Athens' grand old Grande Bretagne Hotel (which everyone in Athens calls the GB), occupying one of Athens's most distinguished 19th-century buildings, is back after a two-year renovation. The best rooms have balconies overlooking Syntagma Square with a view of the daily changing of the guard and the son et lumier show on the Acropolis most evenings. Just about everybody who's anybody has stayed here including Winston Churchill, any number of Kennedys, and Madonna. décor, as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Once you check in, you hate to leave. If possible, have lunch in the GB corner (or at least peek in at the tables filled with politicians and ladies who lunch) and do not miss the exquisite glass-roofed, plant and flower filled Winter Garden. One slight drawback to staying here: The GB's ground floor is so famous that you sometimes have to plow through the tourists who come her to gawk at the Art Deco lobby and Beaux Arts Winter Garden.