When One Place Leads to Another

Ever since getting on a plane and flying to Rome 20 years ago with a backpack full of traveler’s checks (do those still exist?), I’ve never much worried about not having a place to stay when I arrived at my destination. So I found myself in Hamburg, Germany, planning for a weekend in Berlin. I had a couple of guidebooks with me but wasn’t at all familiar with the German capital or its safety. Was the area around the train station viable? What would work best for such a short stay?

Walking around Hamburg with colleagues on a press trip, we passed a Motel One right by the hotel at which we were staying. The name of the place, so similar to Motel 6 in the United States, inspired a conversation. One of my colleagues had stayed in Motel One and was planning to do so again when she was on her own in southern Germany later in the month. Motel One was not an entry in any of my books. Yes, my colleague said, it is fine; the prices were great; there should be no worries. The clientele has a young and professional crowd; there’s a free breakfast and a fashionable lobby; the prices are great.

I discarded the advice of my travel books and relied on a relative stranger’s recommendation. I booked a room via the Internet and stayed at the Motel One Berlin-Hauptbahnhof, within walking distance of the train station and of the Reichstag. Word of mouth proved very reliable. My extemporaneous adventure could begin.

© Lori Tripoli