Thanasis Place Hostel

The balcony is beautiful and wraps all the way around, connecting the rooms. I stayed for a week and could have stayed for months. It may be the best place in all of Athens. The owner is a character and a hard ass, so stay on his good side. DO NOT BOOK ONLINE. Just show up and ring the bell. If he has a room and likes you, you’ll have a good time. It’s probably the strangest place I’ve ever stayed, but I met wonderful people there, with incredible stories, who were genuine and kind. The owner is a true sweetheart. If you know, you know.

For the price, staying there is okay, but it isn’t clean enough, so don’t expect much. There’s no sign, the name is different from the one listed here, and it doesn’t show up on Google. I spent hours looking for the address and couldn’t reach anyone. Someone smoked in my room until 4 am, and there was no reception to complain to. It’s been turned into an apartment hostel, not a proper facility, and the man isn’t around. They didn’t even check my passport.

This hostel felt unsafe for women traveling alone, and I left eight days early for a safer hostel. I’m very glad I did. One staff member was kind and funny and didn’t take advantage. Thank you to him. The listing photos were VERY different from the actual place. The only thing that matched was the curtains for the bed. The sheets were stained with bed bug goo, as best I can describe it, and there was someone else’s blood under the sheet. I got one or two bites, while another person in my room got plenty more. BED BUGS???!!! Staff came into the female-only rooms without knocking, or knocked and immediately came in. There’s no lock on the door, so you can’t stop them coming in or lock them out if they’ve made you uncomfortable. There’s no reception area, and staff lingered in the common area watching TV. Nobody hung out there because the atmosphere was uncomfortable. I think they may also rent beds to locals. That isn’t a problem by itself, but they present themselves as an international hostel for travelers. The location is good, close to the bus stop and some lovely cafes. You get what you pay for 💁‍♀️

We were nervous after reading the reviews, but we stayed twice, once at the start of our trip and again at the end. The first visit went smoothly, although we saw other guests confused about room changes, and one woman’s belongings had been moved without her knowing. On our second arrival, around 22:00, we kept pressing the entry button and couldn’t get in. WhatsApp replies were slow and came with lots of questions. Other guests eventually let us inside before anyone had confirmed whether staff would check us in. The manager later arrived and upgraded us to a private room, which was nice. He seemed a bit intimidating at first, but was reasonable and friendly once we talked. We had no bed bug issues. The next morning, the doorknob broke and I couldn’t get out. I don’t think it was anyone’s fault. After messaging and making a few calls, I tossed the keys over the balcony to the manager so he could open the door from the other side. We checked out, left our bags for the day, then had to wait another hour to get back in and collect them. It wasn’t a terrible stay, just inconvenient and disorganized. It does the job, but there’s nothing special about it. I wouldn’t choose it if you have a tight schedule.