Airbnb VS Hotels: The Great Debate

8 days in Greece with four separate stays. That's a lot of moving in a short period of time. 3 of our stays were though Airbnb and one of them was a hotel. I have many friends that are diehard Airbnb fans, but I can't say the same.

Athens- Airbnb #1 5/5 stars

Let's start with our fantastic Airbnb. This charming little apartment was above an ice cream shop in the Plaka. We were right in the center of everything. I'm talking a quick 10-15 minute walk from the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum and less than that to get to the metro. We were surrounded by fantastic restaurants and little shops while holding on to that original Greek feeling and charm. It was a short walk to Monastiraki Square. Here you can find commercial stores (we referred to it as the Greek Times Square). You can also see the The Church of the Pantanassa, one of the oldest churches in Athens. I couldn't and still can't get over how beautiful this sink is! The shower was in its own separate room and the marble continued all over the floors and the walls making all of your showers nice and warm. The bed had a beautiful skylight over it. There was a small balcony that overlooked part of the Plaka. Our host for this stay were honestly way better than I could have ever imagined. They were super helpful, quick to respond to our questions and even helped us get out of a transportation pinch. You can read more about that here. Our host actually vacationed on the small island of Zakynthos about a month before us and recommended some great places to go to!

Zaktynthos Airbnb 3/5 stars

This Airbnb definitely was not what we thought it was going to be. It was up about four flights of stairs which is expected in Greece, but that was not noted anywhere in the listing. Maybe this is being overly picky of me, but I feel like it should be listed somewhere so people with disabilities or those that have trouble climbing stairs (not to mention luggage) know what they are getting into. The bed was one of the hardest beds I've ever slept in. We actually slept on the couch one night because it was more comfortable. The worst part of this say was definitely the shower. We are probably what some one consider shower snobs if you will. We like big showers with rainfall shower heads and good water pressure. This was not that. There was one shower head and it was positioned on the wall right at my waist. I'm 5'4" to put that into perspective for you. To wash your hair or your body, you had to take it off of the wall leaving you only one hand to wash with. It was an inconvenience to say the least. Before you fuss at me for not paying attention to the listing, there were not pictures of the bathroom and the ratings were actually pretty good. Granted, there are currently only 3 reviews for this stay, one of which was a person that stayed there after us, but the host has 224 properties, over 450 reviews and averages a little less than 4.5 stars, so we thought we were in for a good stay. Checking in was odd since we had to go to a mini market and check in there. This was not made clear, by the way, we figured it out because we went in there asking for directions.

To the positives of this stay, the view was beautiful. The water was this gorgeous almost Tiffany blue and overlooked the harbor.

We loved getting to watch the sun set over the water while we were there. There was a lot of space and it was super clean which was another bonus of ours. Full disclosure, we had booked a hotel previously. When we originally booked this hotel, they were closed because of Covid-19, but were expected to reopen. I reached out a little more than a month before our trip to find out if they were going to be open. It was 3 weeks later when they responded. By this time, we had already cancelled our reservation and rebooked at this Airbnb. All of that to say, it was kind of a last minute booking.

Santorini Hotel 5/5 stars

It is honestly a close tie between our first stay in Athens and our hotel in Santorini for our favorite stay of the trip. We stayed in Fira which is kind of in the center of the island. You still get to see caldera and stay on the cliffside while getting volcano views every night. We stayed at the Keti Hotel.

We picked the superior double room to stay in and it was everything we could have wanted. The bed was hands down the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. We still talk about it to this day. When we signed in, we got to pick what we wanted for breakfast for the following morning and schedule what time we wanted it. We went up to the breakfast area to eat, but because of Covid-19, you can have them bring it to your room. The pool was on the smaller side, but perfect for the time of year we were there.

During busy season, I could see it being a little crowded. They offered airport transfers for 25 Euros each way. This would have been great, but we forgot to book it. Since this stay was towards the end of our trip, we did have to get Covid-19 tests. The receptionist at the front desk was able to get us in for an appointment at the last minute with a doctor down the road. We were a short drive from Oia, but we were walking distance from many fantastic shops and restaurants.

We got to watch the sunset every night from our hotel room terrace without having to fight the crowds for a good spot. Caleb and I both agree, we would stay here again when we go back. I really can't say enough about the views this hotel provided. Its the best of both worlds with the caldera, the volcano and the sunsets. Even at night, the views would take our breath away. It was so easy to relax and soak in every minute.

Seriously though, these sunsets are unlike any other. Here in South Carolina, we say a good sunset needs to have clouds to help bring out the pinks and oranges, but that is definitely not the case here! This picture on the left was just a few steps away from our hotel. It was on the main street in Fira, so there were some people around, but we could have just as easily seen this same beautiful view from our hotel balcony and not had to deal with crowds of people which was the best part in my opinion.

The bathroom was also amazing! It had a walk-in cave shower complete with a regular shower head and a rainfall shower head. I thought because there was no shower door or shower curtain that it would get cold, but it definitely didn't! Plus, if you love music like I do, the acoustics in the shower were some of the best I've ever heard. So don't be shy, break out your best Whitney Houston!

Athens Airbnb #2 3/5 stars

We did not want to risk flying from Santorini to Athens the same day our flight went back to the U.S. because we were worried about missing it (yes, I am a paranoid person), so we had a bonus 24 hours in Athens. Looking back on it, we wish we would have saved Athens for last to prevent having to go into the city twice, but you live and you learn. Our Airbnb here was nearly impossible to find. We had to ask someone working in the area where it was, but no biggie. It was in a little block behind a bunch of trees and beside a restaurant. Every time we were going to or leaving the Airbnb, we had to walk right past people trying to enjoy their meals. Usually this was fine, but I felt rude when we both had giant suitcases and other bags. Our Airbnb host told us to let him know when we were on the metro so he could meet us there to let us in, but the best I could do is let him know when we were boarding the metro since we didn't have an international cell phone plan. Lesson learned for sure. When we finally found our Airbnb, there was nobody there to let us in. Just a dark, dirty, scary staircase. Seriously, there was no light, so as you went up it got mega dark. I walked around to find wi-fi to try to contact our host while Caleb stayed with the bags. Eventually, I was able to get in touch with him and he came to let us in. The Airbnb itself was pretty nice. There were snacks and coffee which we both appreciated. The bathroom was a little on the small side, but again, nothing to complain about for just 24 hours. The bed though, that bed was a rock. Like the bed in Zakynthos, but somehow worse. The thing that really attracted us to this stay was their big balcony where we could see The Parthenon. It had a cute little hanging, wicker chair that I was looking forward to sitting in while the sunset to unwind before a long day of travel. Unfortunately this chair was broken. Nothing was a major cause for concern with this stay except for the scary staircase and the checking-in process, but it was just a lot of little things that added up to make it an overall unenjoyable experience. I do have to add, the location of this stay was super convenient since it was in Monastiraki Square and it was just a short walk to the metro. This Airbnb stay still has a 4.75 star rating with 16 reviews. They have two other listings on Airbnb, both with 4+ stars.

Looking back on it, we do wish we would have either picked more hotels or stayed in Airbnbs with more reviews. Our one Airbnb stay that we enjoyed had a lot of reviews, so rely on those when picking your stays! I would say if there are less than 50 reviews and less than four stars, pick somewhere else!