Whilst looking for a hotel on the main street down from the taxi square, an oldish-looking man accosted us with the word 'hotel?' while gesturing towards his eyes. A swap of glances between my travelling companion and I led us to repond in the affirmative. The gentleman beckoned us down a side-road, continually looking over his shoulder and waving us on at a brisk pace. A couple of hundred yards later and it transpired that the 'hotel' to which the gentleman was alluding was in fact a spare room at the back of his house. Negotiating an old pallet and some spectacularly awkward steps, the 'hotelier' showed us into a small hall with a washroom off one way, and a double and single bed in an adjoining room. The gentleman marched over to the bedside table and, picking something up, turned and proudly presented us with his business card: 'Hotel Tuto' and a phone number scribbled onto the back of a torn up cigarette carton. According to the gesticulations of our host, the whole building belonged to Tuto and his family.
After instructing us, in detailed Albanian, how to use the shower (something about turning off the electricity to avoid...and I didn't quite catch the last bit), we agreed a price of 700 Leke for the pair of us (about £5, I think). With that he marched out of the door with a smile on his face.
Unique Qualities: The alarm call in the morning was Tuto knocking on the window bars and saying 'Checkout' whilst holding up ten fingers, then 'Chelsea' while signalling a double thumbs down. If only I knew the Albanian idiom for 'I'm a Kidderminster Harriers fan'.
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Phone: 0652817154
Directions: Just off the main drag, near the football pitch
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on Feb 22, 2007
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