Esperinos was a cool oasis in the center of Athens
Michael’s place, Esperinos, was attractive to me because of the very beautiful pictures in the listing. The reality more than matched that expectation. The house is well-designed, imaginative, comfortable, and private. The location is perfect: in a quiet neighborhood within walking distance of the Acropolis and two major museums: the Acropolis Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum. Within fifteen minutes walk are also many nice quiet restaurants; I particularly liked those in the Petralona neighborhood.
The house, in addition to being beautiful, was functional and comfortable. The bed was great, the air-conditioning worked, there was great water pressure on the shower, the fridge well stocked, the coffee machine reliable, the wifi steady. Michael provided basic amenities for the cooking of simple meals, which was helpful because my stay was an extended one. Really, almost everything was great, and worked as expected. The place was cleaned weekly. During my month-long stay, a couple of situations emerged that were out of the host’s control: a water shut-off (due to fires outside Athens, I think) and a power cut (probably summer load-shedding). These were inconveniences, disrupting a day in each case, but Michael was very responsive and helpful, and I understand that these things are just occasionally part of Athens life. (He also insisted on refunding a night’s stay for the inconvenience of the water shut-off, which was very considerate of him.)
The house has a lovely enclosed courtyard with shade-giving trees. I expected to spend the majority of my time in the courtyard. If I have any complaint, it’s a personal one, not something the host really could change: the mosquitoes in the courtyard were killer. I tried everything: mosquito coils, wall plugs, bug spray (all provided by Michael)… I really tried…but I got bitten badly almost everyday, to the point that I had to give up using the courtyard entirely. That was a disappointment, but such is life.
Otherwise, I had a fantastic time at Michael’s place. It’s not cheap, not at all, but on balance the comfort, security, and elegance made the high price worth it.