MISFIRE? New York Times misses the boat, mostly, on "delightful" Europe hotels under $300
Is the Gray Lady completely off her rocker? Don't even get us started on Paris....
Is this what President Trump means when He (oops, he) says The New York Times sells fake news? Probably he’s referring to other things. But here we go:
Our friend DD called us from New York to say she might be coming to Athens, and would I recommend either the Coco-Mat Athens BC hotel or Say Hotel?
Say what? I replied. “Where did you come up with those?”
“They were recommended in the Times,” she said.
Both hotels are fine, I told her, with two caveats: the first one has courted immense controversy in Athens owing to its top floor exceeding height restrictions, and the second one is nowhere near the center of Athens.
“Who wrote the article?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, “but she sounds Greek: Ceylan Yeginsu.”
“Um, probably not Greek,” I told her.
“So you don’t think I should stay at those?”
“The Coco-Mat Athens BC is a good location, close to the Acropolis and Acropolis Museum,” I told her. “So also, a little touristy. It’s a fun hotel, though, with a nice rooftop space and pool up there, as I recall. But are you really coming to Athens to swim?”
As for “under $300 a night,” is that the new American threshold for “delightful?” Says who? Because for the New York Times, in this economy, $299.99 represents some kind of bargain? True, a taxi ride from JFK to Times Square that used to set you back $60 is now almost double that, but still…
Dear DD and others, for less than that you can get a great room with an arguably better location at one of our current insider favorites, the Amalia. It’s a non-hype hotel but the kind that Greeks like to stay at, partly for that reason, but also the location and its dreamy rooftop restaurant, WHISPERS.
We have no particular beef with the “failing New York Times” — Mr. Trump’s description, not ours — but they could do better. At Greek Column we are uniquely positioned to tell them what’s what; after all, back in the days when we had a better country and they had better editors, they even paid us for that.
Bottom line? If you’re trekking all the way to Paris or Rome or Athens from New York etc. and want to book some delightful hotels at a decent price, do your homework. Because clearly The New York Times isn’t doing theirs.
Speaking of books and stuff, how did Times travel editor Amy Virshup miss the brand new Anthology of Athens, too? Even AI could have spotted that one.
