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It's not unheard of in Europe to get 2-3% discounts if paying by cash (particularly in computer stores). The reason is that in some countries, merchants pay that percentage of Visa/MC commission (and in case of Amex even more) plus a fixed fee per transaction. For that same reason bars usually accept cards only over a threshold of 5-10€ or so. Though if that happens in hotels indeed it is strange then.

Within the last year in Greece, the banks and ATMs all shut down for a few days. I can see why people would be keen to have cash (and specificaly, euros).

Thats kind of a different situation, isn't it? The Greeks are probably abandoning banks altogether and going to an under-the-table cash economy, given what happened this past summer.

This sounds like a stereotype, but tax evasion is done on a really wide scale in Greece: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/greece-pledges-rid-tax-evasio...

It actually has an incredible impact on the greek economy and the state's coffers.

It might be because banks were forced to place a limit on withdrawals.