Hello dear Erasmus students,
It’s end of May but we are sure that
you are already looking for your potential student accommodation in Athens. After
choosing the country and the host university for your exchange experience the
accommodation issue is up next on your agenda. Searching from a distance via
websites that you cannot easily trust makes the whole procedure even more
difficult and anxious for you and your family. For this reason we have some DO’s & DONT’s that is good to have
in mind while you are looking for your accommodation in the lovely city of Athens.
So, here we go…
1.
Look
for accommodation and secure your booking before your arrival in Athens. The
sooner you start looking and book the more choices you'll have to find an
accommodation that suits your needs. Apart from Erasmus students, greek
students are also looking for flats and if you book late, like the middle of
September, then all the good flats will probably not be available anymore. In
case you book your flat with an individual seller, the probability of rent
price increase is higher as is obvious that you don’t have much time to spare
being homeless in the city.
2.
Get
recommendations for your potential householder before booking or paying part of
the rent. Some websited offer accommodation
services without the relevant legal background or approval of greek state have
caused troubles to several exchange and local students in the past. A
well-built website with nice photos does not necessarily mean a secure choice.
Try to get a second advice and recommendations from previous Erasmus students
of your home university that have been in Athens for Erasmus in the past.
3.
Look
for a provider that is working with your host university. Most
of the universities and their international offices can provide you with
guidelines on looking for and booking student accommodation in Athens. Don’t hesitate
to contact your Erasmus Coordinator from your host university to give you more
information.
4.
Be
careful and double check on what is included in the price.
It is often that you can find a really nice flat on the pictures on a really
good price… but what is not mentioned is that the monthly rent that you see is
not including heating or air-conditioning expenses, water and electricity bills
or any other extra charges.
5.
Check
if your householder is trustworthy, easy to reach and willing to answer your questions.
Check if you can easily reach your potential householder via email or phone and
see if he is eager to send you a copy of your contract beforehand.
Don’t panic and think sensibly as if
you were renting a flat in your own city. Rentals in Athens for Erasmus
students are a weird story that is why we decided to create StayInAthens! We
try to offer you short-term accommodation, furnished and with all bills
included so that you don't have to worry about anything during your stay in
Athens! So in the prices you will find on our website all bills and costs are
included!
All of us in StayInAthens we were
students of Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and Erasmus
students in the past all around Europe. We know what it feels like to be looking
for accommodation and facing difficulties and that’s why we are doing our best
to offer accommodation services that matches the needs of Erasmus students.
Moreover as StayInAthens develops is
looking for buildings that you can share only with Erasmus students. So far we
have added in our list 4 Erasmus Buildings shared only by erasmus students. The
buildings are : Sporgilou 3, Asimaki Fotila 28, William King and Kypselis
16. All these four buildings are close
to AUEB and other universities near by.
Within the summer StayInAthens prepares a new Residence Project, the 5th
Erasmus Residence, hopefully with an Erasmus Bar - Cafeteria. Very promising
project that we try to develop early enough for the Erasmus students of the
year 2012-2013.
We are advising you to search, compare and choose
StayInAthens for your
student accommodation!
Looking forward to meet you in flesh
and don’t hesitate to contact us anytime for any question or concern!
Your StayInAthens Team!
