Topic Wiki

Greece Master Thread
Chabad has an awesome restaurant (and a cool chabad house) in Athens (Rated Number 2 of all restaurants in Athens on TA).
They also ship to all islands which you can warm up in your hotel. The food is awesome as as well!
Find them on facebook or on their website

Bunch of kosher travel related info here: http://koshergreece.com


Trip Reports: CS91's Santorini & Athens

Zaggurus TR: zagguru's


Sam28 TR Santorini : Sam28's


Athens:
Hotels
Hotel Grande Bretagne (Starwood)
King George Palace  (Starwood)
Both hotel's are right near each other, grand Bretagne is a little more upscale.
Both are walking distance to Chabad (Around 10 min) and to most of the action in Athens.
Other hotel's are a little further out of all the action.

Stuff to do
GOSTIJO kosher restaurant (They have a small grocery where you can get a variety of Israeli products) [See above]
Acropolis (Akropolis) and the Acropolis (Akropolis) Museum
Anafiotika (old town with some shopping)
Plaka 
Monastiraki
Panathenaic Stadium (Panathinaiko Stadio) first modern Olympics game.
Day trip to Delphi
Water-skiing in the Aegean Sea

Athens Chabad Pdf

Mykonos:
Hotels

Kosher
https://koshermykonos.com
whiteandblue.kosher@gmail.com
+331 84 60 70 70

What to do


Santorini:
Hotels
There are only two options which take points.
1. Vedema, this hotel is in Megalochori, it is a little off the path (Not near the water) and you don't get the views you would expect in Santorini. (Not a great option, but if you want to stay with points, it is a nice hotel)
2. Mystique, rated as one of the best Starwood hotels in the world. Availability is almost impossible, because they only have 27 rooms. Never mind the shocking 70K Starwood points a night in high season. 

Stuff to do
Kamari Beach, there is a cliff there which has a nice jump into the ocean. (Please be careful!)
Red Beach
Hiking Trail Fira - Oia (You can take a Donkey which is quite freaky, or take a tram)
Sunset in Oia (A must do, to get away from the crowds go to Sun Spirit, it is near the windmill and has great views and not packed. They only serve drinks.)
Santorini Volcano, Hot Springs.
Rent a ATV go around the island (At your own risk, the drivers in Santorini are crazy!)
Highest point of the island near the town of Prygos. Awesome panoramic views of the whole island.

Rhodes
Hotels
Sheraton Rhodes, large resort very centrally located. nice pools.
https://chabadrhodes.com

« Last edited by davidmal on October 16, 2023, 08:49:36 AM »

Author Topic: Greece Master Thread  (Read 222234 times)

Offline Chaikel

  • Global Moderator
  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • **********
  • Join Date: Jun 2008
  • Posts: 6812
  • Total likes: 173
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 20
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: LH SEN, SPG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Rav Kav Platinum
Greece Master Thread
« on: June 27, 2010, 01:28:45 PM »
I'm considering going to Greece this summer with my wife.
There isn't a master thread, I was wondering if anyone had any input advice etc.

PS. My other options are Paris, or Milan (neither of us have ever been) with Hyatt FFNs, so feel free to tell me that I'm crazy and should just hit one of those cities.

It would be a 4-5 day stay
« Last Edit: June 27, 2010, 01:50:46 PM by Dan »
Create professional looking itineraries.
Check out eliteitinerary.com

Offline moish

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 10004
  • Total likes: 296
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: AA LT Plat, Avis, SPG Plat
Re: Thessaloniki, Greece Master Thread
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2010, 01:32:56 PM »
what happened to athens? but paris is great. skip milan though

Offline Chaikel

  • Global Moderator
  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • **********
  • Join Date: Jun 2008
  • Posts: 6812
  • Total likes: 173
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 20
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: LH SEN, SPG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Rav Kav Platinum
Re: Thessaloniki, Greece Master Thread
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2010, 01:35:05 PM »
No Hyatts  ;D
Create professional looking itineraries.
Check out eliteitinerary.com

Offline moish

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 10004
  • Total likes: 296
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: AA LT Plat, Avis, SPG Plat
Re: Thessaloniki, Greece Master Thread
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2010, 01:38:18 PM »
shooting an arrow then painting the target around it. anyways imo paris is way better than salonika

Offline Chaikel

  • Global Moderator
  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • **********
  • Join Date: Jun 2008
  • Posts: 6812
  • Total likes: 173
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 20
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: LH SEN, SPG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Rav Kav Platinum
Re: Thessaloniki, Greece Master Thread
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2010, 01:39:20 PM »
Might as well. It's my first, and may be my last for a while, trip to Europe
Create professional looking itineraries.
Check out eliteitinerary.com

Offline Dan

  • Administrator
  • Dansdeals Lifetime 50K Diamond Elite
  • **********
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 67555
  • Total likes: 16848
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 16442
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: CLE
  • Programs: UA GS, AA EXP, DL Dirt, Hyatt Glob, Fairmont Lifetime Plat, DD Diamond, Blocked By @NeriaKraus
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2010, 01:51:32 PM »
Has anyone here ever been to Greece?
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline steve2

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jun 2009
  • Posts: 2077
  • Total likes: 8
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: outside some Club
Re: Thessaloniki, Greece Master Thread
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2010, 01:52:42 PM »
shooting an arrow then painting the target around it. anyways imo paris is way better than salonika

 Id say if a person wanted restaurants and a daily minyan, Yes thou I prefer London and the Churchill is nothing to turn your nose up at

 But Greece is well Beauty especially the Islands which Paris is no match for in any way , at least from the pics Ive seen . and summer time it should be alittle cooler in Greece then Paris

 Greece is on my Hit list and especially Santorini  a few pics from google  http://www.google.com/images?q=greece&rlz=1I7DKUS_en&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=hY8nTJSxNcP98Abxr4jiDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CFAQsAQwAw

 dont know anyone can pick Paris over Greece especially if they will be traveling with their Wife

Offline moish

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 10004
  • Total likes: 296
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: AA LT Plat, Avis, SPG Plat
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2010, 01:59:29 PM »
steve - read all the posts all youll see its between paris and salonika. athens and santorini are not on the table as there arent any hyatts. between those two cities, paris wins. its quite romantic especially during the summer when devoid of the locals
dan - supers been there, and i plan on being in athens and crete a couple days each in august
« Last Edit: June 27, 2010, 02:02:05 PM by moish »

Offline steve2

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jun 2009
  • Posts: 2077
  • Total likes: 8
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: outside some Club
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2010, 02:23:21 PM »
steve - read all the posts all youll see its between paris and salonika. athens and santorini are not on the table as there arent any hyatts. between those two cities, paris wins. its quite romantic especially during the summer when devoid of the locals
dan - supers been there, and i plan on being in athens and crete a couple days each in august

 I understood but there are a few *Ws OK a Cat7 on Santorini just like the boot by Italy cat 7s

 But all I can say is after spending 14 yrs in israel I still cant believe I never jumped over to the Greek Islands

btw thats 1 reason I never got into Hyatt just not enough of them where I want to go in Europe and Im more or less covered with *W,Hilton & Marriott nor in the Lower 48
« Last Edit: July 27, 2010, 04:23:44 AM by Eli »

Offline moish

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 10004
  • Total likes: 296
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: AA LT Plat, Avis, SPG Plat
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2010, 02:26:57 PM »
i cant say im "into" hyatt myself, but with the bwb, its quite worth it. im booked at the park hyatt ararat moscow for a few days that wouldve otherwise cost 900/night.
as far as the g isles, it was a toss up bet santorini and crete and i chose the latter. what is your reasoning for choosing sant.?

Offline steve2

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jun 2009
  • Posts: 2077
  • Total likes: 8
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: outside some Club
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2010, 02:51:19 PM »
i cant say im "into" hyatt myself, but with the bwb, its quite worth it. im booked at the park hyatt ararat moscow for a few days that wouldve otherwise cost 900/night.
as far as the g isles, it was a toss up bet santorini and crete and i chose the latter. what is your reasoning for choosing sant.?

 as I said I was by a friends a few Shabbosim ago and they showed me a pic book, hard cover and all that they made with BEAUTIFUL pics all of Santorini. sort like a what they call a coffee table book. I was hooked!

 But Crete is suppose to nice as well as is Rhodes etc etc

For Russia Im more interested in staying in St Pete and my Marriott pts can take care of that, and SPG,HH and MR are all in Moscow OK it wont be a Hyatt but the cost will be the same $0 and seeing that I wont be eating at any of them they will due.

 I always said maybe Id do a few Hyatts as long as my Requalifications for the other 3 are already in the bag.

 Now if they all were kosher that would be another sit, but Ive stayed at some very nice Hotels and whats the big deal. take The Hilton Prague OK its a bit out of the way , but a lounge with food that you wouldnt believe !! but as I posted elsewhere Big Deal its not kosher, nice attrium as well. I preferred the Marriott whose lounge had no where near what The Hilton did. Now a resort with acres of land and things to do is a different story in my book

Offline moish

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 10004
  • Total likes: 296
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: AA LT Plat, Avis, SPG Plat
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2010, 02:58:28 PM »
im going to be in LED as well, but since im going to be there over shabbos, i need a hotel near the shul. not sure which marriott youre referring to, but i dont think its near the shul
$0 is not necessarily accurate by me, as i attach a monetary value to all my points. id rather pay $150/night than burn through 12,000-20,000 *points (or 8k points + $150)
« Last Edit: June 27, 2010, 03:03:18 PM by moish »

Offline steve2

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jun 2009
  • Posts: 2077
  • Total likes: 8
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: outside some Club
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2010, 03:15:46 PM »
im going to be in LED as well, but since im going to be there over shabbos, i need a hotel near the shul. not sure which marriott youre referring to, but i dont think its near the shul
$0 is not necessarily accurate by me, as i attach a monetary value to all my points. id rather pay $150/night than burn through 12,000-20,000 *points (or 8k points + $150)

 in regards to LED we were going to be in Moscow for Shabbos so I only looked at The Renaissance cat6 30k or the Courtyards cat4 (have 2 certs for 2 free nights) http://www.marriott.com/search/findHotels.mi

 have no idea if any are near a  shul nor did we care as we werent gonna be there over Shabbos

 as for using SPG Pts generally you cant go wrong using C&P, now once you get to the Cat5s & 6s it gets alitlle expensive so before doing that Id check to see what other options I may have with either outright paying or pts with another program On FT its pretty easy to do a Fair Trade (equal value) with someone if you need a Program in which you have no pts. say Raddison has some good selections in LED but no pts so I would make a post willing to trade whatever I have for the amount of Raddison pts Id need. You see that all the time on FT, while it was hardly ever seen on another site where people were purely interested is buying from those who didnt know the true value so that they either resell them or use them at a steal rather then do an Even Trade. Yes FT had its wiseguys but no where near what this other site had/has. Most people arent looking on FT to make a buck but rather use it themselves.(usually what the tarde ends up being is they book the room for me out of their acct and I do the same for them out of mine , so no actual transfer of pts takes place)

 now back to Greece as it seems from other threads the OP is going to Paris as I pretty much thought they would and if we continue then dan will have to change thetile to Russia from Greece
« Last Edit: June 27, 2010, 03:40:50 PM by steve2 »

Offline gdam

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Sep 2008
  • Posts: 134
  • Total likes: 0
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: Jerusalem
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2010, 04:56:25 PM »
There is a new resort in Rhodes, *wood category 4. Looks nice.

Offline Smirk

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jun 2008
  • Posts: 585
  • Total likes: 15
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2010, 06:27:52 AM »
Just booked The Westin Athens Astir Palace Beach Resort. Cat 5 for 4800 points + $90. Pretty cheap.       Any tips for the area? Kosher food?
« Last Edit: October 12, 2010, 07:08:54 AM by Smirk »

Offline aussiebochur

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: May 2010
  • Posts: 5322
  • Total likes: 8
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 24
    • View Profile
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #15 on: October 12, 2010, 06:47:31 AM »
Just booked The Westin Athens Astir Palace Beach Resort.
Any tips for the area? Kosher food?
Chabad of Greece has some helpful info on Jewish/kosher stuff.

Offline Smirk

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jun 2008
  • Posts: 585
  • Total likes: 15
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #16 on: October 12, 2010, 07:07:49 AM »
Just found that.
There appears to be a kosher catering/delivery
And a jewish tour guide to jewish sites as well as Greek sites
Will post results


Offline moish

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 10004
  • Total likes: 296
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: AA LT Plat, Avis, SPG Plat
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #17 on: October 12, 2010, 07:59:06 AM »
i was just there in the summer. stayed at the nicest hotel in town and best location, the grand bretagne with cash and points. not aware of a jewish guide, but there arent any jewish sites aside from the jewish museum. only kosher food is from the chabad house which delivers

Offline Dan

  • Administrator
  • Dansdeals Lifetime 50K Diamond Elite
  • **********
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 67555
  • Total likes: 16848
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 16442
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: CLE
  • Programs: UA GS, AA EXP, DL Dirt, Hyatt Glob, Fairmont Lifetime Plat, DD Diamond, Blocked By @NeriaKraus
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #18 on: October 12, 2010, 09:57:44 AM »
Anyone been to the Blue Palace? Now that looks nice!
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline moish

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 10004
  • Total likes: 296
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Programs: AA LT Plat, Avis, SPG Plat
Re: Greece Master Thread
« Reply #19 on: October 12, 2010, 10:58:18 AM »
yes