Athens Confidential: Never stay in an "eclectic" vacation rental — and we have a special guest!
Athens Confidential: Never stay in an "eclectic" vacation rental — and we have a special guest!
In this episode: The worst rental ever, notes on Greek tourism, and our stay in a new (old) hotel. Recorded 5/13/22 in Athens
Appears in this episode
This week's podcast originates in Athens, Greece. 🇬🇷 We checked into the worst vacation rental ever after we arrived here. But fortunately, a friend saved us from a month of misery. It's quite a story. We're also joined by a very special guest.
In this episode, we'll tell you how to avoid a bad vacation rental and we'll read your comments. Scroll up for the link to the latest Elliott Confidential podcast.
Here are a few photos from this week's adventures:
This is the exterior of our first apartment. Seriously, if we’d seen this in the property description, we would have never booked it. Fortunately, the owner offered us a full refund.
The boys wait to check in at the Lighthouse hotel. It’s a funky new property on the site of an old theater. Cool seats.
Spoiler alert …
We were joined by my brother, Dustin Elliott, whose art you see in this newsletter every Sunday. You can hear Dustin’s comments on this week’s broadcast.
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We always spend some time in our podcast reading your feedback. So feel free to leave your comments on Athens, Greece, art, philosophy, or anything else. And please don't forget to tune in next week for more fun.
Athens Confidential: Never stay in an "eclectic" vacation rental — and we have a special guest!
For almost 15 years, I have religiously used TripAdvisor reviews to locate hotels, restaurants and attractions around the world. I avoid those with only a few reviews and reviewers who have only posted a few reviews. The review comments and reviewer pictures have always steered me straight. I have never ended up with a property like the picture of your Athens hotel.
Hilarious - both that someone as experienced as you would not know that "eclectic" is code for super bad and the discussion of the value of "banter" on podcasts. This is the first of your podcasts I have listened to, and I thought it was a fine mix of info and banter. :) We actually just got back from Italy, and we used AirBnB for the first time internationally (I know, I know, a little late to the game, but we got burned years ago on a VRBO and have avoided private rentals since), and had a great experience. However, your experience is exactly the reason we avoided AirBnB for so long. What is your advice for avoiding such a situation in the future, since we loved our AirBnB experience and plan to use them again? I also thought your advice on not sticking to Google/TripAdvisor/recommended restaurants was excellent. Some of our best meals were those where we just happened upon (including excellent pizza by the Roman Forum), and some of our worst were places I had researched extensively (and had eaten at in the past.) Safe travels to you, and enjoy the rest of your time in Athens and Greece - I adore that place! Make sure you visit Delphi while you are there, and go early in the morning before the crowds, or late when they have departed. It will change your life.