Last July, I visited a client in Athens and decided to stay a few days near the sea in advance of my visit. I looked for a hotel but couldn’t really find anything that I liked. I wasn’t able to book a room at Aegeon Beach Hotel, but unfortunately that was fully booked already. Finally I got a good deal at the Divani Apollon hotel in Voliagmeni, a good neighborhood, just a little South-East of Athens (technically still part of Athens I believe).

The overall experience wasn’t that good I must say. I booked a room with an view over the sea. Although I got, I thought it wasn’t really satisfactory. The overall quality of the facilities offered by the hotel were definitely good, but that’s not what I’m visiting a hotel for usually. I’d like to feel at home and that’s something this hotel definitely did not do. I can’t really put my finger on what it is that didn’t make me feel at home, but it’s definitely not a hotel I’m going back to anymore.

Later on me and a friend of mine were discussing some of the criteria that a good hotel should have but that are not so obvious from reviews oftentimes. Those included:

• Owner occupied. It’s best if the hotel is still occupied and ran by the owner. The owner usually started the hotel with a specific idea of hospitality in mind and he (or she) is probably the best to enforce that idea
• Not part of a chain. I recognize that hotel chains are an important experience for some in the sense that they offer consistent quality where ever you are, but usually it takes away all the authenticity a hotel has