What you can get for a $45 per day Dili hotel room

Sun, 09/06/2009 12:34 PM  |  Travel

Finding a hotel that suits your purpose is quite an experience in Dili, especially when it is hosting an international event.

So after endless discussion, the friendly taxi driver I hired from the Comoro international airport took me around the capital for a hotel room. The common problem with all those I looked into was that either they did not have basic facilities for a business traveler, such as internet connections and air-conditioning, and lacked safety standards.

Exhausted after hours of dropping-by, we stopped looking and settled on a very modest hotel caled Lus Clarita. Until you are shown the unconspicuous signs, you might think this hotel is one of those regular shop houses. The gate is half-open with folded steel door commonly used for a garage, with cars parked on the walkway day and night.

I liked this hotel because it's located in the center of the capital. Upon checking a few rooms on the second floor, I picked a single bed standard one at US$45 a day because each of the three more spacious $60 a night "suites" overlooking the street were fully-booked already.

On Friday and Saturday nights, this hotel is a favorite drinking spot for expatriates. So if you cannot stand the deafening house music breaking into your non-sound-proof bedroom from about 10 p.m. through 5 in the morning, just go and join the party.

Yes, these unpretentious room doors often allow you to hear strange noises from the inside that may make you hard to sleep the rest of the night.

Man, what a nice hotel. The smell typical of a room lacking ventilation will greet you as you step into the second floor and into the 4-by-3-square-meter bedroom. After opening the window for fresh air, we searched for a telephone to order some refreshments.

No phone. You have to run down the stairs. No bar, no minimarkets there so you have to cross the street for personal supplies.

The interior view of the small room is dominated by a 1.5- by-1.5 -meter-wide, 2.5-meter-tall pink cement cubicle. That unpretentious structure is our bathroom.

The air conditioner was excellent. Curious about what happened in the world that day, my friend switched on the 14-inch TV in the corner.

"It's airing a sand storm," my friend said laughing.

The little decoder showed no sign of life either.

"Hi, room service?"

"No man is available to fix the TV," said a room service attendant who happened to pass by.

Since then my friend misused the nice wooden TV and fridge rack as a place to put towels and laundry until the TV set was fixed on the fourth day.

Thirsty after half an hour laughing and joking, my friend opened the refrigerator for a cool drink. Oops, empty.

The bathroom is not too bad for the hotel of this standard, except for the corroded metal parts and the stink of the yellowish tap water when you first open the shower and the sink.

On the third night, we found the bathroom light dead. The next morning, I almost tripped back when the bathroom door's handle loosened off as I pulled it.

Man, could Dili have had modern hotels if Indonesia had not colonized it for 24 years?

- Pandaya

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