Oriental Star Hostel in Damascus … This is not a hostel, there are not one hundred or one hundred fifty rooms. This ad is placed by an individual who has some contacts in the cheaper hotels in Damascus. The Orient Star is one of these hotels. The room I was shown was filthy, the toilet had been used and not flushed -- or cleaned, there was food detritus all over the bed -- it was truly disgusting. When I wanted to leave to find another hotel I was threatened, bullied, yelled at, and Abdul said he would charge twice the price on my credit card. It was a very nasty experience and it nearly soured my Syrian stay -- but I found another beaut hotel the following day. A mature, sixty-three-year-old solo woman, I had never been treated like this in any other country in the region, and in six months it was the only bad day. Just to make it clear -- the person doing all the bullying and shouting was the hostel broker, not the hotel staff.
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