Syntagma Apartments by Livin Urbban

You’re right downtown in Athens, with the airport bus stopping at the front door and the metro just steps away. Fantastic value for that location. There’s only a microwave and hotplate, but with so much good food around, that was enough.

We paid top dollar for hostel-like accommodation and came away with a headache from dealing with management. A travel agency booked it for us through bookings, but many advertised facilities and services were missing: there was no stove, oven, safe, concierge service, or internet. Check-in was in another building, and to speak with management we had to walk over there. The place is down a dark alley where people sleep, and we didn’t feel safe walking there alone at night. It’s in a set of offices, so noise made sleeping in impossible. The unit was cheaply furnished with well-used Ikea furniture, felt too small for even one person, and shouldn’t be advertised for four. Although two of us were staying, we got only one set of keys, which made it hard to go out separately. At check-in they tried to charge an extra cleaning fee beyond what we’d agreed to in the booking. When we didn’t agree, they charged the correct fee but used that as an excuse for the unit not being clean. The sheets were dirty and stained from the last guests, the floor hadn’t been swept, and opened food was left in the fridge. We paid €20 per day per person, yet sheets are washed only once a week. If you leave a deposit, they’ll find an excuse not to return it, such as saying it’s part of the cleaning fee. A lot of the windows don’t shut properly, so flies come in during the day and mosquitoes at night. Stay away at all costs.

The location was great and the apartment was nice, but the accommodation and services fell badly short. There was no oven, no sheets for the sofa cama, and both the elevator and bathroom light were broken, among other issues.

The location was nice, but the place and service were terrible. The listing said there was an elevator, but it was broken. Staff said it would be fixed the next morning; instead, we climbed five floors every day for five days, including checkout with four large suitcases. We also found ticks on the sofa and bed. Every day we asked to speak with the manager, and staff kept saying they didn’t know where he or she was and had no authority to refund us or move us to another room.