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Good Rate: Party Like It's 2007 at Intercontinental Bucharest

Where: 4 NICOLAE BALCESCU BLVD, Bucharest, Romania, 70122

[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which is better worth your hard-earned benjamins. The rate here was valid on December 19, 2006 and is subject to change.]

Yes, you could celebrate New Year's Eve in New York or Las Vegas, but how about in a place where January 1, 2007 is a major deal instead? Watch enough fireworks to blow up an entire city on display in Bucharest, Romania as the country celebrates its entry into the European Union.

From what we hear, New Year's Eve in Bucharest is like the shelling of a city without the actual damage. Just the noise, smoke, and confusion caused by nearly every citizen setting off massive quantities of fireworks--and drinking a toast each time a fuse is lit.

We suggest watching it all safely behind the glass of a nice hotel room with a view. We like the bang for the buck (literally) you'll get from the InterContinental Bucharest. It's a high-rise without much around it, so the city view rooms here will have a panoramic show going on all night long. (Don't plan on doing any sleeping, no matter where you stay.)

King bed doubles with a city view go for 119 euros on December 31st, in the neighborhood of $150. A nice deal for a European hotel on a prime holiday night.

According to a blog post from Romania guidebook writer Leif Pettersen, you won't be hurting for entertainment.

As soon as the sun goes down at 4:45PM, the sky lights up with a constant barrage of colorful fire balls being set off in every corner of the city. The smell of gunpowder is pungent. The sensory overload from all the noise and light is so profound that deep inebriation is virtually required just to stay conscious - which of course everyone is quite happy to oblige. Then the climax, a fireworks display like you've never seen, right above Iasi's magnificent Palace of Culture, where the show by the hired pyrotechnics team is enriched by every last wino, detonating his entire stash while surrounded by tens of thousands of people.

Obviously, get a room as high up as possible. Since the Romanians have even more reason to celebrate this year, you might want to eat in the hotel as well. Or wear a helmet when you go out walking the streets in case of falling debris.

Tags: Bad Rate / Romania Hotel Reviews / New Year's Eve Hotels / → All Tags

Bad Rate: New Year's Eve in Bucharest at the Kiwi Hostel

Where: Viilor Street, No 44, Sector 5, Bucharest, Romania

[Ed. Note: This is the Bad Rate in our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature. This rate was valid on December 19, 2006 and is subject to change. Enjoy.]

You could sit in a high hotel tower and take in the crazy fireworks display that will envelop Romania's capital on December 31, as the country celebrates its entry into the EU. Or you could bunker down in a backpacker hostel that costs $78 a night. Hmmmm...

Maybe 30 euros a person for a hostel bed is pretty normal in London or Paris, but when you can get a decent hotel room for that price in Romania, no thanks. We're not sure how a place in Bucharest ends up being named the Kiwi Hostel anyway---do that many New Zealanders really make it to here? The web site is worth a visit for the photos and descriptions though. Here's what you'd get:

Located near Gara Filaret, Murat Transport, Toros Transport, Ortodogu Transport on Sos. Viilor nr. 44, 5 minutes Parcul Carol and Hotel Marriott. It is the best, hostel for those coming from Turkey, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary by bus to Bucharest since near there all buses com in and go out from Gara Filaret. The Hostel offers you with low budget the comfort and style of its 20 proofed and entirely air-conditioned double bed rooms and the facilities the modern traveler needs for both business and leisure. We provide internet, tv satellite, air conditioner, fresh odor, quality and relaxation.

Gee, spending New Year's Eve taking in the "fresh odor" with Serbians and Ukranians sure sounds tempting, and the busty worker on their website may enhance the stay, but we think we'll go for this week's Good Rate instead at the InterContinental Bucharest.