Hotel Falken

The bathroom is pretty tiny, but with the lakes nearby for a swim, that wasn't a dealbreaker. The hotel is cozy, cleaned daily, and close to both the station and Chapel Bridge. Just remember the reception isn't open around the clock, so plan your arrival accordingly.

Having air conditioning in the room was especially useful during the increasingly hot summers. The hotel sits right in the middle of the Old Town, which is a great location. The room and bathroom are small, though that's fairly typical in Europe.

There was barely room to move around, let alone store luggage. I kept stubbing my toes and bumping my head on the bunk above me. The bed itself felt so unstable that I thought it might collapse. The room was far too small for three adults, or even one person to be comfortable. Dust and grime were everywhere. My white shirt turned brown after brushing against the wall, the bathrooms looked as if they hadn't been cleaned, and there was mold all over the shower. The place was old and moldy, and two of us got sick the next morning. There's no AC, and when we switched on the standing fan it blew dust all over the beds. I also got hives after sleeping there. I can't be sure, but I'm sure there are bed bugs in there as well. When we raised these problems at checkout, the front desk staff got defensive and didn't apologize. The woman said, “you saw the pictures online and you should've made your decision wisely,” then told us “it's not my issues.” Don't book this place. It's cheap for a reason.

The central location was the one bright spot, along with the 25% refund we received afterward. We were relieved to leave. The family room was neglected, and the advertised air conditioning wasn't there. Since the city center was noisy, we needed to keep the windows shut, especially with four of us sleeping in the room during midsummer. The upper double bed was shaky, so we slept on the floor with the windows open. I barely slept. There were exposed wires at a wall socket and a lamp, and the shower doors wouldn't close. After the first night I asked for half my money back so we could move elsewhere, but that was refused. We ended up spending both nights on the floor.