Boardinghaus Georgsheil

The free Wi-Fi was reasonably fast, and there was enough parking, though the lot got very full. For workers, this place is adequate. If you're hoping for a romantic getaway for two that might end in divorce, you'll fit right in. I stayed here for eight weeks this summer while working on the offshore wind farms near Norddeich, 15km away. I would rather have been in jail. The place is full of contractors, some of whom start work at 03.30, so bring earplugs if you want a quiet stay. The rooms have basic, cheap IKEA furnishings: a fridge, kettle, two-ring hob, table, dining chair and armchair. The bed was painfully soft, and underneath it was filthy, as if it hadn't been cleaned in ages. The tap water had a lovely brown color and an interesting earthy taste. It was fine for washing and showering, but I bought bottled water for coffee. Flies and mosquitoes were a serious nuisance. Leaving the windows open overnight to air the room meant getting eaten alive. The communal areas had an incredible amount of dead insects and spider webs. In the bathroom, the shower curtains didn't reach the tray because the rail was too high, so water flooded the floor. Cupboard doors in the kitchen kept falling off. The hot water was either arctic or so hot it sent me jumping out of the shower like a scalded cat, with third-degree burns. There isn't any reception staff, just a phone number to call for the room entry code, which you enter on a keypad. We had no break-ins, thankfully, but after staying here several times over the summer, we noticed the codes hadn't been changed.

Our room had no hot water for five days, so we were moved. In another room, a huge leak came through the ceiling. Then, at 4 am, a toilet flush caused number two to come out of the shower. Absolutely unacceptable. The room we left because of the water problem later had its wall ripped open to find the leak from the other room. We were moved once more, this time to a dirty room with no curtains and constant daylight. We had six rooms in total. If the owner is reading, my advice is to sell the building.

Filthy through and through.

The second room was just as disgusting as the first, so we packed up and found a hotel for the night. There was a dirty, stained chair that I later saw had already been mentioned in a review months earlier, but apparently nobody had removed it. The wallpaper had marks from squashed insects, there were hairs on the bed linen, and old, frayed towels had been left on the bed. The bathroom outlet was loose, the mattress was completely soft or worn out, and the toilet brush was dirty. The dresser leaned like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The table and chairs wobbled when touched and looked cheap and unstable. The room smelled musty, like a cellar, despite being on the first floor. A hallway door was broken and wouldn't close properly, letting cold air in. We called to ask for a different room after the first shock, and the request was handled quickly and easily. But that room was a disaster too. The bed linen was stained, there were holes and cracks in the walls, and the so-called nightstand was a loose board on the wall that looked ready to fall. The pleated blinds and curtains were stained. In the bathroom, plaster was crumbling and the grout had black mold. Outside, empty vodka bottles sat beneath a bench, and indoors the place smelled strongly of cigarettes. There was no staff anywhere, which is a deal-breaker for me because anything can happen. We used a PIN code to get into the room. When we called the service number to complain again, the man on the phone interrupted us repeatedly and tried to downplay it, saying it was only somewhere to stay and didn't have a "hotel atmosphere." Sure, it's not a hotel, but even budget lodging should have basic hygiene, safety, and reasonably sturdy furniture. This felt like a complete rip-off. The staff don't seem to care about guests at all. I strongly advise against booking here.