Thanks to the free WiFi at Boston Café, I was able to get in touch with Christos, our host in Athens via Airbnb’s mobile app. A day before our arrival, he sent a message to inform me about the strike at Syntagma which I didn’t see until we were already in Athens, Greece. In the message, he apologised for the inconvenience (which isn’t his fault) and even offered to pick us up from Kolonaki Square.
An Exorbitant Taxi Ride To Syntagma Square
My sister and I didn’t want to trouble Christos, so we decided to flag down a yellow taxi by the roadside and went to Syntagma Square – a move that costs us a whopping €20!! Because of the strike, the taxi drivers were reluctant to drive or go anywhere near Syntagma and most of the taxi drivers took advantage of the situation to charge passengers exorbitantly; a typical scenario happening almost everywhere in the world.
They didn’t want to use the meter and charge a flat rate instead, depending on the destination. Too lazy to argue, we agreed and paid the fare. We’ll leave it to karma do the rest. At least we arrived at our destination safely before sundown.
Checking-in To Our Private Room In A Luxurious Apartment (Booked Via Airbnb)
For our brief stay in Athens, I wanted to stay somewhere in the heart of the city, nearby the Metro and places of interests. A search on Airbnb brought me to Christos’ apartment in Akadimias Street, Kolonaki, Athina.
The moment we saw the photos and read the positive reviews of the private rooms available for rent, my sister and I fell in love with the place and decided to spend our night there. Fyi, this is my second time booking an accommodation with Airbnb. To read our first Airbnb experience and get tips on how to use Airbnb to your advantage, click here.
With that, we contacted Christos and proceeded with our booking prior to our arrival. Our private room was €57 a night. When we arrived at the apartment, we gave Christos a buzz. Immediately, he came down, welcomed us and brought us to his apartment unit located on the 7th floor.
A Beautiful Apartment & Comfortable Private Room With Amazing Views
Our rented room looked exactly as portrayed in the photos on Airbnb. It was everything that we could ever imagine – clean, spacious and comfortable! Our private room came with its own balcony, with an amazing view overlooking the neighbourhood.
The room was beautifully decorated with tasteful curtains, furnitures and ornaments (my kind of style!). The bed was soft and comfy to the touch. The simple yet chic room was a pleasant sight for the eyes. We simply love our room to bits!
We even received a complimentary bottle of Greek red wine and chocolates! Ahh…things couldn’t get any better than this we thought, but it did! 😀 We had the entire bathroom and apartment to ourselves as there were no other guests around. Woohoo!!
A Spectacular Sunset Overlooking The Acropolis & Athens City
Christos then happily gave us a tour around his luxurious apartment unit – showing us his beautifully decorated living room (we love it max!!), his work space, the kitchen (we love it too!!), another beautiful balcony with a lovely mini garden (this is the bomb!!) and, here came the surprise…a secret rooftop area for us to enjoy the breathtaking view of the Acropolis, the city and the sunset!! OMG…we were left speechless! That feature wasn’t mentioned in the descriptions on Airbnb!
We were led out the kitchen door to a set of stairs that brought us up to the rooftop. It was a case of perfect timing as the sun was about to go down the horizon. There, we spent a good 10 minutes taking photos and enjoying the sunset and view with Christos. He helpfully pointed out where are the locations of the places of interests in Athens too.
To have a glimpse at the Acropolis as the sun sets in the background was amazing! It was definitely the highlight of our stay in Athens, Greece. After that, Christos handed a set of the apartment keys to us and left us to settle down comfortably. 😀
Up next: Watching the sunrise over the Acropolis of Athens from the beautiful balcony of the luxurious apartment