Review: Grand Hyatt Athens

My significant other and I recently took a trip to Greece, where we visited the capital city of Athens, as well as two of the Cycladic Islands, Santorini and Syros. Being my partner’s first trip to Europe, I had to make it a memorable one (and to convince her that we Frugal Flyers aren’t absolutely crazy with our points and miles lifestyle)! 

Our trip started with a stay at the Grand Hyatt Athens, located just outside of Athens’ city center. This hotel served as our “home base” as we hopped around Greece. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about this property to see if the Grand Hyatt Athens is the right choice for your next stay in the Greek capital!

Booking & Check-in

We booked the Standard King Room at the Grand Hyatt Athens for 9,000 World of Hyatt points per night. To get the World of Hyatt points, we transferred our Chase Ultimate Rewards Points earned through our Chase Sapphire Preferred card (US). 

The World of Hyatt award calendar classified our dates as “off-peak,” and this was reflected by the relatively small amount of points needed for a room. If you are paying cash, rates hover around €150 to €170 per night. This gives us our points a valuation of around 2 cents per point, which is great value! 

A quick note: you will have to pay a €4 per night accommodation tax, regardless if you are redeeming points or not. Just something to keep in mind!

Check-in was as expected – due to our itinerary, we had to check-in three separate times for each of our stops in Athens. We became quite familiar with the front desk staff at this point and they were very hospitable.

Location

Grand Hyatt Athens is located just outside of the Athens city center on quite a busy street (it resembles more of what we would classify as a highway!).

There’s no denying that the Grand Hyatt Athens is a bit far from the city center, but that’s not unique to this hotel. In fact, there are no large hotel chains located in the city center, only smaller, local hotels. While the hotel is about a 30-40 minute walk to Syntagma Square and Monastiraki Square (the two main squares in the city), there are two bus stops only steps away from the front door of the hotel that will get you there in around 15 minutes. 

To get to and from Athens International Airport, you will have to take the metro (~1 hour) to the city center, followed by the bus to the Grand Hyatt. I have to admit, it was a bit overwhelming when we first arrived, but we quickly got used to navigating the Athens public transportation system.

If you plan to visit any of the Cycladic Islands via ferry, the port of Piraeus is a 30 minute bus ride away.

Parking

The hotel has an underground parking garage with 100 spots for €15 per night. Valet parking is available upon request. 

However, I don’t recommend driving while you are in Athens – it’s more stressful than it is worth! The two bus stops in front of the hotel will provide ample opportunities for you to get to the city center. Alternatively, there is a shuttle bus that runs to and from downtown Athens every hour (subject to change).

Room – 1 King Bed

When redeeming World of Hyatt points, the only option for a room redemption is the 1 King Bed which is the room type that we stayed in. Suites are available at a higher redemption rate.

As I mentioned before, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt Athens on 3 separate occasions during our trip and thus, 3 separate rooms. While all of the rooms were quite similar, there were some variations in the sizes of the rooms, the view, and whether there was a balcony. We’ll focus on my significant other’s favorite room of the trip, room 469. 

As we walked to our room from the elevators, we passed a beautiful art installation that spanned all 9 floors of the Grand Hyatt. A very nice touch!

When we first entered, we were greeted with a short corridor with a decent-sized closet and a bench area with a mirror, where you could put on your shoes and check that you’re looking your best before heading out the door.

The room had everything that you would come to expect – television, chair, workspace, and small coffee maker.

Our king-sized bed was in the middle of a comfortably sized bedroom – definitely enough space for two people.

Our balcony overlooked a beautiful courtyard, where we could see an outdoor pool (closed for the Winter). We could also see some of the ground-floor suites that had private pools and hot tubs.

The bathroom was extremely spacious and the marbled design was beautiful. However, the shower was a disappointment. The handheld unit did not work and not all of the outlet holes on the rain shower were working. Plus, the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash unit fell off the wall in the middle of the night.

While we didn’t have this problem in Room 469, the two other rooms that we stayed in during our time in Athens had a bit of a shower flooding problem. There is no door to the shower and the poor drainage left water flooding into the rest of the washroom (luckily there were floor drains). Additionally, water splashed onto the wooden doors (there was previous evidence of water damage). 

Overall, we were satisfied with our room and it provided us with a comfortable stay. We were lucky that Room 469 had a view of a beautiful courtyard from the balcony. We were not so lucky on our later stays at the Grand Athens Hyatt, where in room 732 we looked onto the busy highway and other buildings in one room, and the other had no balcony at all. As with everything in this world, YMMV!

Restaurants & Bars

The Grand Hyatt Athens hosts two restaurants: The Grand by Interni and the Aphrodite Lobby Lounge.

The Grand by Interni

The Grand by Interni is the main restaurant of the Grand Hyatt Athens and is located on the 8th floor, next to the rooftop pools and overlooking the city.

The Grand by Interni is definitely on the more expensive and posh end of restaurants in Athens. Their menu is inspired by their sister restaurant, The Interni, on the Greek island of Mykonos, a well-known fine dining establishment. We chose to look elsewhere for our dining so we wouldn’t break the bank and be able to experience the local cuisine.

We were told by staff that the restaurant was getting ready to expand to the 9th floor addition of the hotel. By our judgment, it looked pretty much complete, so it should be opening up any day now.

Aphrodite Lobby Lounge

Located just off to the side of the lobby, as the name would imply, the Aphrodite Lobby Lounge is an all-day lounge and bar area for guests to relax, get a drink or order some food. From a quick glance, the food menu seemed to be identical to the room service options.

Grand Club Lounge – Complimentary Breakfast

The Grand Club Lounge is open to guests who have booked a Grand Club Deluxe room or any of the suites, or for World of Hyatt Globalist members.

The lounge was cozy with a selection of food and drinks that were placed out for self-serve. This is also where the complimentary breakfast is served daily for guests in Grand Club Deluxe rooms, suites, or with Globalist status only, from 8 am to 11 am.

Light fare is available throughout the day. As we were not in the designated rooms or Globalist members, we did not have a chance to try the food or drinks, but from our quick tour of the lounge, it looked decent enough.

Facilities

The facilities at the Grand Hyatt Athens are where the hotel shines! We found ourselves enjoying the rooftop infinity pool and indoor pool/spa every night that we were staying there!

Fitness Center

The fitness center was quite small but had plenty of equipment for us to get a quick workout in during our stay. We had access to treadmills, free weights, and a variety of resistance training machines (e.g., leg extensions, a lat pull-down machine, etc.).

Rooftop Pool

Perhaps the most iconic feature of the Grand Hyatt Athens is the rooftop pools that overlook the Acropolis of Athens.

You could easily spend a few hours on the roof of the Grand Hyatt by relaxing by the pool on the many sun chairs, lounge beds, or, if you prefer some shade, the cabanas. You can also order drinks to enjoy poolside from the attached rooftop restaurant that we talked about above.

It didn’t get very busy during our stay and we got some great views of the city and the Acropolis of Athens during one of our sunny afternoons in the city!

If you aren’t a fan of heights but still want to get the rooftop experience, there is another large pool that doesn’t hang over the side of the hotel.

For those of us who travel with children, the rooftop amenities are child-friendly and have an on-duty lifeguard during operating hours (10 am to 6 pm daily).

Indoor Pool & Spa Facilities

After visiting the rooftop pool, we were eager to check out the indoor pool. However, when we went down to level -1, we couldn’t find it anywhere. Little did we know, it was hidden in plain sight behind the sign that read “spa and massages.”

When we saw the “spa” sign, we thought it was a facility at extra cost. Rest assured, this “spa” is free of charge and is home to the heated indoor pool, hot tub, cold plunge, sauna, and steam room.

There is a limited capacity for this facility – 20 people at any one time. We never had an issue getting in, however, we can imagine that it may be more difficult in the summer months. You can reserve a timeslot to enter the indoor pool and spa by calling the front desk. Additionally, there is an age restriction of 18+. 

If you fancy a massage or facial, these activities are available at an extra charge and are operated by Aegeo Spas, a local company.

Conclusion

The Grand Hyatt Athens provided us with a comfortable home base in Athens while we hopped around the Cycladic Islands. While it is a bit further from the action in the city center, you can easily get around the city with public transportation right at your fingertips. 

If you’re looking to redeem points for a hotel stay, the Grand Hyatt Athens is a great choice for a trip to Greece!