Athens’ Hotels Close Due To High Crime And Rent

Former Kaningos 21 hotel. Photo source: HotelsCombined

Crime in Athens’ city center continues to give the Greek capital the image of an unattractive destination although Athens has the potential to be featured among the most popular metropolitan destinations in Europe, the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Yiorgos Tsakiris, recently told the Greek press.

During recent months, three hotels located in the Athens city center closed down due to low bookings as a result of the high crime rate: two-star hotels Amaryllis Inn (Menandrou street) and Athinaia (Agios Konstantinos street) and the three-star La Mirage (Omonia square).

Separately, the four-star hotel Kaningos 21 (Halkokondili street) closed down recently due to high rent and the impact of the economic crisis, Greek press reports said.

The hotel is owned by an insurance fund and, according to reports, by law the annual rent of such property amounts to at least six percent of the property’s fair value.

The four-star Esperia hotel (Stadiou street), which is also owned by an insurance fund, is expected to shut down for the same reasons.

Greek reports said that the Alternate Labor and Social Insurance Minister Yiorgos Koutroumanis, responsible for lease agreements between insurance funds and private citizens, recently said there was a possibility to modify the status quo that currently rules out any renegotiations.

The Greek press also said two out of 100 small hotel units are on the verge of closing down while big hotel establishments are searching for buyers due to liquidity problems.