I booked into the Arion Hotel based on the reviews here and other recommendations. Unfortunately, I cannot endorse them and in fact had one of worst hotel experiences ever.
Yes, the hotel has a great (if somewhat isolated) position overlooking the quaint, touristy town of Kokkari. The daytime staff is generally friendly and helpful. It also has hordes of package tourists from Northern Europe, all of whom will likely be paying much less than you if you are an independent traveler. It is clear that this hotel relies on package tourism – the independent traveler is an after thought.
To my experience - My wife and I stayed twice in late July ‘10, once for one night on the way to Patmos, and the second time a week later for two nights. The first night we were in a basic and uninspired triple room (asked for double) and suffered incredibly because the aircon did not work (it must have been 30 degrees in the room)… It also didn’t help that the mattresses were no more than 15cm thick and sagging, with the metal springs pushing into our backs. The room bore visible signs of a previous break-in (i.e., a bent metal main door frame where a crow bar had obviously been used). The second visit we were given a quad room (two twin beds – same 15cm mattresses, and an ugly white bunk bed) which reminded me of scout camp as it felt very institutional. The first night was ok but on the second we again suffered because there was no air conditioning. At 180 euros per night, in a so-called four star hotel, this is simply unacceptable (two nights out of three without aircon in two different rooms – clearly the infrastructure of the hotel is failing). When I asked the night management to do something, I was told that “this was not their problem, it was mine, as the maintenance staff only worked days, why don’t I just leave all the doors open?” To add insult to injury, I discovered that while we had booked and paid 180 euros per night for two, including breakfast, via the hotel’s website, the maximum legal rate for the room, according the room-posted high season rates, including breakfast, was only 160 euros.
One other point. During our last day, we went to Turkey, leaving early in the morning and returned in the evening to find out that the maids had left our room unlocked…Thank god, nothing was taken. Of course, I could have been protected if I’d paid 1.5 euro per day to use the room safe... Has anyone on this site ever paid to use a room safe in a four star hotel?
In short, we paid four star Athen's prices for a two star product and had a miserable experience. My advice to fellow travelers is to avoid this place at all costs.
- Arion Hotel Kokkari
