A recent business trip to Halle was pulled forward, resulting in my not being able to stay at the original accommodation booked. After several unexplained delays in reaching Halle aboard the Deutsche Bundesbahn, I was amazed to find that nearly all smaller hotels and hostelries had boarded up for the night by 21.30! (Amazingly, hotel- and inn-keepers are usually the most vocal to protest they are not making money and occupancy is down, but in Halle, none of the smaller, more reasonably priced places seems to have quite understood the correlation between shutting the doors early and not getting better occupancy...)

A survey of taxi drivers at the Halle Hauptbahnhof yielded the dismally discouraging advice that rooms would only be found at either the very elite Kempinski Rotes Ross in Leipzigerstrasse or the equally overpriced Maritim, in sight of the station. Thinking that due to my very tight budget and nearly empty wallet, I might have to spend the night on a station bench with several local winos, I was happy to see perchance the neon beacon of the Dormotel Europa, flanked by the equally bright displays of a nearby sex club.

A quick phone call revealed that the Dormotel Europa not only had rooms, but that they had a night porter on duty, could receive gusts all night and were extremely reasonably priced. The Dormotel chain consists of property in numerous German cities.

Arrived on the steps (not a handicapped-friendly facility!) the porter welcomed me into the pleasant lobby and registered me quickly. The rate remained the same as that quoted on the phone - 40 Euros for a single without breakfast. Breakfast buffet is available for a reasonable 6 Euro surcharge.

Issued a key to room 412, I was delighted to find a fullsize bed, a well-stocked mini-bar (operating on the honor priciple), satellite TV and all the comforts I'd expect of a better hotel at a much higher rate. Tired, the fluffy white bed beckoned and even the fact that the TV did not work was less than disturbing.

Traffic noise from the thoroughfare below was significant, making sleeping with an open window (habit) impossible.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal wake-up call on time the next morning, and even though the room's carpets were less than spotless, the shower was wonderful, clean, and stocked with sufficent towels.

Check-out was quick and pleasant and while the cleanliness of some parts of the room and the corridors was below par, the overall impression was favorable and recommendable to those on a limited budget seeking late-night refuge in an early-to-bed town.