Where to Stay on the Athens Riviera: Best Areas and Hotels

I’ve spent my whole life in Athens, and the Athens Riviera is still one of the hardest parts of the city to explain simply.

The coastline is long, the different areas are completely different from each other. Staying in Vouliagmeni for example gives you a very different trip from staying in Glyfada, and both are very different again from Palaio Faliro.

That is exactly why I put this guide together. I’ll walk you through the best areas to stay on the Athens Riviera, who each one suits better, and the hotels I would look at in each part of the coast.

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Quick answer: Where to stay on the Athens Riviera

• Best luxury hotel: Four Seasons Astir Palace in Vouliagmeni, with three private beaches and a full resort feel.  
• Best boutique luxury hotel: The Margi in Vouliagmeni, a smaller luxury hotel a few steps from the sandy beaches.  
• Best small boutique stay: Somewhere Vouliagmeni, with only eleven rooms and suites right in the heart of Vouliagmeni.  
• Best new high-end resort in Glyfada: One&Only Aesthesis, set on a beachfront estate in southern Athens.  

Best area overall: Vouliagmeni

Vouliagmeni is the part of the Riviera I would choose if the coast is the point of the stay.

It is calmer, greener, and more self-contained than the busier stretches further up the coast, and the first area that justifies coming to the Riviera for more than just one beach afternoon.

There is also quite enough to do here. Lake Vouliagmeni, a thermal lake tucked into rock, with water that stays warm enough for swimming through much of the year is a famous example. Then there is Astir Beach with its famous beach-club, and Vouliagmeni Beach if you want a simple organised sandy beach. If you prefer something more low-key, the rocky piers around the bay and the coves at Limanakia are just as good. 

Food is another reason Vouliagmeni is on top of my list. You can do a simple seafood lunch by the water or a much more expensive dinner without having to leave the area. Sardelaki me Thea  with its fish, small plates, and the marina right in front of you would be my favourite. Not only that, but there are also many upscale restaurants, such as Matsuhisa Athens and Beefbar Athens.

The most famous luxury hotels names are there too, from Four Seasons Astir Palace to smaller boutique options like The Margi, Somewhere Vouliagmeni, and Athenian Riviera Hotel & Suites.  

Four Seasons Astir Palace – Best luxury hotel on the Athens Riviera

Four Seasons Astir Palace is not just a hotel on the Athens Riviera, but rather its own little peninsula. The property sits in Vouliagmeni on a pine-covered headland, with the sea all around it. It is large, but not in a cold way. The resort is spread across three distinct concepts, Arion, Nafsika, and The Bungalows, which is why it never really feels like one single block of rooms by the sea.

The hotel itself gives you a lot to choose from. There are three private beaches, a main pool by Nafsika, and a mix of rooms, suites, and bungalows, some with their own pools or larger outdoor terraces. The Arion side is more classic, while Nafsika is brighter and more open to the water. The bungalows are the most private part, and they still carry some of the old Astir Palace glamour from when this part of the coast first became synonymous with luxury in the 1960s.

Food is also a big part of staying here, because the property has a lot of range. Pelagos, the hotel’s Greek seafood restaurant, holds one Michelin star, while Mercato leans Italian with a terrace overlooking the sea. Then there is Taverna 37, which is the more relaxed beachfront option, serving more traditional Greek dishes.

Check prices and availability – Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens

The Margi – Best boutique luxury hotel in Vouliagmeni

The Margi is very different from the bigger Riviera hotels. It is built on Litous Street in Vouliagmeni, a few minutes from the beach, and the whole place leans much more boutique than resort. The hotel is quieter and more contained, with warm neutral tones, wood, soft lighting, white walls, olive trees, and a central pool area.

Inside, the rooms and suites stay in that same lane. They are calmer and more understated than flashy, with handcrafted furnishings, soft colours, and a more intimate feel than the large Riviera resorts. Some look toward the courtyard, pool, or pine forest, which suits the hotel well. It is also a family-run property with roots going back to the 1960s, when the original “Margi House” was built in Vouliagmeni, and that history still gives the place a more personal identity.  

Patio, housed in the hotel’s courtyard, is a degustation restaurant with one Michelin star and one Michelin green star, using organic ingredients from The Margi Farm. Then there is Malabar by the pool, with modern Greek food.

The hotel also has a spa with treatment rooms, a couple’s suite, steam and sauna areas, and an indoor pool.  

Check prices and availability – The Margi

Somewhere Vouliagmeni – Best small boutique hotel in Vouliagmeni

Somewhere Vouliagmeni is a much smaller hotel at 1 Agiou Panteleimonos Street in the heart of Vouliagmeni and has only eleven rooms and suites, so the whole place feels much more contained and private than a standard coastal hotel.

The rooms and suites are what make it stand apart. There is a big difference between the simple Cozy Room with Street View, the larger Deluxe Riviera Suite, and the much more impressive Grand Rooftop Penthouse Suite, which takes up the whole third floor and comes with panoramic bay views, a large furnished terrace, and a private outdoor jacuzzi.

Even the standard rooms keep the same upscale, boutique feel, while the better suites push much more clearly into the “small luxury hotel” side of the Riviera rather than the “nice boutique stay” one.  

The hotel also has a small pool and wellness area, and it offers breakfast, brunch, all-day dining, café service, and wine and spirits on site.

Check prices and availability – Somewhere Vouliagmeni

Athenian Riviera Hotel & Suites – Best easier Vouliagmeni stay

Athenian Riviera Hotel & Suites sits just a short walk from the beach, and it lands somewhere between boutique hotel and very polished mid-range Riviera stay.

It is not a resort, and it does not try to be one. The building is more compact than places like Four Seasons or even The Margi, but it still keeps that Riviera look. The whole thing is neat, modern, and very beautiful.

The hotel has 47 rooms and suites, which range from more standard rooms to junior suites, Deluxe family rooms, and then the larger upper-end options like the Penthouse Comfort Suite with Hot Tub and the Executive Suite with Sea View & Hot Tub.

It also has a small wellness side, with a massage and sauna area, and the location helps a lot because it puts you close not only to Vouliagmeni Beach, but also to Lake Vouliagmeni and the rest of the area’s highlights.

Check prices and availability – Athenian Riviera Hotel & Suites

Best area for a livelier Riviera stay: Glyfada

Glyfada is the part of the Athens Riviera I would choose if I wanted the coast, but not only the coast.

It is busier, more urban, and much more built around everyday life than Vouliagmeni. Glyfada is more about shopping streets, cafés, bakeries, bars, late dinners, and that very specific southern-Athens luxury. After all, the area is more like a proper seaside suburb than a resort zone.  

The centre is full of shops and cafés, especially around Metaxa Street, Kyprou, and Esperidon Square, and the area has that self-contained feel where you can spend half a day walking around without needing a big plan. There is also the marina, which gives the coastline a more upscale look, and the Glyfada Golf Course, which adds another side to the area that you do not get in most parts of the Riviera.  

It also helps that Glyfada is one of the parts of the Riviera where you can do a very good dinner without having to retreat into a hotel restaurant. The area is full of places to eat, but a few names that stand out are Zahoulis if you want a more casual Greek stop, Amigos for a lively dinner, and Il Salotto if you want something more polished.

Lastly, even though the beach side of Glyfada is not why I would choose it over Vouliagmeni, it’s not that it has nothing to offer. As I’ve covered in my Athens beach guide, this part of the coastline still gives you some fantastic public and private beaches.

One&Only Aesthesis – Best new luxury resort in Glyfada

One&Only Aesthesis feels less like a standard Glyfada hotel and more like a private coastal estate. It sits on 21 hectares of beachfront land on Poseidonos Avenue, and the whole property leans into that old Riviera glamour very deliberately: low buildings, mid-century lines, lots of open space, and a layout that spreads out rather than stacking everything into one block by the sea.

The resort has a much more horizontal, garden-and-bungalow feel than a classic city hotel, which suits Glyfada well because it softens the area’s busier, more urban side.  

The accommodation is also built around that sense of space. There are rooms, bungalows, residences, and villas, and the better categories move quickly into full private-retreat territory. The bungalows are really the heart of the property. They sit low among the gardens and closer to the beachfront, so the stay feels more like having your own Riviera hideaway than staying in a standard resort wing.

Then there are the larger villas, including Villa One, which comes with its own outdoor pool and direct seafront setting. Even the simpler rooms still follow that same mid-century mood, with open-plan layouts, warm materials, and a more residential feel than flashy-hotel styling.  

The property also has enough inside it that the stay does not depend entirely on going out into Glyfada to justify itself. There is a private beach area, outdoor pools, and the Guerlain Spa, which is the first Guerlain Spa in Greece.

Check prices and availability – One&Only Aesthesis

91 Athens Riviera – Best unusual high-end stay

91 Athens Riviera is not a standard hotel in the usual sense.

The hospitality side is built around 28 luxury cabanas rather than conventional rooms. Instead of corridors and stacked floors, the accommodation is spread close to the beachfront and through landscaped gardens, which gives the whole place an open-air mood. 

The cabanas are the part that gives the property its identity. Each one comes with its own private deck. Inside, there are plush furnishings, a custom 91 Athens super-king bed, and 1,000 thread-count linens, which tells you a lot about the level they are aiming for.

The wider property also adds to that private-club feeling. There is a beach and pool area, changing rooms, a spa branded as SOMA SPA – The Finest by Domes with four treatment rooms, a hydro pool, sauna, hammam, and relaxation area, plus the food side built around Barbarossa, which brings its Paros identity to the Athens Riviera with Mediterranean dishes served by the beach.

Check prices and availability – 91 Athens Riviera

Dusit Suites Athens – Best hotel in Glyfada if you want shops and nightlife too

Dusit Suites Athens is a small all-suite hotel in Glyfada, a short walk from the beach, and the whole property is much smaller, with only 36 suites. The building itself is modern and quite contained.

The rooftop is one of the best parts of the hotel. O live sits up there with the infinity pool and bar. Then downstairs there is DAO, the hotel’s pan-Asian restaurant, which gives it a second, very different food identity.

The spa is more substantial than I expected too. Namm Spa includes a heated indoor hydro-massage pool, sauna, hammam, and six treatment suites, which gives the hotel a more complete high-end setup than its size might suggest.  

Check prices and availability – Dusit Suites Athens

Glyfada Riviera Hotel – Best classic Glyfada hotel

Glyfada Riviera Hotel sits on Poseidonos Avenue in Glyfada, about 200 metres from the beach. The building is more compact, and the location is a big part of the appeal, with beach on one side and Glyfada’s centre on the other. 

Inside, the hotel has 47 rooms and suites. There are simpler room categories, but the upper end is where the hotel becomes much more distinctive, especially the Penthouse Suite Sea View, with its rooftop terrace and private jacuzzi looking out toward the sea.

There is an outdoor pool, a pool bar, a wine and cocktail lounge, a fine dining restaurant, and a small wellness side built around the Cave Spa, with spa treatments, a hammam, and a gym.

Check prices and availability – Glyfada Riviera Hotel

Congo Palace – Best old-school Glyfada hotel

Congo Palace is one of the older hotel names in Glyfada, and you can really feel that history. It first opened in the 1960s, and even though it has been renovated, it still feels more old-school Riviera than glossy new lifestyle hotel.

The food and common areas also follow that same style. There is an outdoor pool with a pool bar, a warmer lobby bar, and Boyoma Falls, the hotel’s main restaurant, which has a more decorative, African-inspired look and serves Mediterranean and international dishes.

So while the area around the hotel already gives you plenty to do, the property still has enough of its own spaces that it does not feel like only a room on a busy avenue.

Check prices and availability – Congo Palace

FAQ: Where to Stay on the Athens Riviera

1. Which part of the Athens Riviera is best for first-time visitors?

I would say Vouliagmeni.

It is the part of the coast that is most complete on its own. You have beaches, the lake, good seafood, fine dining, and a calmer, more polished atmosphere than the rest of the Riviera.  

2. Is Glyfada or Vouliagmeni better?

That depends on the kind of trip you want.

Vouliagmeni is better if you want a prettier, quieter, more seaside-feeling stay. Glyfada is better if you want shopping, cafés, bars, and a busier coastal area with more of a self-contained town feel.  

3. Is the Athens Riviera worth it without a car?

Yes, it can be.

The tram reaches the coast and continues down toward Voula, with regular service and even 24-hour operation on Saturdays, while OASA also runs buses connecting Glyfada, Vouliagmeni, and nearby areas.  

4. Is it better to stay on the Athens Riviera or in central Athens?

If the sea is the point of the trip, stay on the Riviera.

If the Acropolis, museums, and walking around the centre are the main focus, stay in Athens itself. The Riviera is much better as a coastal stay than as a substitute for a central Athens base.

5. How many nights should I stay on the Athens Riviera?

I would say two to four nights.

Two nights is enough for a short coastal break. Three or four gives you time to settle in, swim, eat, and get island-style vacation without leaving Athens.

6. Which part of the Athens Riviera is most luxurious?

That is still Vouliagmeni.

It is the area most associated with the high-end side of the Riviera, and it is where you get the biggest concentration of fine dining, luxury hotels, private marinas, and the more expensive beach culture of the coast.  

7. Is Glyfada good for nightlife?

Yes.

Glyfada has one of the liveliest evening scenes on the coast, with bars, cafés, restaurants, and a strong shopping-and-nightlife feel around Kyprou, Metaxa, and Esperidon Square. It is easily the better choice if you want a Riviera stay with more movement around you after dark.  

Final Thoughts

The Athens Riviera is not one single place, and that is exactly why choosing the right base makes such a difference.

If you stay too far north, it can feel more like Athens with better sea air. Too far south, and it can start feeling detached unless that is exactly what you came for.

The sweet spot is in my opinion Vouliagmeni or Glyfada. Sea, the slower pace, the dinners that stretch a little longer, the feeling that you are still near Athens without really being in it anymore.