Hotel Seven Star

The staff, especially the owner, helped me out a lot! He tried getting me a train ticket but unfortunately they were sold out, so he helped me get a bus ticket

Dirt on the walls, floor and bathroom

The price is fair and you can pay by card just same as cash. The location is good: central and safe, despite the appearances. The hotel lies in a lit and a bit wider road surrounded by a maze of dark, narrow and filthy alleys, but they are totally safe even at night. The reception is open 24/7 and if you arrive after midnight you can just give a shout from the gate and the keeper who sleeps on the sofa at the reception will come (same when I checked out very early morning he opened the gate). They were promptly responsive to my messages on Booking.com prior to my arrival which is paramount for the organization. Rooms have no window which is good for at least a little sound isolation (Dhaka is extremely noisy, even late at night and early morning) and for pollution/smell protection (when you use wipes on your face you’ll see the dirt). I had an inconvenient with the agency with which I pre-booked a tour (their POS did not work) and the receptionist organized the same tour calling a driver for the same price, which was a fair one. The driver was nice: he made no hurries when I was visiting and he was always ready to bring me to every stop that I wanted to make in Bagerhat. This hotel should start to offer tours to tourist like other hotels in the country (for example the one where I stayed in Bogura); I hope with me they will give it a go. The hotel is also near to where busses to Panam city depart, so you can visit it by your own, and the subway is also not far. The hotel provides towel, toilet paper and toiletries. They stored my luggage after my check-out until I went to airport for my night flight. Very recommended place.

Although overall the cleanliness was ok, it could be better: rooms are not cleaned after each check-out (on my second stay I even found the toilet was not flushed). There is no elevator, but the porter carries your luggage to the room. There is no common kitchen(ette), but the receptionist provided me a plate and a knife to enjoy fruits that I bought at the green market. The hotel is in the centre of old town, which means it will take even 3 hours (or more) to go to the airport if you go by car. I used a CNG upon arrival and it took one and a half hour, while I used a motorbike when leaving and it took 40 minutes. Traffic in Dhaka is jam-packed to the nth level, so motorbikes are not only cheaper, but also faster (the Bangladeshi app is called Pathao). You will see how kind Bangladeshi people are (I spent hours playing badminton and sipping tea with them in the yard of the mosques): they will steal your heart, which is not the only thing that they may steal, though. There is a reason why CNGs have cages and why people squeeze their phone to their chest while walking and the reason is the high risk of snatch thefts. For your information about the country, there is no violent crime and no one would attack you even if they see you carry valuables, but common sense and normal safety precautions are absolutely NOT enough here against snatch thefts (I used proper specific measures and it worked). Foreigners are not specifically targeted, but they are not specifically spared either (unlike in other countries where the population do not want tourists to run away).

Nice Clean

N/A

According to the hotel bed was not good.

The bed sheets were of verities colors which did not match the hotel. And it was not washed. The pillow was very low which was very uncomfortable to sleep on. However, the staff was very good.