Vouliagmeni (Athens Riviera)

Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens

★★★★★

The Astir Palace has been the glamorous seaside escape of Athens since it opened in 1960, a favourite of shipping magnates, film stars and visiting royalty, and in 2019, after a total transformation, it reopened as the first Four Seasons in Greece. It occupies a private peninsula of about thirty hectares at Vouliagmeni on the Athens Riviera, wrapped in pine forest and surrounded on three sides by the Aegean, with three private beaches and coves of clear water. It offers 303 rooms in total, including 42 suites and 61 bungalows and villas, many of the latter with private pools and terraces stepping down to the sea, and almost everything faces the water. The design is modern and light — whitewashed surfaces, natural stone and wood, sea-blue accents — and the effect is closer to an island resort than a city hotel. Dining is a destination in itself: Mercato, an Italian trattoria; Helios, an all-day Latin American restaurant; Pelagos, a contemporary seafood restaurant for dinner; and Taverna 37, serving traditional Greek food, plus the Avra and Astron lounges, a cigar lounge and the huge Kyma pool bar. The spa has treatment rooms, beachside cabanas, an indoor pool and an adults-only hydrotherapy area, and there is a saltwater pool, a tennis academy, water sports and jogging trails through the pines. Families are well looked after, with a supervised kids club, a teens space and an open-air cinema. Central Athens and the airport are both about thirty minutes away, which makes this the best of both worlds: a beach resort with the Acropolis a short drive away.

Who it is for: the Astir Palace is the right choice if you want to combine Athens sightseeing with real beach time, or if you are arriving or leaving by air and want to start or end a Greek trip in resort mode before heading to the islands. It is ideal for families, honeymooners and anyone visiting in the heat of summer, when retreating to the sea after a morning at the Acropolis is a blessing. It is less suited to travellers who want to walk out of the door into the old city every evening; you will rely on taxis, the hotel's arrangements or a car to reach the centre, and traffic on the coastal road can stretch the journey at peak times.

Living in it: rooms in the main buildings have balconies with sea views, and the bungalows and villas offer more privacy and space, some with plunge pools. The beaches have loungers and service, and the water is clean and calm. Restaurants are open to non-guests and popular with Athenians at weekends, so book dinner ahead. Rates are at the top of the Athens market and climb steeply in high summer, and the five-star climate resilience fee applies per room per night.

Around it: Vouliagmeni is one of the most attractive corners of the Riviera, with Lake Vouliagmeni, a thermal-spring-fed lake beneath a cliff, nearby, and Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon about forty minutes further south along the coast. The hotel's concierge can arrange private guides and transfers for the Acropolis and museums, boat trips around the Riviera, and excursions to Sounion at sunset. In the shoulder seasons, from spring to autumn, the sea is often warm enough for swimming, and the resort is quieter and better value.