HI - Athens - Athens Easy Hostel

HI - Athens - Athens Easy Hostel is a wonderful central place to stay, whether you wish to stay for a couple of days or for longer term. The hostel has undergone renovation and now boasts new furniture, bathrooms, and a new bar/dining room. The reception is staffed twenty-four hours and they are cheerful, helpful, and multilingual.

The Location

Located two minutes from the Omonia metro station, it is easy to get from this hostel to just about anywhere you need to go. During the day, the area bustles with activity -- there are supermarkets, restaurants, and travel accessory kiosks nearby. The Acropolis and Plaka are an interesting twenty-minute walk away. At night, the streets around the hostel are dark and may give off an unsafe feeling to solo travelers.

Rooms and Bathrooms

The facilities and beds in the rooms are all new and clean. The rooms are equipped with a sink, closet, balcony, and an air conditioner. The hallways and bathroom floors are tiled, while the rooms have new laminate flooring. They were small, but well-maintained. The hostel offers doubles, triples, and more commonly quad rooms, with private and shared facilities. There are on average two showers and one toilet for every four rooms to share. The showers are new and have good pressure and hot water throughout the day. There is enough room to shower, change, and hooks to hang items up. The bathrooms were cleaned every day. There is only one key for each room, which can lead to some inconvenience. The last person from the room to exit the hostel leaves the key at the reception.

Common Spaces

At time of writing, the hostel is still renovating its common space. As it stands, guests are mingling around the reception area and on the staircase next to the computers. The dining room has just been finished featuring a bar with seating at tables and couches and is large, modern and tidy. The included breakfast is served here starting at 7:30 a.m., consisting of toast, an egg, juice, and coffee/tea. The kitchen and bar are locked up outside of breakfast hours. There are two new computers with high speed internet available for free to all guests. There is usually a long line-up for their usage during the morning and evening. There is also free wireless internet. They also provide courtesy luggage storage on the staircase to the basement.

Summary

Overall, we found the hostel to be social, but quiet, perhaps due to the lack of finished common spaces. When all the renovations are finished, this hostel promises to be a great place to meet people from all corners of the world. Most importantly, it is conveniently located and clean, making it the ideal resting place for your bodies during your travels. We had a wonderful three nights here, and we look forward to returning to this hostel when everything is all finished!

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
June 2008