Botel Marina: A Review

And now my first botel review.

In Bratislava, I stayed in a botel, the Botel Marina, which was situated on the left dock of the Danube river in the shadow of the Bratislava Castle. On the surface, this sounds like a wonderful location. Actually, it would have been a wonderful location had I not had to haul my 100 pounds of crap from the end of the public transportation line (I have not been in a cab the entire time I’ve been in Europe) to the botel, which was a little bit of a hike. Also, location wise, while there were plenty of things within a fifteen-minute walk, there was NOTHING within a five-minute walk, so every time I left the botel, I had to make it count.

I got there about an hour-and-a-half before check-in, but the hotel let me check-in early, so I went straight to my room. Despite the fact that it had two twin beds, one of either side of the room, it may have been the smallest room I’ve stayed in during my trip, so far. Don’t even get me started on the bathroom. Let me just say that I could have taken a shower in the stall, urinated in the toilet and shaved in the mirror all at the same time. I’m not saying I did. I’m not saying I didn’t. I’m just saying.

Noise was also a problem because of the Rockin’ Slovakian Accountants. The botel does have an Indian restaurant and a bar. Those were in use by a party being held by PriceWaterhouseCoopers people who were drunk and kind of loud outside my porthole. Nevertheless, being accountants, they were done by 11 pm, so noise ceased to be a problem afterwards.

The hotel did have free wifi, which is always a big, big plus in my book. The television only had about eight channels and it was the first hotel I’ve been in here that didn’t have MTV. How the hell can I enjoy my trip if I don’t know who’s been eliminated from Rock of Love?!?!?!?

Two big problems. First, there was no free breakfast, which I’ve grown used to. I had to leave pretty early to catch my train, but a little food first would have been nice. Second, there were serious drainage issues with the shower. About halfway through, I noticed that the bathroom was flooding. I had to stop, let everything drain, and then go back to showering. It flooded again, but at least I was done. Now, you may be thinking – “but Sheldon, you were on a boat. You could have just opened the window and let it drain into the Danube.” Yes, the windows were too high.

The room was about $90/night. Not a bad price, I suppose, but it is Slovakia. I did love watching the Danube roll by from my bedroom window. I have to say, though, that though I did like the experience of staying on a boat, there were probably better options closer to civilization that I could have chosen. So it goes.