HotelChatter

Killer View / Santorini Hotels / Greece Hotels / Honeymoon Hotels / → All Tags

We Want to Seize This Killer View in Santorini

Where: Pyrgos, Santorini, Greece, 84701

We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.

It's not quite spring yet with most of the U.S. still getting dumped with cold, rainy weather which is why we're taking the time out to drool over this hotel view from the Carpe Diem Hotel in Santorini.

Pictured here is the hotel's pool which gives guests views of the nearby medieval village of Pyrgos as well as the Aegean Sea. But the hotel also offers private pools in each of its 10 luxury suites should you want a little more privacy.

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Green Hotels / Eco-Friendly Hotels / Greece Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags

It's Official: Greece is Going Green

Where: 630 77 Kassandra, Halkidiki, Greece

The harbor at the Sani Resort

If you needed any further proof that going green was de rigeur, this is it – the Europeans are doing it (gasp). The latest to unveil its green credentials is the posh Sani Resort, which owns four hotels in Halkidiki, Greece.

They’re planting 3000 trees this month to help reforest an area damaged by fires (funded by guests paying €1 at checkout, and the hotel matching their contributions) and the eco stuff goes inside your room as well – for this season, they’ve instsalled low energy lightbulbs, solar panels, have started recycling everything from water (which goes in the garden) to cooking oil (for biofuel). They’ve even just started an organic vegetable garden fresh for their 2010 guests.

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Hotel Lust / Greece Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Sweet Suites / Leading Hotels of the World / → All Tags

The $34,000 Suite at Greece's Zeus-Worthy Grand Resort

Where: 40 KM Athens Sounio Ave, Athens, Greece

Is that the theme to Chariots of Fire we hear swelling in the background? In an earlier edition of Hotel Lust, our preoccupation with the upcoming Olympics led us to track down a sprawling resort outside of Vancouver, this year's host city. Paying homage to the sporting event, this week we're heading to Greece, where the games originated.

In our search for Athens' best, we found a hotel whose name does the advertising for it: Grand Resort Lagonissi. Most of its rooms have names that hint to some of the sweeping views you'll be privy to as a guest: "Panoramic Resident Suite," "Vista Suite," and so on.

Even among these impressive surroundings—marble fixtures, sea views, private balconies—there's one that trumps the rest: the $34,000 per night Royal Villa, one of the most expensive of its kind the world over.

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Hotel Ice Rinks / Holiday Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Athens Hotels / → All Tags

Ice Skating Near the Acropolis is Now Possible, Thanks to the Athens Marriott

Where: 115 Syngrou Avenue , Athens, Greece, 11745

We have sort of a fetish for hotels with ice-skating rinks which is why we're tingling with excitement over the new rooftop ice skating rink at the Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel in Greece.

From now through the end of February, guests and Athens residents can skate for free at the rink which is operated by the hotel atop the Star City Cinema complex next door. And it's not called "The View on Ice" for nothing as the amazing scenery of Athens is spread out before the skaters as they go round and round the rink. Check out the Acropolis in the background of this photo!

The rink is open from 11am to 11pm daily. Seasonal drinks and food catered by the hotel are also served.

Right now, the hotel is also offering a two-night "Explore the New Acropolis Museum" package which gives you two complimentary tickets to the new Acropolis Museum, accommodations with an Acropolis view and of course, the chance to do triple axels on the ice. The package is priced from $179-$249. Use promotional code M11 when booking. It's available from now through February 7.

Killer View / Greece Hotels / Beach Hotels / Crete Hotels / → All Tags

Avoid a Lohan Meltdown By Soothing Yourself With This View

Where: 72200 Ierapetra, Crete, Greece

We are suckers for a room with a killer view.  We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.

Have you ever wanted to have a young-celeb-lady freakout? Trash a room, tip off the paps to your crisis, storm the hotel suite of an ex-lover, hotbox yourself in a bathroom and take some scandalous photos that may or may not leak in Star magazine? Maybe engage in a little head-shaving and eyebrow-raising trysts with bodyguards and things?

No? Never wanted that? Okay, let's ask the question a different way: have you ever felt so stressed that you were absolutely certain you were going to have a meltdown of Lohan proportions pretty soon? Okay. Yes.

We ask because we want to help — and because we're pretty sure gazing out the windows of a hotel room at the Petra Mare Hotel in Crete may help soothe your troubled soul.

This shot comes to us from mfoord, and it's a view of the balcony of a room — and, according to the website, most of the 227 "spicy" (hehe) rooms have sea views like this. Nice.

[Photo: mfoord]

Hotel Contests / Greece Hotels / Beach Hotels / Tablet Hotels / → All Tags

Opa! J. Crew and Tablet Hotels Giving Away a Greek Vacay

If you fail to see a connection between prepster-outfitter J. Crew and the country of Greece, pause for a moment and think of this: White. Linen. Pants.

You're on a balcony in Santorini; the wind's in your hair as you gaze out onto the sparkling sea... while you're wearing a royal blue shirt and white linen pants from J. Crew, naturally. Or a white cotton sundress and a big floppy hat, even! Forget the cashmere, cardigans and suiting of the Connecticut-country-club J. Crew you're thinking of; J. Crew is also known for their killer beachwear.

And, appropriately, they're teaming up with Tablet Hotels to give you some of that beachy stuff — plus the opportunity to wear it on your hotel balcony in Santorini. One lucky (seriously, seriously lucky) winner will receive a $2,000 J.Crew gift card, round-trip airfare for two to Greece and a 5-night stay at the ultra-luxe Tsitouras Collection Hotel in Santorini.

You can put yourself in the running for the sweepstakes here, though it's only open to residents U.S. and Canada and, um, only one person wins the grand prize and a lot of people will probably enter. But! They're also giving away those cute J. Crew metallic passport covers every day, so you can always shoot for one of those.

[UPDATE]: There seems to have been some confusion about whether Canadian residents could enter the contest or not. Sadly for our friends up North, the official word from Tablet: "The Sweepstakes is not open to Canadians - we apologize for any confusion."

Hotel Pools / Greece Hotels / Sexy Hotels / → All Tags

Greek Danai Hotel Doesn't Play Fair With Gorgeous Pools

Where: Nikiti, Sithonia, Chalkidiki, Greece

You can sway our hotel booking decision with a sexy pool any day. Put the pool on a sunny Greek peninsula and you won't have much trouble convincing us to come stay. So the Danai Beach Resort and Villas at Chalkidiki has just scored itself a pretty big thumbs up from us.

We admit this admiration is purely superficial and based only on a fantastic-looking pool, but the rooms sound okay too--air-conditioned, internet access, and a marble bathroom and marble floors. Most of the pools attached to suites are heated, so even if our Greek holiday isn't at the height of summer, we'll be able to go swimming. That's important.

Unfortunately, poolside luxury doesn't come that cheap. For the smallest pool-inclusive suite we're looking at €1,100 ($1,430) a night in high season (basically that’s June and October), rising to many thousands of euros for the larger villas. But oh … the pool …

[Photo: TRC OFF]

Fairmont Hotels / Greek Island Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags

Fairmont Catches Our Greek Island Fever

We figure you can't go too wrong opening a hotel on pretty much any Greek island. It looks like the Fairmont Hotels gang think the same because they've just announced a new property called the Fairmont Corfu Resort & Spa. No prizes for figuring out it's on the island of Corfu, okay?

Riots or not, we have faith that Greece is a great place for a relaxing vacation. Just imagine this for the setting of a resort:

Bordered by olive groves, cypress-forested areas and sandy beaches with views of the Ionian Sea and the surrounding mountains.

That's what the new Fairmont Corfu is promising and we've got to say, it sounds like something for us. The resort will be a 240-roomer with a large spa center and a choice of six spots for drinks and eats.

Only drawback? It's not even slated to open before 2012, which is a long way off. But if you're really hankering for an exotic Fairmont location, hit up the Fairmont Cairo which will open in 2010.

[Photo: steve_99]

Raffles Hotels / Greece Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags

Raffles Olympia Resort Not A Place To Train For The Olympics

Raffles Hotels is planning to open the Raffles Olympia Resort in 2011 in Greece but you can forget anything associated with the Olympic Games or athletics for that matter. This hotel is strictly going to be a luxury resort.

The resort will have a couple of pools, four tennis courts and a golf course. Note: They are proud it’s unusual to have a golf course in Greece; we are thinking it’s weird to have a golf course in Greece.

A large Raffles Amrita Spa is also planned as is a long private beach, so if relaxing ever becomes an Olympic sport then this will be the right place to train.

Currently, the easiest way to get to the site of the Raffles Olympia Resort is a 2.5 hour drive from Athens. The hotel is relying on the nearby Andravida Airport opening its passenger terminal as promised in 2010 to make it easier for guests to arrive when the resort opens in 2011.

We’re not sure the Greeks are renowned for getting their building projects finished on time though, so we’ll check up on the Raffles Olympia again and see if they at least make it open before the next Olympics in 2012.

[Photo: Jason-Morrison]

Mykonos Hotels / Hotel Retail / Hotel Restaurants / Kimberly Murgatroyd / → All Tags

Jet Set Girl Dines Next to Nobu at The Belvedere Hotel in Mykonos

Where: Rohari, Mykonos, Greece, GR84600

Once again, Jet Set Life's Kimberly Murgatroyd returns with another VIP Hotel Review. You may recall her last visit at the Don Carlos Resort in Marbella. This time she's chillaxing in Mykonos at The Belvedere Hotel. Enjoy.

Some jet-set destinations come and go, but Mykonos has actually been an island getaway dating back to the 11th century BC. This island is so sexy that even Zeus fought over it! Enough history, let's get to the good stuff.

My husband and I did a two week stint for our yearly honeymoon during mid-July when the season, which in my opinion, is perfect. The weather is warm, yet not humid. The island is crawling with a mix of weekend visiting Athenians and the beautiful Italians.

For those in the know,The Belvedere Hotel is the only hotel on the island that delivers the kind of service, vibe and consistently chic attitude that you want from your Greek island getaway.

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Anti-View / Athens Hotels / → All Tags

Room With an Anti-View: Athens King Jason Hotel Not Fit For A King

Where: 26 Kolonou Street , Athens, Greece, 10437

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

When you're on your honeymoon, you're hoping not to come up against any hotels worthy of our anti-view series, but even though a guidebook recommended the King Jason Hotel in Athens, Greece, to the (unlucky) boeke, that doesn't guarantee a great view. As proven by this particularly grotty view out of the King Jason at night.

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Movenpick Hotels / Crete Hotel Reviews / Mediterranean Resorts / → All Tags

Crete's New Mövenpick Mixes Swiss and Greek Together

Where: Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 71414

About eighteen months ago we mentioned that the former Candia Maris resort on the beautiful Greek island of Crete was being taken over and turned into the Mövenpick Resort and Thalasso Crete. In fact, they've spent a good two years doing renovations and are finally open for business.

With all that time passing we're figuring the new resort won't resemble the old one very much. The Mövenpick people are advertising the new Crete resort as being upscale and modern, with some particular cultural characteristics, including an:

exquisite combination of typical Greek hospitality and the traditional Swiss passion for efficiency, reliability, punctuality and precision.

They have a huge seawater spa known as the Aegeo Spa Center which includes a range of seawater baths, a sauna, solarium and steam baths, just to name a few of the ways you can relax there. The resort also includes several restaurants with various dining styles, including the open-air "Taverna" which fits the Greek surroundings well.

For all the talk of being upscale and fancy, Crete's Mövenpick seems very reasonably priced. At short notice, we'd be able to book a double room for tonight for just €95 (US$150); we're not sure if it's opening teething problems or solid bookings, but online availability of rooms from mid-May through the summer is non-existent at the moment.