Acropolis Hill Hotel

If your idea of a city break includes ancient stones, a proper rooftop view and somewhere to cool off, Acropolis Hill gives you all three without pretending to be a beach resort. This is a modern three-star hotel in the Filopappou area, with an outdoor pool, a rooftop terrace and a lobby lounge made for taking the weight off your feet between outings.

English is available through the hotel's website, alongside Greek, French and German, so arranging your stay online is straightforward. The hotel has 37 rooms, a 24-hour reception and a location that suits travellers who would rather walk towards the Acropolis than spend the day negotiating Athens traffic.

The atmosphere stays urban and polished rather than grand. Wooden or parquet floors, contemporary decoration, a central library and generous red sofas give you somewhere to sit down properly; the rooftop then takes over when the city starts changing colour.

You are in Athens, Greece, at 7 Mousson Street in Filopappou, also known as the Hill of the Muses. The hotel sits in a green part of the central city, in the Koukaki neighbourhood, with local restaurants, bars and shops close by. The Acropolis is about 0.3 miles away, and the Acropolis Museum about 0.4 miles on foot, so the major sights are reached with legs rather than a timetable.

The Parthenon is around 0.6 miles away, while Plaka, Monastiraki and Syntagma are within walking distance. Filopappou Hill is about 350 feet from the hotel, giving you a nearby change of scenery when another museum feels like one museum too many. Lycabettus Hill is about 1.5 miles away.

This is a city base, not a waterfront address. Flisvos Beach is about 3.3 miles away, with Edem Beach around 3.5 miles away; the Athens coastline therefore works better as an excursion than as the view outside your front door. Syngrou-Fix Metro Station is about 0.3 miles away, and Akropolis Metro Station about 0.5 miles away.

The room choice matters here because the categories do different jobs. For two people, the Standard Double or Twin Room keeps things simple with twin beds, while the Filopappou View option adds a sofa bed and the prospect of looking towards the hill. If three people are travelling together, the Standard Triple Room is the practical answer, with twin beds and a sofa bed rather than a heroic attempt to make one double bed solve everything.

Families have two connected rooms available, and the triple rooms suit two adults with one child. Children of any age are welcome, with cots available for babies aged up to two years; extra beds are not available. That is the useful bit to know before booking, especially if your party has outgrown the sofa-bed stage.

Air conditioning, soundproofing and soundproof rooms should help when Athens is still wide awake and you are not. Rooms also have a private bathroom with a shower, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer, plus a refrigerator for keeping water cold, a wardrobe, a desk, free Wi-Fi and a flat-screen TV. Balconies feature in the accommodation, with views varying between Athens, the Acropolis, Filopappou Hill and the pool.

Breakfast is the main event at the table: a rich buffet served beside the pool from 7:00 to 10:15, included with the breakfast package. It follows the Mediterranean diet with Greek flavours, seasonal fruit, cereals, scrambled eggs, bacon, honey, cakes, croissants, hot and cold drinks, and bread rolls with olives, raisins or multigrains. The hotel is certified for its Greek Breakfast offering, so you can start with something more distinctive than a lonely piece of toast before heading out into the city.

There are two bars. The Lobby Bar occupies the urban-chic lounge and deals in refreshing drinks and light snacks, including Greek beer and freshly squeezed orange juice. The Rooftop Terrace Bar serves wine, drinks and light snacks indoors while the terrace opens out over Athens with 180-degree views; sunset is the obvious moment to take your glass upstairs.

Room service operates at limited times, and breakfast can be served in your room. A packed lunch is available, which is handy when your sightseeing plans start early or your day refuses to fit neatly around hotel dining. There is also a snack bar, but no continuous snacking service is specified, so plan your hungry moments with the same care you give a surface interval.

The outdoor swimming pool is the hotel's easiest answer to a hot Athens afternoon. Bamboo pool beds, loungers and pool towels turn it into a place to cool down rather than merely a line in the facilities list. It is an intimate setting, useful when the feet have had enough marble, museums and ancient inclines.

For a quieter outing, Filopappou Hill is close enough for a walk without making a project of it. The hotel can also arrange walking tours, bike tours and bicycle rental, while its travel agency department organises private guided tours and excursions around Greece. A one-day cruise around the Saronic Islands takes in Hydra, Poros and Aegina for a full change of scene.

You can also book excursions by boat, take a cooking class or simply use the rooftop and lobby lounge as places to sit still. Jogging is another option if the city has not already supplied enough exercise. The concierge can help with local activities, car hire and travel arrangements, which leaves you free to decide whether the next plan involves culture, coastline or absolutely nothing.

Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is about 10 miles away in straight-line distance and around 40 to 45 minutes by car. The hotel can arrange an airport shuttle on request. By metro, allow about one hour from the airport: take the blue line to Syntagma, change to the red line towards Elliniko, then get off at Syngrou-Fix or Acropolis. Syngrou-Fix is the closer stop but involves a steeper walk up towards Filopappou Hill; Acropolis is farther from the hotel but gives you a gentler route via Dionysiou Areopagitou and Garibaldi Street.

Piraeus is around 20 minutes away by car or about 50 minutes by metro. Car hire is available, and luggage storage, a 24-hour front desk, a concierge, currency exchange and daily housekeeping cover the useful logistics around a city stay. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel, and one wheelchair-accessible room is available; upper floors are reached by lift.

Check-in starts at 15:00 and check-out runs until 11:00. You need photo identification and the actual payment card used for the booking at check-in, and the minimum check-in age is 18. Children under 18 can check in with a parent or official guardian. Pets are welcome on request, and the hotel accepts Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Diners and cash.