Trifter

I am often a haphazard kind of tourist, especially when someone is waiting for me at my destination.  This was the case on my recent trip to Bucharest, Romania.  Contacts there booked my accommodation – a flat in the centre of the city – introducing me to Rainbow Accommodations.  They emailed me photos of some flats and they looked great.  The first thing that grabbed me was the youthful and stylish decoration, in a broad spectrum of colours.

Yet,  as a budget traveller, I  particularly welcomed the relatively economic nature of the flats.  Mine was €40 a night and as I only spent three nights there, my trip was quite affordable.  I was also informed that other tourist services were on offer and elected to be picked up at the airport for €20.   This is a little steeper than what you would pay for a normal taxi service, but I was persuaded that it was failsafe and secure.  And indeed, a pleasant driver was waiting for me at Otpeni Airport with my name, properly spelled, on a large card.  He drove me to the flat and there, to formalize and pay for my stay, I was greeted by a friendly representative of the company and signed the appropriate papers.

Now, I pause here to warn the inexperienced traveller who might be romanced away on visions of the “Paris of the East,” as the city was dubbed in the 19th century. It rained heavily for most of my March trip, big puddles gathering in the streets not yet renovated by heavy plant machinery.  And so, while I immediately saw that my flat, as promised, was very central, I was taken aback by how depressing it looked from the outside. The street, just off the main thoroughfare of Magheru, was ugly and grey and the block of flats was just that – a block.  An Eastern Bloc, I thought, wryly.  Once in out of the rain, my first impressions remained equally grim.  The hallway was dreary and the ancient lift was a puzzle both to enter and exit, equipped, as it was, with extra doors which seemed to have no useful function.  The building appeared to be a remnant from the days of communist housing, and the wet weather seemed to make it worse. 

Fortunately, however, from then on, the rainbow came out!  The security technology inside the building was superb, the stairs spacious and well-lit and the door to my flat was robust and had a modern entry system. The door to my flat opened, and how bright it was, in shades of orange and green.  How spotless it was!  It was so clean I actually sniffed around, seeking some flaw, but amazingly, there was none (apart from the view of the interior patio, just as drab as the exterior).

I felt right at home at once.  The flat was roomy with a hall, kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom and a little gallery with enormous windows, as was the case throughout the flat.  The furniture was simple and modern, and every effort had been made to make it homey.  It had every appliance under the sun and, although it was very cold outside, there was an excellent heating system and hot water was permanently available.  I spent four days in my Romanian home-from-home and even grew to enjoy watching the people, cats and pigeons occupying the patio when the rain stopped.  All around were banks, cafes and restaurants and the main tourist attractions, such as the fallen dictator Ceausescu´s massive palace project, were close by.

On my return, I delved further into Rainbow Accommodations on their funky and informative website.  Not only do they market to budget tourists, but to corporate employees also, as they have a broad range of flats and prices.  They even encourage foreign owners with a Bucharest property to let it out via Rainbow.

I was lucky to have friends to show me around the Romanian capital but Rainbow has other useful services on offer, including a “clubbing” service.  They take tourists around Bucharest´s “newest and hottest clubs” by taxi and bring them safely back to their accommodation in the wee small hours, no matter how much the worse for wear they are!

When I return to Romania I will be delighted to stay with Rainbow again.