GERMANY: New hotel in German capital has just one single room and is located on the former "death strip" which separated East and West Berlin

The Single Room Hotel, a windowless space hidden behind billboards and only accessible by a stepladder is the latest addition to Berlin's hotel industry. French artist Etienne Boulanger created his project on what used to be the so called "death strip" along the former Berlin Wall. The wasteland is now home to Skulpturenpark (sculpture park) Berlin and Boulanger was invited to contribute his work. Philip Horst, one of five artists running Skulpturenpark, told Reuters Television "Etienne Boulanger's Single Room Hotel is a fully equipped two star standard room of 24 square metres, a comfortable double bed, a night lamp, television and reading materials." "There is a bathroom complete with toilet, shower and of course hot running water," Horst said of the room which can be booked through the Internet at just under 20 euros (29.46 U.S. dollars) per night. Eighteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the wasteland along the former wall has fallen to real estate investors who fenced off most of the area, according to Horst. "Boulanger's idea was to make use of an economic cycle and use the rented out advertising spaces to finance the hotel," Horst said. Members of a French tour group interested in art projects passed by the Single Room Hotel on Sunday afternoon (November 25) found it to be "comfortable." "From the outside you would never guess that it's a hotel. But once you come inside it's certainly pleasant," said Mrs Jung. Guests interested in booking the room "for the sophisticated traveller and everyday adventurer" will find "it is within walking distance of nearly all of Berlin's most significant tourist attractions," the hotel's Internet site says. A woman from Chigaco was said to be staying at the Single Room Hotel on Sunday night and interest in a stay at the unconventional motel is mounting. Room reservations are accepted until March 2008 and a night at the "centrally located" intersection may be considered an insider's tip. (1 U.S. dollar =.6754 Euro)

ITN Source | November 26, 2007

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