We get a lot of spam email at Gadling, but the worst perpitrator is this place called Hotel Spirit, a random hotel in Bratislava, Slovakia that wont stop sending us emails every day or two. All of them say the same thing:

Cheap accommodation in attractive avant-garde hotel in Bratislava, Slovakia!

We've tried emailling them back, blocking IP addresses and begging for them to stop spamming us, but the emails keep coming. And coming.

Finally, our blogger Jeff White decided to stop by and see what all of the fuss was about. Passing through Eastern Europe on one of his assignments he stopped by the hotel for a look. He recalls the experience in this team email:

"I was first told that they had no rooms available. I asked how this was possible in Bratislava on a Sunday in February. It actually turned out that there was only one other person staying at the place, but that the girl at the front desk just hadn't gotten around to cleaning any of the rooms. Funny, indeed. My physical beauty, such that it is, did not improve from the experience. The black speck in the picture is me."

With Jeff's passing last week we lost not only a great friend but also a person would who cared dearly about the blog and would chase down leads like this just to give the team a laugh. We'll miss him dearly.

If Hotel Spirit gets struck with a bolt of lightning in the near future, well, it may not be a coincidence. Safe travels, Jeff White.