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Floodlit at night, the glorious Temple of Zeus was a drawcard all right.

The Royal Olympic Hotel has more than its own temple ... a glittering resort-style swimming pool ... an unequalled blessing to return to after the Athens summer heat.

POSTED: 13 AUGUST 2009

Ann Rickard finds an Athens room with a very special view

There is no shortage of ancient ruins and temples in Athens, but imagine waking up in your hotel room, pressing a button to open the electronic blinds and having the Temple of Zeus appear at your window.

That’s pretty special, even to a seasoned traveller ... a living artwork at your window.

Floodlit at night, the glorious temple was a drawcard all right, so much so we were reluctant to leave the hotel room.

Yet the Plaka, just a short walk away, called to us sirenlike each night and we did manage to leave our temple behind for a few hours of eating and dancing.

The Royal Olympic Hotel in Athens is surrounded by a number of archaeological sites and many of the rooms enjoy the Temple of Zeus view.

To have such an important ruin in the middle of a bustling capital city is a privilege, yet the locals drive busily by it very day, barely giving it a glance. Shocking to us.

The temple was dedicated to Zeus, King of the Olympic Gods. Its construction began in the 6th Century BC but was not completed until much later under the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd Century AD.

Pillaged during the barbarian invasion in the 3rd Century AD, it was never really repaired and, like so many ruins in Greece and Italy, for centuries after, bits of it were taken for materials to build houses and churches. Unimaginable today, isn’t it?

Still, there is enough left of the Temple of Zeus to provide fascination for the thousands of tourists who pour in to Athens every summer to explore its perimeters.

We sat by our hotel window, coffee or wine glass to hand, depending on the time of day, watching some of those tourists scramble around the temple.

On previous Athens visits we have trekked around the ruins, often in 45ºC heat, because we thought it our tourist duty to do so.

Now, viewing it all from the indulgent comfort of the air-conditioned hotel, made us feel more than a little smug.

Athens, like all bustling cities, can wear you out after a hot day touring — even if it is just sitting on top of one of the many hop-on-hop-off buses that circumnavigate the city all day long taking in every iconic site and landmark.

The bus was as much as we were prepared to do during this brief visit and each day we tramped happily back as contented tourists to our temple view.

Yet, the Royal Olympic Hotel has more than its own temple. It also has a glittering resort-style swimming pool at its centre, something rare in a big city hotel and an unequalled blessing to return to after the Athens summer heat.

The 5-star Royal Olympic is in Tempo Holidays’ three-day Taste of Athens Package, which is priced from $475 per person twin-share. This includes breakfasts, arrival transfer and morning city tour. Extra days can be added. Phone Tempo Holidays on 1300 558 987 or visit www.tempoholidays.com