InterCityHotel Speyer - Speyer, Germany 

I booked a room in this hotel for business. Speyer is a tiny little town, so I wasn't expecting any 5* hotel. However, the InterCity fell way short of what I expected from this chain, and whose hotel I have often visited in Munich. I had booked a 'Comfort' room - a class above a standard room, apparently. However, I was very disappointed when I got into the room - not only is the decor dreadful - vertical black and white trimmings, with a bed pointing diagonally into a corner, but it was really grubby. The first thing I noticed was a large patch on the carpet, which looked as though someone had been sick, and it had then been cleared up with bleach, which had discoloured the carpet. The reception area was more like the entrance to a sports centre than a hotel. In the evening I had my meal there - the Flammkuchen (kind of pancake) with sourcream was lovely. The locals at the bar were very loud in discussing their political views, and the volume was made worse by the hard floor tiling everywhere (which gave the place a rather cold atmosphere). The wireless LAN was dreadful. I signed up three times (for 2x 1 hour and 1x 2 hours) and got about 15 minutes worth of internet access. Breakfast was fine - and there was a lot of choice - no complaints there.