Because everyone is a traveler at heart, we can all revel in the highlights and lowlights of our travel experiences. Whether bad weather forced a flight cancellation in New Jersey or the bus broke down in rural Senegal, we’ve all had to grab a hotel for the night. Perhaps, though, you’re fortunate enough to travel a few weeks a year to your timeshare or book that sweet resort right on the water in Tahiti. Either way, rich or poor, American, Brit, Aussie, Indian, Canadian or Kiwi has stayed at least one night away from home. Next time you make holiday plans or happen to get bumped, pulled or lost en route, rest assured that the following hotels assure unrest.
In the interests of fairness, in case these ‘hotels’ have cleaned up their act, we have removed the names. Do feel free to drop us your comments or guesses though!
7. ? Hostel, Paris, France, Western Europe – With the economy the way it is these days, it’s important to save as much money as you can; cutting cost on accommodation is one way. Hostels, then, are pretty much fair game for every age group these days, as money runs short but the love of travel runs fierce. This hostel in the heart of Paris’ shady district is run amok by an actually friendly staff (speaking a little French gets you a long way). This hostel/hotel made the list for many reasons, not limited to; the thundering metro right across the street, the miniature sized rooms with five beds, one closet shower where you can brush your teeth in the sink and shower simultaneously, narrow winding staircase and hallways which are impossible for luggage on wheels or two people at once, purple and black walls, sewer line bust/sulfur smells, hairy beds and sticky floors, satanically-armpit-hot even in winter; shady touts and best of all, lockout from 9am to 2pm!
6. ? Hotel, Egypt, North Africa – OK, I think we’ve all had our fair pokes at the French; ergo, in a fairer attempt to be unbiased, let’s go south to Africa. This hotel actually lies in Sharm El-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula. Giving this hotel some credit, it does occasionally receive good reviews from Internet based sites. However, others who are not so kind write of such horrors as bag searches. Oh, this fishing around is not in the pursuit of drugs, arms or paraphernalia. These guards are in search of your bottled water and food. Apparently, you’re not allowed to bring in your own. The 40C+ degree temperatures assure this monopoly on necessity. The hotel says it’s for your health. Plus, the hotel is small; there are reportedly no windows in the rooms; there’s construction all around; the alcohol is all local; the oriental feel is charming but the pool is small and the food service is slower than dripping molasses from a January maple tree.
5. ? Hotel, Cambodia, South-East Asia – In an attempt to save space and time, let’s stop badmouthing just a modicum. We’ll lighten the cynicism luckily in time for this hotel in Phnom Penh in Cambodia. At any rate, this hotel sells itself as three-star but a black hole must have recently swallowed two of them. The showers are open with no curtain – sitting on a wet toilet feels oh so right! The rooms are old and sport some ancient TVs. Moreover, the counter staff all try to sell you knick-knacks (some are people) while you tell them how your AC quit again. They’ll tell you offhandedly, too, that you’ll have to walk up the stairs as coincidentally the elevator is out of commission to boot. Lucky you. It’s not the cheapest place in town either. You’ll have many reasons to remember your stay (and leave) here.
4. ? Castle, England, UK, Western Europe – This Castle is about as dreary as the imagery we’ve all seen at the beginning of some vampire flick, minus the gripping characters. The only vampire here is the owner who will suck you dry of your bloody funds for a single night. The castle looks broken with all the dirt and dust caked like icing on all the furniture, phones and floors. Grimace at the grime and your face may stay like that permanently. The coarse black hairs lining the sheets, the sweat ringed bed linens and trash lining the hallways will keep you frowning. The walls are so thin you and your friends can talk to each other from different rooms (not necessarily side by side, either). And, if you’re missing your mates, you can simply stand outside their door and look at them through the cracks around the doors. You’ll get neither privacy nor peacefulness at this dreamy…err…dreary castle.
3. ? Hotel, Brazil, South America – This hotel in Brazil did a great job on their website design and in misleading would-be patrons – drum roll for the Hoax Award. The pictures are nothing like the real place, albeit the hotel is not lying when they say they are a hotel – in spirit only perhaps. Most post patrons complain about the smelly water, the bug-infested pool, peeling paint and the like you’d expect from a World’s Worst Hotel. If the cigarette burned duvet and molding bathrooms don’t do it for you, the non-elevator service and five beach umbrellas for fifty people might. Plus, for the hefty triple digit price, you have to pay to use the WiFi facilities.
2. ? Motel, California, USA, North America– As world travelers, we know that some hotels and countries have, shall we say, varying standards of cleanliness. A third world country, albeit a resort no less, may not have AC from time to time or hot water, but we’d expect more of the US, right? Wrong! This motel in Santa Monica, California in the US of A puts Americans right up against any other country for the worst hotels award. Some people have even called the health department on this hotel for: (clearing of throat) bedbugs, vomit, feces (human & other), hairs, clogged drains, nonworking toilets and bad smells – all yours for a couple hundred bucks, includes a view.
1. ? Hotel, Nevada, USA, North America– The numbers are for your reading assistance, not to categorize best to worst. But, this last hotel might be the worst of them all. The Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada has been credited with some interesting reviews, namely for the “number one.” One says that the ceiling and light fixture leaked urine from the floor above. Get this, there’s pictures posted on various websites illustrating that this is true. Along with sour smells and the shorted-out ceiling lights (occasionally flickering), the urine drips from the ceiling onto the bathroom floor and shower basin. Yes, this hotel welcomes you with a warm glass of lemonade on the nightstand (free refills in the bathroom)!
