Aeginitikon Arhontikon

Just returned from a 3 night stay at this hotel in Aegina. Overall, it was a positive experience. We stayed in room 205, which is on the side of the church. The bed was comfortable, and there was a small balcony. The AC also worked very well. The front desk staff were friendly and personable. The room was EXTREMELY clean -- and I need to recognize Maria, who is the person at the hotel who keeps everything so clean and the floors shining. She also provides the breakfast and makes great coffees -- all in all a lovely person who is a credit to the hotel (I told her her husband is lucky to have her!). The breakfast is a generous boxed breakfast full of delicious and unique baked good, sandwich, hard boiled egg, fresh bread, honey, etc. - was so much that each day we would keep half for a small lunch at the beach. The building itself is an old greek island mansion - so do not expect the Ritz Carlton newness. It has character, plus at times you will have beautiful bells of the church. Only cautions are 1) if you have mobility issues, ask for a main floor room and 2) if you are driving, be sure to ask for directions as GPS took us down the wrong way for 30 minutes and we got trapped in a narrow dead-end alley (not hotel fault - but just something to keep in mind).

The official name of this place is 'Aeginitikon Arhontikon Stylish Boutique Hotel', quite overblown for what one really gets. 'Archontiko' means a mansion of a wealthy, powerful person, an 'Archon'. A touch of it can be seen on the upper floor at the 'saloni', the parlor with old furniture and a painted ceiling, depicting the sun god Helios in his chariot. This place is open to everybody, but probably hardly gets used, since the place has no café or bar. More difficult it is to find any style at this hotel. In the room? At breakfast? It shouldn't even be called a boutique hotel. I have been to accommodations, which don't fall into this category, because they don't have it mentioned in their name, but who were of a much higher standard with a similar price. We probably even had one of the better rooms, one on the upper floor with a useless, narrow balcony, facing the big Agios Nikolaos church with its bells, well heard on Sunday mornings. The room was on the small side, but not as tiny as the very uncomfortable bathroom. It was sparsely decorated, had only one chair for two, no writing desk, just a small place for dressing in front of a mirror. Storage place was a problem. The fridge was so small that it could hardly take a big bottle of water (but one had been offered on arrival). Tea and coffee making facilities were available. The bed with a lilac cover, not matching the overall colors of the hotel, was badly squeaking, when one sat on it. Luckily this was not the case, when sleeping on an otherwise good mattress. The air conditioning had a way of blowing very strongly onto the bed, so we had to switch it off in the hot night. In the wardrobe were just a few cheap cloth hangers of plastic. The big TV screen, which we didn't use, was hanging crookedly from the wall. At least in the bathroom were good free toiletries. Towels were exchanged daily, which is not very ecological. They then were hanging to dry on the upper terrace with great views, spoiling the atmosphere there. Breakfast is not included, but can be had for a cheap price as of 8.30. Sitting at one of the tables in the courtyard, in front of the rooms on the ground floor, the friendly lady, who was also the room maid, brought a cardboard box for each person with quite a big choice. To have breakfast this way was rather annoying with all the wrappers, either of paper or plastic, around most items, even for the plastic spoon or separately for the wooden knife. Definitely no style and no ecology. Since there is no real reception, we hardly ever saw anybody from the hotel, except the lady in charge of the rooms and the breakfast. At least the welcome on arrival by a young man was friendly and he came to our room to switch on the hot water.

Spent a wonderful weekend staying at this small hotel. This is not a luxury hotel, but the rooms are quite unique and atmospheric, and you awaken to the sound of church bells and birds. The room was very comfortable, clean, and there are nice indoor and outdoor spaces to enjoy. Very centrally located in Aegina town. But what gives it the 5 star rating was the owner who was so thoughtful and kind. From the moment he carried our heavy luggage upstairs when we arrived, to the moment he handed us breakfast and a hot cup of coffee as we were dashing off to make our early morning ferry, we could not have asked for more. He also gave excellent recommendations for restaurants. He epitomizes the kindness we found throughout our travels in Greece. Happy to recommend this hotel for those looking for character, and good service at an excellent price.