Our room at the Sofitel was the most expensive accommodation of our entire two-week Greek holiday last September. One night there cost about as much as three nights’ lodging at the hotels where we stayed on Milos, Sifnos and Folegandros. But it was worth every Euro, purely for its tremendously convenient location at the Athens airport. We left the Sofitel feeling far more relaxed and stress-free than we had at the conclusion of any of our previous trips to Greece. As a result, we’ll probably stay there again on future visits, especially if we have to catch early morning flights to any of the Greek Islands or back to Canada.

We selected the Sofitel for our final night in Greece: Friday, September 28. We had reserved the room only six weeks earlier, so we didn’t qualify for any of the significant advance booking discounts other reviewers have mentioned. Nevertheless, our rate – obtained through Expedia – was cheaper than prices quoted by the hotel itself and by other online booking services.

Although the Sofitel was expensive, our alternative was much less appealing. We would arrive at Athens airport around 9.15 p.m. on a flight from Mykonos, and fly out the next day at lunchtime. We didn’t relish the thought of exhausting ourselves, at the very end of an enjoyable Island-hopping holiday, by rushing from the airport to a downtown hotel, getting up early the next morning, and heading back to the airport. We wouldn’t have had time to see anything in downtown Athens anyways. And since all of our previous holidays had ended with grueling before-dawn wake-ups for flights from the Cyclades to Athens or bus transfers from downtown hotels to the airport, we didn’t want to end this vacation the same unpleasant way.

We knew we made the right decision the instant we walked out of the airport terminal after arriving from Mykonos. No need for taxi or bus transfers this time — the Sofitel was only a few hundred feet away, on the other side of the road and passenger drop-off zone directly in front of the terminal. It took just a couple of minutes to walk to the hotel entrance. Checking in for our room took longer (but not much)!

Our room: Just as we expected, Room 339 was luxuriously appointed. The beds had supremely comfortable mattresses and layers of soft linens; the big bathroom had a huge glass and marble-tiled shower stall with a ceiling-mounted rainforest-style showerhead in addition to a wall-mounted shower wand, a large bathtub, a well-lit marble counter with a contemporary white porcelain bowl sink, a large wall-mounted mirror plus a round swivel magnifying mirror for shaving/makeup application, soaps, shampoo and other toiletries, plus two thick white bathrobes with matching slippers. The toilet sat in a separate, spotless cubicle-sized space with its own door right beside the bathroom. There was a mini-bar with its usual assortment of exorbitantly priced drinks and snacks, a television, a striped fabric armchair with matching ottoman, coffee maker, digital clock/calendar/ thermometer mounted on the wall next to the bed, and soothing ambient lighting. A large sliding panel inside the window blocked all light and virtually all noise from outside; we couldn’t believe how quiet the room was, considering that an international airport was mere steps away.

Though the room looked posh and was quite comfortable, it did have two significant downsides. The biggest, for us, was its air conditioning system. The room was warm and a little stuffy, and while the temperature on the wall clock read 22 degrees, it felt considerably warmer. We couldn’t change the air conditioner setting to circulate cooler air. With the room so warm, we certainly wouldn’t need all those luxurious sheets, blankets and duvet on the plush bed. We complained to the front desk staff, but they told us the air conditioner was programmed to its coolest setting – so that was as cool as the room was going to get.

The enormous shower looked great at first glance but, like the air conditioning, it didn’t work very well. It did initially, when my partner used it to freshen up shortly after we checked in (and afterwards kept raving about the big overhead shower, saying, “We’ve got to get one of those for home!”). However, when I went to shower, I stepped into a quarter-inch-deep pool of water that had accumulated in the enclosure. The builders had not angled the shower floor towards the drain, so most of the water from each shower simply collected there. The only way to get rid of it was by swishing it towards the drain with my feet. But that was an annoying, slow process, and I gave up the effort. Of course, even more water collected during my own shower. The next morning, the shower floor was still covered in water, which felt cold when I stepped inside. The overhead showerhead, which had been such a delight to use the night before, produced an even more unpleasant start to my day. When I simply touched the faucet handle, as I was about to turn on the shower, cold water that had been sitting in the showerhead all night long gushed down on my head, instantly jolting me fully awake. I wasn’t impressed – having my head doused with cold water is not a way I like to begin my mornings! By the time I finished my shower, the enclosure was nearly ankle-deep in water. I did my best to swish water toward the drain with my feet, but it was an almost impossible task because of the sloppy shower construction. Of course, even more water accumulated during my partner’s shower, and by the time the two of us left the hotel room to check out – more than two hours later –nearly an inch of water was still pooled in the shower stall.

Hotel bar and spa: We took the elevator to the 9th floor where we thought we might enjoy a nightcap in the airport runway-view restaurant/lounge. The place was nearly packed, and virtually everyone there was well-attired: men in suits and ties, women in fancy dresses. The atmosphere reminded us of a cocktail party at a business conference. No-one was dressed in casual clothing, so we looked completely out of place in our “tacky tourist” polo shirts and jeans. Since we didn’t think we’d feel comfortable with everyone around us all dressed up, we changed our minds about having a drink there. Instead, we took a quick look at the adjacent spa area – a small fitness room and a lovely swimming pool that we wished we had time to enjoy (if we had wanted, we could have taken a quick dip in the pool – the spa attendant said it would remain open for about half an hour longer).

Breakfast buffet: When we checked in, the receptionist said the buffet breakfast in the Sofitel’s main floor dining room would cost 18 Euros per person if we made a reservation before midnight; however, if we simply walked into the restaurant the next morning without a reservation, it would cost 22 Euros each instead. We initially didn’t want to spend that much money for breakfast – we figured we would just grab some light fare in the terminal after checking in for our flight – but then decided to treat ourselves to one final big meal in Greece, and made an advance booking. We were glad we did: It was worth it. The buffet had an extensive selection of hot dishes (sausages, bacon, scrambled and boiled eggs, mini pancakes, hash browns, baked cherry tomatoes, steamed mushrooms, and spinach pies), as well as cold items (smoked salmon, cold cuts and cheeses) plus cereals, croissants, cinnamon buns, rolls, breads and cakes, fruit, juice, coffee and tea. The food was good and the restaurant staff were quite pleasant, and we enjoyed a long, leisurely breakfast before checking out of our room and making the two-minute walk with our baggage back to the terminal.

It felt wonderful being able to walk from the hotel to our check-in counter – though our mood certainly changed when we found ourselves at the end of an incredibly long line that took more than 75 minutes to reach the desk! Nevertheless, thanks to the Sofitel’s convenient location, we ended our holiday exactly the way we had hoped – calm and relaxed, rather than stressed and tired from waking up at the crack of dawn, gulping down a quick bite to eat (or not having time to eat any breakfast at all), and hurrying to catch a transfer flight or an airport shuttle bus. Notwithstanding the poor air conditioning and the shower that wouldn’t drain (we would have requested a room change if we’d been staying at the Sofitel more than one night), we both agreed that the cost of our night at the Sofitel was money well spent.