Last night before flying out of Athens

I stayed at the Holiday Inn near the airport last year and I would highly recommend them. The hotel room rate includes breakfast and they run a complimentary shuttle. The shuttle trip takes approximately 15-20 minutes.

It's more likely that ETIAS will roll out in early 2027. It shouldn't affect your leaving Schengen.

When is your trip?

We have stayed at Avra several times before flights back home. Its a good hotel but you have to know that it is at least a half hour shuttle ride to and from the airport. It is a good choice if you arrive at the airport in the middle of thy day so you can enjoy the port of Rafina. However if you have an early flight next day you have to be ready to take their shuttle around 5 am and have a 30 minute drive back to the airport. We just did this a couple of weeks ago and the distance and early departure time were a bit awkward. If you have lots of time then Rafina is a good place to spend your last few hours.
We have also used Peris hotel which has no amenities but is only 15 minutes commute on their shuttle to the airport. If you are arriving late and departing early you might want to look at Peris.

Thanks for the Holiday Inn recommendation, @darkmist1.

@Frank II, I will enter EU in August and exit EU from Athens in the last week of October. I assume I will go through EES when I enter.

@stanbr, thanks for the info. My flight is departing at 10:45 in the morning. I hope EES is not so bad that I'd have to leave the hotel at 5 am in order to be at the airport by 5:30? I was assuming as long as I get to the airport by 7:45 or 8, I should have plenty of time to get through EES and security (no bags to checkin, just a carryon). Is that a bad assumption?

Do you know how often the airport shuttle runs from Avra and Peris?

The downside of the Peris Hotel is its location in a residential suburb with no restaurants nearby.
The Avra Hotel in Rafina overlooks the sea and is less than a 3-minute walk from the lively port and central square, where you’ll find plenty of restaurants and bars.

Details about the Avra shuttle can be found here:
https://www.hotelavra.gr/free-transport-shuttle/

The Peris Hotel shuttle operates upon request:
https://www.perishotelapt.gr/athens-airport-hotel-accommodation.html

Regardless of any unpredictability with EES processing times, if you don't have checked bags, arrive 2 hours before your flight to be safe. Make it 3 hours if you want a comfortable safety buffer.

Once you pass security and get airside, you'll find plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants to keep you busy while you wait for your flight anyway.

We only stay near the airport if we plan to arrive or depart by ferry from the port of Rafina the day before or after the day of the flight. The only real advantage of staying near the airport is that it saves you 25 minutes of travel time at most compared to downtown Athens.

So, without that, we don't think getting 25 extra minutes of sleep justifies staying near the airport, even with a very early 8:00 AM flight. We prefer to spend our last evening and night in Athens and pre-book a taxi to the airport. We’ve never stayed at the airport Sofitel, at about €300/ night, it offers a generic international hotel atmosphere that holds no appeal for us.

Last year, the night before our flight, we were still out at a concert in Athens until almost midnight. Our bags were packed and ready for a taxi we had booked for 6:00 AM the next morning.

I follow my grandfather's advice: "You will sleep when you're dead." :-)

Splurge and stay at the Sofitel. You can even return your car there making arrangements with the car rental place. You wake up the next morning and walk the 50 meters to the airport departure desks. The Sofitel also has the best showers of any hotel anywhere in the world.

What JoLui said, it’s a quick taxi to the airport. No need for an airport hotel.
As far as EES, for me it was a total nonfactor, but just monitor news for information about any irregular lines at ATH. I would not expect to need more than three hours.

We stayed at the Sofitel at the Athens airport once and regretted it. It's so sterile. Feels like an American business hotel. And not only are the rooms expensive, but so is anything you might purchase to eat or drink. Once you check in, there's nowhere to walk except back across the street to the airport. The only way I'd stay there is if you check in, drop your bags, take the metro into Athens until late evening and then the metro back to the airport & your hotel.

We love the Avra Hotel in Rafina for our final evening in Greece. It is at least 30 minutes from the airport, on the free shuttle bus, but once you're there, you can walk down to the harbor and enjoy a final evening at a Greek taverna by the sea. The rooms are as comfortable as the Sofitel, and there's even an elevator. Breakfast is included, starts serving early (6 am), and is delicious. I believe the shuttle from the hotel to the airport runs every hour, on the hour, but you could email them with your date and departure time and get a definitive answer.

Thank you for all the suggestions. Sounds like I can't go wrong either by staying in Rafina (if I arrive early in the day to enjoy the port and have a nice dinner) or in Athens proper. I'll check out both options.