Hotels for RS "Athens and the Heart of Greece" tour

RS uses multiple different hotels for their tours. While previous tour members can provide an idea of which ones they stayed at, if you really want to know ask the office. They can provide specifics. In the past, the Greece tours were always guaranteed to have air conditioning (the only tour with that guarantee), but not sure if that is still so.

Mark - thank you for your prompt reply! I was not aware that the hotel itinerary was available so we will definitely follow up on that. And I will ask about the air conditioning "guarantee"!

The Rick Steves office will send you a list of the hotels for your trip about one month before your departure date. Hotels used on one tour may not necessarily be the some ones used on the same tour a week later. That being said I have been on 3 RS tours and all the hotels have been wonderful, some luxurious, some simple but all are clean. I have never been disappointed. I will be on the same Greece tour that you are taking but starting March 27th. I will be happy to report back here when I return.

Went on the RS tour in June/July.

Had nice hotels at all locations and all had more than adequate a/c.

Not sure what weather is like in Sept., but suspect a bit cooler than when we went.

Have done Greece and Italy tours with RS and CLEAN rooms and comfy beds are a given. No worries.

I hope your worries are assuaged Michele -- I cannot imagine a tour company as experienced and praised as the RS operation would ever book its enrollees into any accommodation that was unclean or uncomfortable. This worried tone is often heard from people new to Greece, who have a perhaps outdated image of this country (based maybe on seeing "Never on Sundays" filmed 60+ years ago???), and somehow classify Greece as a less-developed country. I can only say that I've had 12 extended stays in Greece since '99, on a super-budget basis, staying a small pensions or hotels (probably more than 60 in toto), and --at least in my experience -- have found these modest places sparkly-clean with crisp linens (line-dried on rooftops). Small ladies in black dresses (the owner's cousin?) come in and tidy up and leave the bathroom shining. And A/C is everywhere.

I haven't been on any of Rick's tours but I would imagine the accommodations would be very good, clean, safe and centrally located. However, you'll probably get to Athens before the tour starts and you'll have to find accommodations until the tour begins.

I can highly recommend the Attalos Hotel on Athinas St. which is clean, safe and centrally located with one of the best rooftop bars in Athens. It's a budget-friendly place with 24/7 reception, free Raki at the front desk, computer room, great wi-fi and just a short walk from the Central Markets and Monistiraki Square.

If you need accommodations before and after the tour check out the Attalos Hotel.

We are going to Greece in September and the first hotel is Hotel Hera. They sent this to us several months ago.lr

Hi Michele, I took this tour last October and found, for the most part that the hotels were perfectly fine. Some were very lovely and small, others were a bit more rustic. Most had balconies which was very nice to enjoy. All were clean with the exception of one room where we found cock roaches in the bathroom two nights in a row. This was in a hotel that was closing for the season after the RS tour group departed so we chalked it up to not having had the exterminator out recently. As far as air conditioning, all the places we stayed in had air conditioning and we needed to use it almost every night even in October.