Plaka Hotel

The three-star Hotel Plaka is not a flashy place. First and foremost, it's a capable hotel located at the edge of Plaka, bordering Monastiraki.

Room furnishings are comfortable if plain—modern, though never edgy. We saw one room with blond hardwood floors and decorated in sedate browns, greens, and grays. The effect? Calming, as if we had inadvertently traipsed into a day spa's quiet room. All rooms are equipped with air conditioning, phones, satellite television, and mini fridges. And after viewing drab hotel bathroom after drab hotel bathroom, the spotless, luminous dark blue tiling of the Plaka's bathrooms took us pleasantly by surprise.

Plaka's lounge is modern and welcoming, with checkered marble floors, deep leather couches and innovative lighting. The hotel offers a number of perks one usually finds at more expensive Athens hotels, such as meeting rooms and Wi-Fi access.

Rates are especially good considering its location in the heart of heavily tourist-trafficked Athens, where much less appealing hotels jack their rates up to the stratosphere. The crowd is a middle-aged one, mostly American, Australian, and European, with plenty of families in the mix.

The Hotel Plakas another of a small chain of family-run midrange hotels. Hotel Achilleas, Hotel Hermes, and Hotel Arion are the other hotels in this small chain.