I get ballsy at 1:00 in the morning

Finding a hotel in Athens has been becoming a pain in the ass.

I mean, I'm more than happy to be my own internet travel agent, but it's only fun if I can actually find what I want for a price I want.

This does not seem possible. Everywhere I look, I can't seem to find a decent hotel room in Athens for under, say, $200/night. This annoys me. I'll find some little boutique hotel that looks good, and then I'll find unanimous reviews that it's noisy, or the beds are uncomfortable or something else deal-breaking.

In desperation, I ran it through Hotwire -- you know, one of those sites that doesn't tell you where you're staying until you've committed to it.

And it said: 4 1/2 star hotel for $116.

Really now?

Hmmmm.

I did a massive amount of research to try to pin down which hotel this would be. (Said it has a 4/5 rating on TripAdvisor, with over 100 ratings and the last rating in May. So, here's me, pawing through 48 Athens hotels rated 4 on TripAdvisor, trying to find one with over 100 ratings, last in May, with amenities matching the list on Hotwire.) Conclusion: whatever hotel it is, it's probably a good deal.

Still, this is a big thing for me. I've never actually used Hotwire for something quite so foreign. I mean, usually, I look at the Hotwire map where they divide the city into different areas, and I'll know exactly where I want to be. Here, despite spending a few nights researching hotels in Athens, I'm still not particularly clear on where the hell anything is. I'm pretty much flying blind here.

$116, eh? In "Central Athens" (whatever that means.)

*click*

*hold breath*

The InterContinental Athenaeum.

Hmmm. A brand I've heard of. Hotel looks pretty. Snooty even. (Even the "standard" rooms come with bidets. I believe this will be my first hotel experience with one. I can see the 'blog entry already.) Location not the bestest but (a) they have an hourly shuttle to the center of town; and (b) I'll be taking tours the two days I'm there so I don't entirely care.

Come to think of it, I can use the money I've saved on a hotel to pay for the tours. Yes, this'll work.

Whew.