A hotel whose name refers to the Orient promises a certain degree of exoticism. And that's what guests get - but in the most unpleasant way imaginable. It starts with the fact that the address in Baseler Str. is not correct at all; one has to go around the block and, after a walk through an aesthetically expandable area with lively ”street people” of the dubious kind, arrives in Karlsruher Strasse, where the hotel is actually located. We arrived around 8 p.m. and were greeted with the information that we had not left any credit card details when booking, which is - since 6 p.m. had passed – why we had no claim to the hotel room. As a gesture of ”goodwill”, we would nevertheless be provided with a place to stay. I immediately looked through the travel documents and found, clearly marked, the confirmation of what I knew anyway: ”Credit card deposited as a guarantee”. That irritated the hotel employee little, who seemed a little bit batty anyway. Our room was in a rather gloomy dungeon, the door of which could hardly be opened and which was extremely crooked and blessed with a single window, that was located in the farthest corner. It did not lead out to the outside world, as one might naively assume, but into an intermediate space that was the passage to the fire escape – and which, as we noticed at night, was used by other guests for their cigarette breaks. Even if the window - which was thus not the case - had offered fresh air (but it didn’t), it would have been impossible to think of opening it without worrying about one's belongings, to which any nocturnal smoker would have had effortless access. In the bathroom, on the sideboard with the sink, were (at least) three small animals, perhaps cockroaches or woodlice, happily going about their daily routine. They allowed themselves to be photographed without resistance. At least, the promised and co-paid flat screen TV was present; what was unfortunately missing was a signal. Same for the WiFi. So we called the reception desk, which was supposed to be manned around the clock – and where no one picked up. The other day at the reception a staff member explained that the TV would ”of course” be repaired during the day - we were even lucky, she said, because the janitor was just on site. When we returned in the evening, another gentleman at the reception explained straightforwardly that the TV had not been repaired and would not be repaired. For compensation he offered us a ”free drink”, i.e. a bottle with 0.5 liters of water, which he would have otherwise sold for 2€. We returned - without water bottle, but with new impressions - back to the room to find an unmade bed and the used coffee cups from the morning, which no one, not even the cockroaches had taken care of. It might also be worth mentioning that the elevator only goes to intermediate floors. Among the hotels of the lowest category, which I have unfortunately already survived, this house is certainly well in the race for the rank of the s
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