Hotel Review Marble House, Athens: perfect for an autumn culture break

Last October, I went to Athens to catch a bit of sun. We spent three days in Athens and three days on Aegina Island. In Athens, we stayed at the Marble House Hotel.

We could not have wished for a better hotel: quiet, friendly, individual, and close to the city’s sights without being in an overly touristy area. If you are looking for somewhere classy and relaxing, and don’t want to pay huge sums on accommodation, consider staying at the Marble House Hotel.

Location

The hotel is in Koukaki, which is considered a residential area in the city centre by the Acropolis Hill. It is also  on the “right side of town” to go to the beach by the tram that trundles through the southern suburbs and along the coastline all the way to Glyfdada – this may take you a while, but is pretty straightforward, with  no changes required. Or you take the Metro (nearest Stop: Syggrou-Phix) to Elliniko and walk.

Koukaki a nice, middle class neighbourhood with a supermarket, shops, and a row of cafes and restaurants five minutes walk away.

But the best about this location is that, despite being right in the centre, it is really quiet. The hotel is in a side street of a side street of two busier streets, and almost completely quiet. In two minutes, you are at the nearest bus stop, from where any bus will take you near the Acropolis and Syntagma Square, and one of them will take you directly to the National Archaeological Museum, with buses leaving at least every 10 minutes.

For a complete change in scenery, you can get to the Plaka and Acropolis Hill in 20 min by taking any bus from Zinnii Bus Stop (turn right, right and right again as you leave the hotel), two bus stops to Agios Ioannis, then walk.

The Hotel

The hotel is in a generic Greek city residential building typical of the middle of last century. Don’t expect architectural features, although the building is extremely well maintained and modernised, and pretty much every room will have a terrace or balcony. Due to the size of the building, there is no lift, so bear that in mind if you arrive with lots of luggage. There are rooms out to the street, and into a backyard. Both types of rooms tend to be quiet.

There is a small terrace for sitting outside, but no restaurant or cafe. Everything is kept impeccably clean. As the hotel has minimal staff (one receptionist and housekeeping) don’t expect much service other than a friendly welcome and help with directions and onward reservations.

Our Room

We paid 44 EURO per night for this room in October 2017. The room was on the second floor and faced the back yard and had a small private balcony. It wasn’t a huge room, but we had really everything we needed – even a small desk! I love rooms with little writing desks – not necessarily standard in the budget category. The bed was comfy, slightly on the soft side but not worn, with clean duvets and pillows and quality bed linen. Everything was exceptionally clean and well maintained.

We had a small en-suite bathroom with a walk-in shower and a toilet. Again, expect to have extremely tiny shower cubicles or no cubicles at all in this price category, but money had obviously been spent on the bathroom.

Facilities

As a budget hotel, there is a small seating area indoors and outdoors by reception, but that’s about it! Of course there is free and reliable WiFi in the rooms and common areas. They will happily store your luggage for the day. There is no breakfast, no room service, just some extremely well looked-after bedrooms, But with the hotel being close to cafes and restaurants, you’ll hardly miss it.

Special treats

Koukaki Square is approximately 5min walk from the hotel (walk up to Veikou Street and turn left), and the short pedestrian lane running off it are lined with local cafes, bars and restaurants

Just round the corner is a branch of Doxopoulos Coiffeurs (Anastasiou Zinnii Road 35). It looks and feels upmarket, yet, you can get a great hair cut for as little as 10 EURO (and a hair consultation). We just walked in the day before and got an appointment for the next morning.

Conclusion

For a stylish, simple hotel close to Athens sights, yet in a relaxed, nice residential neighbourhood, stay at the Marble House. It has minimal facilities but what it does – comfy rooms, good bathrooms and a quiet nights sleep – it does extremely well.

Marble House Hotel

An.Zinni 35, Athina 117 41, Greece

Tel: +30 21 0922 8294

Hotel Website: http://www.marblehouse.gr

or book online*

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Nearest Metro: Syggrou-Fix (7min)

Nearest Bus Stop: Zinnii (2min)

Features: Non-smoking rooms, quiet rooms, free WiFi, private bathroom,

Doesn’t have: Lift, breakfast, bar, bathtubs

Disclosure

This trip was entirely self funded, and I have received no monetary or non-monetary rewards for linking aside from some affiliate links (marked with an asterisk). For the simple process of linking to other businesses, I proclaim this unpaid advertising. I will only review and recommend places that I have stayed in myself. You can trust me for the whole, unbiased truth.  More details on my affiliate link policy are here.