Amarilia Hotel, Vouliagmeni

Typically visitors wait until the visit is over and the write reviews - why not give first impressions and follow up with an end review? So I decided to do just that - give our initial review at 3AM while sitting on our 6th floor balcony overlooking the bay with the full moon sliding over the sky. We're visiting as part of the Apostolos Greek Tours and to participate in the Athens Marathon. We flew in from London, smoothly went thru customs (yea another stamp in our book), met up with our tour reps, onto the taxi and after about a 1/2 hour ride, arrived at the hotel lobby. Our check-in was smooth. First impressions of the room was that is was sufficient sized (double bed), with a refrigerator - nice touch. Sufficient sized closet to hang clothes and very little drawer space for 2 people. Flat screen tv that works. Nice sized bathroom with tub & shower. Had been warned in advance to bring washcloth if we wanted one. Bed had 2 smaller-sized pillows - got 3rd one promptly when asked. Free internet but wasn't told about it at check-in. Got the code with no problems when asked about it. Only issue is there is no coffee or tea setup in room. As we're big coffee drinkers, this is an issue. Will follow-up later today and find out more about resolving that and no microwave. The other bigger issue is there is nothing much around the resort to explore. Very nice walking path parallels the beach, few restaurants. For newcomers like us, feels quite restrictive as we like to go out our hotel and explore the local area. Staying in Athens might have been a better choice for the tour organizers considering the nature of this audience - the Athens Marathon. If the hotel had a shuttle to/from Athens, might make a difference too. But for now, overall impressions is very good - room clean, attractive hotel appearance, attentive staff. More to follow.....

I have not only stayed at this hotel three times, but I have brought conferences to this hotel. The staff is willing, helpful, kind and the turnover is so low that I find it is like being among friends to see the same staff. The pool is find but who would want a pool when you have a most beautiful beach across the street???? In fact, a yacht club actually has their location right on this beach testifying to the beauty of the beach. There are trees which is a rare find on a beach. I loved the food. i found it grand to now see "mystery sauce" or "mystery meat" as you find in so many restaurants. The fare is the simple fare of all Greeks. The menu is varied so there is an extended selection. I was witness to many wedding receptions held in this same hotel. The view looking over the beach at night is beautiful. I have booked my next return to this lovely hotel for Summer of 2011. The "family owned" hotel is exactly what provides it charm and loveliness. The bar provides live music on weekends which draws a nice crowd of locals.

Room was ok and clean. The main problems were that the advertised pool never seems to be open the food was terrible and the beach 50 meters in front of the hotel is probably the worse beach in the world. The staff and management are very rude and don't seem to know much about customer relations. In our group we also had wallets and passports stolen from rooms, to which incident the hotel avoided involving the police for as long as they could and still now when we want to get a feed back from the progress to that nuiscance, they are very rude and unhelpful.