Vassilis and Clara were such phenomenal hosts and I cannot say enough wonderful things about them!! We stayed at the flat for a month, and they were so nice, friendly and helpful, where you can tell they truly care about their guests and will bend over backwards to make sure your stay is perfect.
First of all, I would definitely take advantage of V’s offer for airport pick-up!!! It’s cheaper than a taxi, and you don’t have to worry about a language barrier with address/directions as well as whether or not the driver is overcharging (watch out - it’s quite common!). Plus, if you fly in from the US as we did, the last thing you want to do after 12+ hours in planes & airports is to spend an hour lugging your baggage on the metro/trains trying to figure out where to go! So trust me on this, you would much rather spend the time with V :). Also, you need to check out the beautiful rugs for sale that are handmade by Clara!!
The flat is on the 13th floor of a 14 story building, and is a small studio perfect for 2 travelers with a living room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and balcony. The kitchen has pretty much anything you need including a coffeemaker, electric kettle, microwave, toaster, refrigerator, 4 gas burners, pots/pans, dinnerware and utensils.
The bathroom is small but fully equipped with shower, shampoo, soap, tp, towels, a hair dryer, hair products and even a combo washer/dryer, which was so great considering the length of our stay!
The bedroom has a double bed, closet, extra blankets, a great heater/ac minisplit with remote, numerous guide books, internet and cable tv with Netflix.
Of course my favorite part was the French doors leading out to the balcony with the AMAZING view!!!! He has a cute table, 2 chairs and an ashtray (so as a smoker I spent a lot of time out there 😉), but even just laying in bed and looking out was mesmerizing and SO much better than pictures could ever show. We were there for Christmas where we were serenaded by a band playing carols, as well as the first snow in Athens since 2014 where the view of the snow-topped mountains was beautiful!
The location was perfect for us because we wanted to be close to downtown, but not actually “in” it. Within a 5 minute walk you’ll find four pastry/coffee shops (no lie! we probably gained 10 lbs), two fresh fruit/vegetable markets, a grocery store and the Ano Patissia Metro station where, between the 3 metro lines, you can be anywhere in less than 15 minutes....it’s pretty simple to figure out the stations and transfer points, so it’s super easy to spend the day in Athens, Piraeus or even take the tram to visit the beaches and coastal towns along the “Athens Riviera”. Then on the other side of the Metro is a downtown shopping type area with 4 banks, a bowling alley, taxi stand, numerous restaurants, any kind of shopping (clothes, shoes, etc), and MORE pastry/coffee shops :)
So, if you can’t tell, I highly recommend Vassilis & Claire’s apartment where you will have fabulous, caring hosts who make you feel like family, as well as lifelong friends.