THE HOTEL BOO ALI

In writing the following piece I was reminded of a hotel I stayed at in Hamedan, Iran. I recalled that the name of the place was Boo Ali. It was nearly 50 years ago so I wondered if that could really have been the name. The memory can play tricks and the name did seem odd. But in this modern day of googling it’s easy to look things up. And there it was:

BOO-ALI-e-HAMEDAN HOTEL
Tel: 81-33070, 33071
Fax: 81-33072
Activity: Hotel services

There really is a hotel by that name in Hamedan (my spell-check says it’s Hamadan but I’ll go with what they use here). You can see for yourself *HERE*.

It was perhaps the most remarkable hotel I have ever stayed in. It was like staying in a large Persian museum. Everything looked very, very expensive. All the furniture seemed to be antique. Thick carpeting covered walls as well as the floor. Ancient armor lined the hallways separated by luxurious, old furniture.

It cost five dollars a night to stay there but the hotel was almost empty. There was very little traffic on the roads in those days so there were few travelers.

There is no point to this piece except to brag about my memory.