The Met Hotel Thessaloniki is one of the best hotels you’ll find in the city. The place is very modern and immaculately clean – the fact that I’m pointing this out means it was that noticeable. Rates are reasonable – booked well in advance, you can expect to pay as little as $120 per night.
However, if you’re not booking in advance, you might get great value out of your Starpoints instead. The Met Hotel is a Category 3 Starwood Hotel, requiring 7,000 points per night. With the fifth night free benefit, the rate drops to 5,600 points per night.
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After taking a complimentary shuttle from the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki to the city center and a 10 minute cab ride, I made it to the hotel. The location is a bit odd. For some reason, I thought it was on the water front. The view is largely obstructed. Still, you can easily walk or take public transportation around the area.
Be sure to download the Taxi Beat app when you’re in Thessaloniki, because there is no Uber or Lyft and the app will make paying for cab rides more convenient since taxis don’t accept credit cards otherwise.
I checked into the hotel around 2 PM and was directed to a fifth-floor standard room, number 510. I scanned my key card, then pushed the door with all my might and it wouldn’t budge.
After trying it herself, the front desk agent went back downstairs, got another key, then struggled with the door handle until it finally worked. There was a method to it, but I don’t quite remember what it was. The suite I was later moved to did not have this problem.
Met Hotel Thessaloniki Standard Room
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the room was the smell of cigarette smoke. To say I have a strong aversion to cigarette smoke is putting it very mildly. After being exposed to it even in small doses, I get a very bad throat ache.
I called the front desk to see if they could move me to another room. Barring a bed bug infestation, I normally wouldn’t ask to be moved to another room. However, I knew I wouldn’t be able to cope with the smell.
After tweeting about it, the SPG Twitter team reached out to the manager, who offered to move me to a suite. I really wasn’t trying to be a diva and it wasn’t my intention to guilt them into giving me a suite.
I was just hoping to get a non-smoking room and if that meant giving someone else a suite, that would have been great.
In any case, the standard room was actually a decent size and featured modern decor in line with the rest of the hotel. Other than the cigarette smell, it was very clean and featured a nice rug over hardwood floors and a flatscreen tv across from the bed.
To the left of the entrance was the bathroom, which had both a shower and tub. The decor kind of reminded me of that found in Hyatt Place hotels.
The bathroom was spotless and included Olivia bath products, a comb, and loofah. I would have been perfectly happy had they moved me to another room exactly like it.
Met Hotel Thessaloniki Business Suite
I left for the Softex refugee camp before my room was ready, but the manager offered to let me leave my bags in the suite, which was nice.
After a horrendous day, this suite was heaven to come home to. The Business suite featured floor-to-ceiling windows that took up the entire wall facing the street.
The room had a nice Ikea-esque couch that was actually comfortable to lounge on, along with a large table that I think was supposed to double as a desk.
Or maybe not, since this is a hotel going after the Millenial demographic and apparently Millennials don’t like desks.
Resting on this table/desk was a flatscreen tv and a Nespresso machine with four cups and an instruction manual. If you’re like me and have to google how to use it, you’ll appreciate being walked through the process.
The wall opposite the couch was completely bare and I think this is where the room could have been given a bit of life with a vibrant painting. Nonetheless, the room was very comfortable and spacious.
My only other complaint is that there were way too many switches and figuring out which one did what was a guessing game.
Met Hotel Thessaloniki Business Suite Bathroom
To the right side of the suite entrance was the bathroom, which was fairly large. It featured a ridiculously large sink, a large shower, and bathtub.
Propped up on the sink were Molton Brown bath products as well as a small bar of soap with an explanation that the hotel recycles these at the end of every stay.
The bath tub was a welcome sight at the end of my first day, when I came back from the Softex camp, exhausted and with a messed up knee and wrist. The bath tub took forever to fill up, but I’ve never quite appreciated a bath as much as I did on that crappy day.
Met Hotel Thessaloniki Room Service
During my brief stay at The Met Hotel Thessaloniki, I ordered room service twice. It was simply about convenience, though I drew the line at paying $30 for breakfast. The food was generally good for room service.
The risotto I had on the first night was a bit too salty, but it filled me up along with the bread and the tiramisu. The frappes were a good way to top it all off (I know, I’m a pig).
On the second night, I wanted something lighter. So I got the salmon and cream cheese wrap which came with a side salad. This was the perfect meal because it was light and much healthier.
Of course, every meal came with a bottle of yellow Fanta, which I was downing like (or rather in place of) water on this trip.
As part of the evening turndown service, the lovely housekeeping ladies would come by and hand out loukoum. Growing up with a Turkish grocery store in my Hamburg neighborhood, I had these all the time. Not to mention my friends at school would bring these sometimes as a snack.
Staff and Service
The Met Hotel staff really came through on the first day. Aside from the upgrade, they came to the rescue when I got stranded at the camp without a ride home. The Softex camp doesn’t have a precise address and doesn’t show up on Google Maps.
Someone on Twitter had sent me the coordinates to the camp, which I entered into my phone. I then relayed these directions to the cab driver.
However, when me and two other volunteers decided to share a taxi back to the city, we had no idea how to convey the address to the dispatcher.
Finally, I tweeted the SPG Twitter team for help and they came through in a big way. They called The Met Hotel’s front desk, they called a taxi, providing turn-by-turn directions to the camp. It was pretty damn incredible and I was super grateful for it.
When I walked into the lobby, tired and looking like crap, the front desk said, “Good to see you made it! Are you ok?” I was really grateful for her help and let her know it. Moreover, I was grateful for that large bathtub in the suite. With my knee banged up and bloody, being able to settle into a hot bath was the ultimate luxury that I will never again take for granted.
When I decided to check out one night early and head to Calais instead, I called the front desk to ask if it would be possible. The agent said, “Of course!” and then asked in a concerned tone if everything was ok. I reassured him my stay was great but that I had to cut my trip short.
I would absolutely recommend The Met Hotel to anyone visiting Thessaloniki and looking for a great place to stay.
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