A large, spacious, airy and comfortable apartment, located in a nice, quiet neighborhood of Athens, on the west side of Philopappos Hill. The apartment is located at the top floor of a small apartment block with only 4 apartments in total. The living room and its balcony faces the street and the bedrooms are at the back which means it is very quiet at night. It is a very "lived-in" apartment, with comprehensive selection of cooking tools, crockery/cutlery, cooking ingredients, tea/coffee/water and lots of books/CDs etc. The cooker and appliances are of quality brand (Bosch and Miele) therefore although not brand new, they work very well. The solar hot water system with electric heater (for cloudy days) worked well. The WIFI was fast and there was a laptop for our use. Although we did not use the laptop as we brought our own, we appreciated the hospitality.

We have stayed in a lot of holiday apartments and this is one of the most comfortable ones. Although Athens is a busy noisy city, the location of the apartment meant we were within easy reach of the hustle and bustle but could retire to peace and quiet. The front balcony was great for relaxation with a cup of morning coffee, and the rear balcony was good for hanging out washing. Every Friday there is an street market around the corner selling all kinds of fresh fruit/veg/fish/honey/olives. The other street (Troon) is full of lovely restaurants that offer cheap tasty food where locals visit hence avoiding the tourist traps around Plaka. There is also a small supermarket on Troon.

The location of the apartment couldn't be better. It takes 10 min to walk to the metro station which goes to Piraeus port, Thissio, Monastiraki and the National Archaeology Museum/bus terminal for Cape Sounion. Although most of the time, we just walked everywhere. Follow the path around or through Philopappos Hill and it takes 20 min to get to the bottom of Acropolis or 30 min to the main entrance. It is easier than the metro and the view along the way is stunning. It takes about 20 min to walk to Thissio/Monastiraki and from there you can visit the Roman Agora and Ancient Agora.

Spiros is a great host. He could not meet us when we arrived so arranged his friend to show us around who was also very kind and helpful. When checking out he allowed us to keep the luggage until we needed to catch our evening flight. He also drove us to Sygmata square to catch the airport bus therefore saving us the taxi fare. We stayed at this apartment for 10 days and could not be happier. Although lot of people say Athens is not a pretty city we found it very charming and Spiros's apartment made our stay in Athens truly memorable.