acropolis.  I really wanted to stay with a view of the Acropolis.

God does answer prayer!

Everything on my son’s list He met the requirements of, and more.

We had no idea how good this place would turn out to be!

What a glorious place to sit into the early evening.

Next day was a rest day – and another swim of course!

The following morning we head down for the full buffet breakfast.  We decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator – good thing as we ate so much!

I never thought to get a photo of the breakfast. I wish I had. The spread was the length of the whole hotel building.  There were spinach and feta filo pies; Greek yogurts; sweet fruit preserves; cheeses in many kinds; hot sausages and eggs etc; cereals; fruits and much, much more.

We stayed 9 nights here.  It is a great value place to stay.  We were helped with directions to all our events by the staff.  The manager was lovely and she often took time to speak to us.

It was centrally located to the subway /Metro and to the cosmopolitan Asian style markets, and a ten-minute walk down to the touristic zone for shopping.

I hope when we return to Athens we can stay here again.

Bookings and Enquiries: Book this hotel here

Accommodation Name: Dorian Inn Hotel

Location:  Pireos 15-19, Athens 105 52, Greece

Date stayed: October 2014

Breakfast: An incredible full breakfast is served. Traditional Greek and European food are included in the buffet. 10/10 in value with long hours available.

Bar: Rooftop bar has an Acropolis view and pool

Kitchen: Room has a fridge and meals are available at the rooftop bar. No self-service kitchen.

Wi-fi:  Free in lobby and pool bar. Charge to use in rooms.

Child-friendly: Yes.

Questions and Comments

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