We stayed in two hotels and the Queen Elizabeth, which made our travel life easy. No rushing around, packing and unpacking for each port. Instead we unpacked suits and dress clothes in Athens to minimize wrinkles, unpacked everything on the ship, and lived out of the suitcases in Rome.
Our hotel in Athens was the Grande Bretagne. This is a truly luxurious hotel, with an elegant lobby and restaurants, well appointed bedroom, marble and glass bathroom and a great location on the edge of the Plaka, or old city. The Greek parliament building is located on the opposite corner, putting the hotel right in the centre of the most interesting areas. As well, the Parthenon is within walking distance, although it is good to remember that it’s a hike to the top of the Acropolis, so add that in when deciding how to get to there.
We chose the Grande Bretagne because Cunard offered a package deal which included transfer from the hotel to the shop on the day of departure. When we reached Athens, we discovered they had planned a tour of Athens, including a visit to the Acropolis for the morning of October 4, so that was an added bonus.
The Queen Elizabeth was a combination of modern convenience in the stateroom and traditional luxury in the public decks. Our stateroom had a small balcony, which was a great feature, a king-size bed, a small two-seat couch and a desk. It also had a TV we never used and a small fridge, which we did.
The ship was huge. There were nine full decks and another three part decks above those. The balcony staterooms were from decks 4 to 8, but there were also inside cabins on deck 1. Decks 2 and 3 and deck 9 were all public rooms. Our room was on the back of the boat, on deck 7. From our location it was easy to access the dining room, which was below us on deck 2.
The hotel in Rome was a huge come down after the super luxury of the Grande Bretagne and the combination of modern conveniences and traditional elegance in the Queen Elizabeth. The Hotel Atlantico is a simple, clean, but not fancy hotel located on the Esquiline hill near the Termini subway station. The subway stop made it easy to get around Rome and the hotel was within walking distance of Trajan’s Market and the Pantheon.