Athens Hotels with Board Games for Kids

Athens in July and August makes a break from the sun useful, and a hotel that gives children something to do indoors lets a family rest and then go out again in the evening. The hotels here range from a three-star boutique in Plaka to five-star hotels facing Syntagma Square or the Acropolis. I compare the indoor entertainment each one lists, the babysitting and kids' meals, and how easy it is to reach the main sights.

The most explicit games offers are in the smaller hotels. Athens Woo Suites is a four-star apartment hotel in central Athens with a 9.7 Booking rating, board games and puzzles available, kitchen-equipped suites and a generous layout for families. Okupa is a three-star boutique hotel in Plaka with a 9.5 rating, board games and puzzles at reception and a relaxed vibe that Booking.com says is popular with families and digital nomads. Booking.com calls Okupa the best-value indoor-games hotel on this list, and I agree it is the practical choice when you want the games without a luxury price tag.

For a service-led approach, Athens Capital Suites, MGallery Collection, is a five-star hotel facing Syntagma Square. It offers a babysitting service, kids' meals and a concierge that delivers board games, art kits or activity packs to your suite on request, which suits parents who want to rest while the children are busy. The Dolli at Acropolis is a landmark five-star in a 1920s neoclassical building 400 metres from the Acropolis entrance, with a rooftop pool and restaurant facing the Parthenon, plus on-site babysitting and kids' meals. Both are about comfort rather than games rooms.

THE NIXON Luxury Suites in Zografou is the different option. It sits in a leafy residential area away from the tourist crowds, with a garden where children can play while parents book back-to-back massages from a full treatment menu. Its suites are apartment-sized with separate living areas, which gives children space to play indoors on a hot day. It is further from the main sights than the central hotels, so I would choose it for a stay with a relaxed pace and use a taxi for outings, and the garden is the main reason to choose it.

When you plan an Athens stay around heat, think in terms of mornings and evenings. A morning at the Acropolis, a rest with board games in the afternoon and a late dinner in the Plaka is a rhythm that suits most children. The hotels above can make that rest part of the stay, but none is a dedicated children's resort, so I would bring a few of your own games. A quiet hour of cards or puzzles is often enough to reset a hot, tired child before the evening walk. For a different kind of stay, see Athens hotels with a pool.