Greeks advised to shop around before booking holiday hotel
Three-star hotels in Greece offer tourists notable opportunities for securing relatively good prices – given the period – even at the most popular destinations, according to several online booking sites monitored by Kathimerini. In contrast, online rates for four- and five-star hotels with available beds are typically beyond what most Greeks can afford.
Out of the 9,730 hotel units operating in Greece – according to 2016 data – 2,472 are in the three-star category, 1,412 are four-star units and 444 have five stars.
Tourism association representatives recommend that this year Greeks – given that the huge inflow of foreign tourism is limiting bed availability – should conduct some thorough research before booking a holiday hotel and seek the best price-quality balance, or value for money.
For instance they say that a five-star hotel may offer a room at 100 euros per night but actually be quite cheap in relation to the services and extras included. On the other hand, a three-star unit offering a double room at 70 euros may be expensive in terms of the service supplied in comparison with other units in its category.
The research conducted by Kathimerini was into bookings at three-star hotels between July 17 and 21 at popular destinations around Greece. It showed that two people can spend four nights on Rhodes at prices from 228 euros, on Corfu from 200 euros, at Iraklio in Crete from 200 euros, on Kos from 160 euros, on Zakynthos from 311 euros and in Halkidiki from 272 euros.
A separate survey, conducted by the Trivago website, showed that the few remaining available rooms in Greece are more expensive than in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Cyprus, Turkey and Bulgaria, as their average rate rose 13.7 percent from last year to 149 euros per night for a double room.
