Greek Hotel Guest Satisfaction Rises in Winter 2025/2026, Valu

Guest scores for Greek hotels moved higher on nearly every quality measure tracked this winter, with service among the categories posting clear year-on-year gains — although one familiar sticking point, value for money, slipped back — according to new research by INSETE.

Guest satisfaction at Greek hotels improved during the 2025–2026 winter season, with ratings rising across almost all of the quality indicators examined. Value for money was the sole exception, standing out as the only major measure to edge lower compared with the previous year.

The findings come from a new study by INSETE, the research institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE). Between November 2025 and March 2026, Greece recorded a General Satisfaction Index (GRI) of 87.3 percent — up from 87.1 percent over the same five-month window a year earlier.

The analysis is built on ReviewPro guest review data and benchmarks hotel satisfaction in Greece against five competing Mediterranean markets: Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Turkey and France.

Cyprus emerged as the overall leader, posting the highest satisfaction score at 88 percent — a position it kept, ahead of Greece, in each of the five months under review. Greece followed in second place, while Italy and Spain both landed on 86 percent, Turkey on 85 percent and France closed the group at 83 percent.

The results mark a change of direction from INSETE's previous study, which covered the summer season of April–October 2025 — the months when attention turns to the Greek islands and the country's enchanting hidden beaches — and in which Greece had held the highest overall GRI of the six markets examined.

Cyprus thus registered the strongest hotel guest satisfaction of the 2025–2026 winter season, with an overall GRI of 88 percent, followed by Greece at 87 percent. Per INSETE, Cyprus stayed in front throughout the entire November–March period.

Even so, the overall rise came with a caveat. The value-for-money score slipped marginally, to 85.3 percent from 85.4 percent a year earlier — a dip of just one tenth of a point, yet enough to make it the only major quality indicator in the study to record a decline.

Elsewhere, the movement was uniformly positive. Cleanliness edged up to 90.9 percent from 90.6 percent, while service climbed to 90.2 percent from 89.1 percent — a gain of more than a full point. Location rose to 89.5 percent from 89.1 percent, and food and beverage — the category capturing how guests rate hotel dining and the authentic flavors of Greek cuisine they encounter during a stay — increased to 85.3 percent from 84.9 percent.

The largest improvement of all was recorded for hotel rooms: the score jumped 2.2 percentage points to 86.7 percent, up from 84.5 percent the previous winter — twice the gain of any other indicator in the study.

In short, guest ratings improved across most hotel quality indicators in Greece over the winter. Rooms delivered the strongest year-on-year gain at 2.2 percentage points, while value for money — down 0.1 point — stood alone as the only indicator to decline, according to INSETE.

At city level, the picture grows more nuanced for the capital. Athens recorded a value-for-money score of 82 percent, placing it below several of the competing cities examined by INSETE.

Istanbul led that particular ranking at 90 percent, followed by Thessaloniki and Izmir at 86 percent, Rome at 85 percent and Bologna at 83 percent. Athens finished level with Barcelona at 82 percent, though it remained ahead of Marseille, which closed the group at 76 percent.

A strikingly similar order appeared for hotel rooms. Athens again posted 82 percent, compared with Istanbul at 90 percent, Thessaloniki at 87 percent, Rome and Barcelona at 86 percent, Bologna and Izmir at 85 percent and Marseille at 79 percent.

Differences narrowed, however, when it came to overall satisfaction. Athens recorded a GRI of 85 percent, behind Istanbul at 87 percent and Rome and Barcelona at 86 percent. Bologna also stood at 85 percent, followed by Thessaloniki at 84 percent and Izmir and Marseille at 83 percent.

Athens therefore logged an overall GRI of 85 percent during winter 2025–2026, while its value-for-money and room scores both stood at 82 percent, according to INSETE. The comparison pits Athens and Thessaloniki against six competing Mediterranean cities across the key hotel quality indicators.

Within mainland Greece, the regional ranking was led by Epirus, which recorded the highest overall guest satisfaction at 93 percent — comfortably clear of the national GRI of 87.3 percent. Western Macedonia followed at 90 percent, Thessaly came next at 89 percent, and Attica posted a GRI of 87 percent.

Thessaly also topped the value-for-money table among the regions for which such data were available, scoring 94 percent — well above the national figure of 85.3 percent. Eastern Macedonia and Thrace followed at 91 percent, with Western Greece at 89 percent. Attica registered 84 percent, while no value-for-money score was available for Western Macedonia.