Metropolitan Hotel, Athens (Greece)

Booked through Expedia for a special rate of about €120 per night (double occupancy, no breakfast), this modern hotel is half-way between downtown Athens and the port of Piraeus. A €25 daytime fare from airport, but keep an eye on the meter because Athens taxi drivers are the most crooked lot I've ever come across. They seem to randomly make up their own prices so watch them like a hawk. The hotel offers a free hourly shuttle to Syntagma (Constitution) Square but a taxi ride should only be €5-10.

The hotel has a modern, friendly atmosphere. The rooftop pool, restaurant and bar offer lovely views of the port and are great for relaxing and casual dining/drinks. Staff is mostly helpful (especially on the roof), but lobby restaurant service for breakfast and lunch was slow, unfriendly and poor. Rooms are small but very comfortable, but beds are rock-hard (staff was very accommodating in finding solutions, but the hotel should change the mattresses). Housekeeping staff was helpful and very friendly.

Despite the distance from the action, I would highly recommend this hotel (unless you have a bad back or are impatient in restaurants) because of its excellent value for money proposition.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I give it a 7 (great value but uncomfortable beds and inconsistent wait staff).

On a side note, something I've figured out about hotel and restaurant staff in Southern Europe (think Italy, Greece and Spain). In these countries wait/reception staff tends to often be from older generations - generations less experienced with customer service and the idea that the customer is always right. Many of them seem like they're waiting for their pensions to kick in and it's the only reason they show up to work. Younger people usually tend to be more polite, more eager to help and generally more resourceful than the older ones, who in many cases are outdated fixtures of establishments they've worked in all their lives. This might sound disrespectful or over-generalized, but the truth is that I've gotten much better service in general (with very few exceptions) from younger people than I have from the 50/60-year old crowd. They're also harder to connect with because of language issues - the younger generations seem to be more tuned into English than the older generation. Even so, I speak a number of languages, and the same concept usually remains true regardless of my ability to communicate with the staff or not.

This was also true at this hotel. With the exception of a really great host on the top floor restaurant, the older reception staff was generally quite unfriendly, and the younger staff was more helpful and polite.

So hospitality industry, if you want to do right by your guests, either retrain your existing staff (good luck!) for the 21st century guest, or get in some fresh, eager young blood who will take good care of your patrons.