When working on contract in Brussels
I was working 5 days a week in Brussels, had a nice little hotel near the centre on a regular basis, all was going well until DHL decided to have a mass conference in the city.

I turned up on the monday night after work to check in, but was told they were fully booked - as they knew me they made a lot of effort ringing around and finally found me a place near Brussels Zuid railway station - the Hotel Paris I think it was called. And by god what a hell hole!

Now I have stayed in hotels of many grades and prices with little reason to complain, but this place was the most disgusting hole I had ever witnessed. The room was a bit grotty to say the least - blankets were courtesy of National Service circa 1950 - itchy as hell, but I am sure that the room had more guests in the way of fleas. Then on closer inspection I really got to notice the state of the place - the bed was propped up with a phone book, the towels were mouldy, the TV only emmitted a sort of sepia blur for a picture, and the phone was about 30 years old. But by far the most scary thing was the blood tracks up the wall all around the room where it was obviously used by Heroin addicts to use as a drugs den. The room was just pure filth, and I couldn't stay in there.

I went to the pub and was offered a place to stay but thought I would brave it out, but alas, by 5am I couldn't stand it any more - I felt like an OCD case keep scrathing and jumping at every noise.

The final straw was on leaving they had to unlock the door - the lock being a chisel rammed under the front glass door. Couldn't get away from that place fast enough
(Waynster James Joyce is fucking my sister!, Thu 17 Jan 2008, 20:31, Reply)