The next hotel that I stayed in was the Design Hotel Mr. President in Belgrade, Serbia. This was perhaps the nicest hotel that I’ve stayed in during my trips to Europe. It is located across the street from the railroad station, so it’s easy to find (except at night, when the only thing that you can see from outside is a sign that says “Hotel”). The décor of the hotel is completely different from anything I’ve seen before, with a lot of modern sculptures of lizards and dragons and stuff. It even had a Mount Rushmore of Serbs (I guess) in the bar. The television was awesome, plasma, hi-def with a lot of channels. Also, it was the first hotel that I’ve visited in which dinner was complimentary as opposed to breakfast. The dinner was pretty ordinary, spaghetti with meat sauce and sausages, but it was free. Also, the breakfast was the best breakfast I’ve had at any hotel in Europe, with scrambled eggs and actual bacon, albeit very, very salty bacon. It was a little expensive for Belgrade, but not that bad for Europe. And don’t let me forget the free wifi and, the piece de resistance, unlimited free international calls!!! I definitely give it two thumbs up.
From Belgrade, I moved on to Budapest, where I stayed in the Best Western Hotel Hungaria. Like the Design Hotel, the BW Hungaria was very close to the train station. While that is a big plus, the problem is that with the exception of a few American fast food restaurants, there really isn’t anything else all that close to the train station, so the location wasn’t as good as I had in Belgrade. The room was decent sized and clean. There was free wifi, but no free breakfast – which was okay because I found a coffee shop that I liked in Budapest and just had breakfast there. It was very inexpensive. My experiences with the staff was that they were a little standoffish, but not entirely rude. Overall, my stay was okay but nothing special.
Next up was Zagreb, Croatia. In Zagreb, I stayed at the Laguna Hotel. This hotel was spacious and the rooms were big. It also had a good-sized breakfast buffet and I was able to enjoy scrambled eggs again. Location-wise, it wasn’t all that great. It was about a 30-minute walk to the train station, about 15-minutes by tram. Also, other than the NK Zagreb football stadium, there really wasn’t anything going on in the neighborhood. It was safe enough; it was just a fifteen-minute walk to do anything. I guess the exercise is good for me, though. I stayed there because the price was right, about half of the hotels near the train station, so I guess I got what I paid for with respect to location. Wifi was free, but only in the lobby of the hotel. Generally, I liked the hotel other than all the mileage I had to put on my shoes.
Finally, in Venice, I stayed in the Nazionale Hotel. Here, I felt like I got baited-and-switched because it was two different hotels. When I moved in, I could get wifi for a price, but only in the lobby. By the end, I couldn’t even get it in the lobby. In the beginning, I could get food, coffee and cold drinks from the vending machines in the hotel. Until they were broken on my second day. The room was fair-sized, with two twin beds, but the television, like in every other Italian hotel, sucked. I would give a totally negative review except for the location. It was less than a five-minute walk to the train station and there were tons of restaurants and stores all over the neighborhood. This alone made the Nazionale passable.
Okay, I guess the final hotels post will include those from Nice, Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid and Paris. Then I’m home. Just two-and-a-half more weeks!!!
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