Although the EBU haven’t officially announced the host city of Eurovision 2014, we’ve all got the feeling that it’s Herning. As we recently pointed out, the date of the Grand Final has been moved forward to the 10th of May rather than the 17th, supposedly to suit all of the host cities. But the fact that world-famous conductor Andrei Rieu is throwing a massive concert in Herning at The Box during the original Eurovision dates has left us suspicious. Rul, rul suspicious. Herning is looking pretty likely, y’all.
We didn’t even know that Herning existed before it was named a potential host city. On first impression, it seemed like a traditional Danish town with shops, fields and luckily for us a rather large indoor arena that holds up to 15,000 people. But after digging through travel brochures and visiting TripAdvisor, it seems like Eurovision in Herning may not be as wonderful as the Danish broadcaster claims it will be…
There are very few hotels in Herning to begin with. TripAdvisor only lists eight. And most of those have left travelers angry, annoyed, and desperately hoping they can catch the next train to Copenhagen or buy an inflatable tent. When reviewing Hotel BirkeGaarden, one guest tells us to “avoid [it] like the plague” due to the lack of comfortable chairs, clean bathrooms, phones and most importantly INTERNET.
The reviews frequently complain that there are no people in reception to call taxis, and that guests are frequently left walking “in the middle of nowhere”. That would be the lovely fields we keep hearing about. Oh dear. It worries us that Herning hotel reviews are likely to have the title “Beware” or “Make it your last choice”. We’re hoping organizers read a few of these and make Herning their last choice. Until then we’ll be praying for Copenhagen—and reserving a homestay on Air B&B!
Katie Wilson contributed this report from the U.K. Follow her on Twitter @KatieWillFly. Then like our Facebook page to keep up-to-date with the latest ESC news and gossip.
Okay I know the last comment on this was AGES AGO, but I’m extremely bored and have just googled this now… Did anyone else know that Herning was three hours and two ferry rides away from Copenhagen?! So anyone (which is everyone) who will be flying into Demark via Copenhagen, will have to endure THAT. Oh dear… This should be fun.
@Alex My directions include swim from New York to Lisbon 🙂
… although those were bike directions. Maybe I could use the car directions (which estimate 23 hours, 7 minutes)
@David: Google Maps says “We could not calculate directions between Bucharest, Romania and Herning, Denmark.” 🙁
@Emily – Actually the real reason they changed it was so I can go to the show. But they didn’t want to admit that, so the official reason was Norway.
I think the dates have also been changed to suit the Norwegians, who celebrate their national day (instead of Eurovision!) on May 17.
I think it looks kind of cozy, sort of like small town chic. :3 And you want to talk about bad hotels, talk to me about the Sunset Inn in Hollywood, I have MANY stories…
@Alex – take a look at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g294458-Bucharest-Hotels.html – they have some very nice hotels in Romania.
I’ll make sure to bring my bike on the plane.
I made the stupid mistake of staying in Copenhagen this year and commuting between Copenhagen and Malmo for this years Eurovision. Trust me your better off staying in the crappiest hotel closest to the arena than a good hotel further out, as although it was only a 20 minute commute from arena to hotel, it was frustrating missing out on being around the atmosphere, cafes etc.
I mean who stays in their hotels anyway? I stayed maximum 2-3 hours a night in my hotel
Also, when so many places these days has free wifi, why is that an issue?
What if Romania was hosting it? Believe me, those kind of problems, like there is no person at the reception to call you a taxi, we don’t even care of those stuff, because here it is so much worse. And I don’t see any problem in the idea of going to Herning. It would be a change. Maybe a bad one but this is it. Everyone should think how it would be if Eurovision is being held in a country with not so much money before praying not to go to Herning because the receptionists don’t call you a taxi!!… Read more »
Well this is sure one way to insure that only the most loyal of ESC fans show up at the concert 🙂
Yuck!! What are the Danea thinking?!