Pro gamer S1mple (pictured) got into a conflict with a hotel in Malta because of complaints he made through his Twitter account. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

A very public debate

A popular gamer has sparked outrage at a Maltese hotel by criticizing the property’s cleanliness standards with his 700,000+ Twitter followers.

Ukrainian player Oleksandr Kostyliev, known in gaming circles as S1mple, was recently staying in Malta for the Electronic Sports League (ESL) Pro League Season 16 playoffs. Last week, he went on Twitter to air his disapproval of both the league’s communication and his accommodation, which he deemed “sh*t:”

Among his list of complaints about the four-star property, S1mple alleges he woke up to ants in his bed, found mold on the walls, and was forced to move rooms. “I’m just asking ESL to tell their staff to communicate with this hotel to wake up this hotel and fix all those problems,” he added.

the gamer refused to allow the cleaning staff into his room

The hotel is not going down without a fight, however. His management team told the local news source Lovin Malta that there is little truth to S1mple’s claims. In fact, they allege that the gamer refused to allow the cleaning staff in his room during the three-week stay.

Two sides of the story

S1mple and the hotel are both sticking to two very different narratives. Providing evidence for his own claims, S1mple shared an image on Twitter showing mold near the ventilation system on the wall of his hotel. He also alleges that he refrained from complaining until a change of room situation angered him:

In response, the hotel management said that the room did not contain any mold or ants before S1mple’s arrival. They also explained that the gamer initially had two rooms – one for gaming and one for living. In the end he had to get out of one because another player had booked it.

he kept a ‘do not disturb’ sign on his door

During his stay, hotel staff claim S1mple kept a ‘do not disturb’ sign on his door to prevent cleaning, meaning they had to resort to leaving fresh bed linen outside his room. When the staff finally asked to clean the room, S1mple allegedly told them not to enter under any circumstances.

Back to Twitter

After the hotel’s reaction to S1mple made the news on Monday, S1mple returned to Twitter to give his response. On Tuesday, he wrote: “Tomorrow all your lies will come out,” adding: “If this bothers you so much, then you should finally understand that not everyone will remain silent about your shady actions. ” Later that day he shared his simple summation of the situation:

ESL senior vice president of gaming ecosystems, Ulrich ‘TheFlyingDJ’ Schulze also took to social media in an attempt to shed some light on the situation. On Reddit, He explained that, while S1mple was moved to a new hotel room upon request, he also went public with his complaints before contacting ESL staff.

Countering S1mple’s claims of a lack of communication, Schulze asserted that ESL has a “fairly active dialogue” with all of its teams and players and has not received any complaints from anyone else who sits in the hotel about the mold. He did not establish whether he believed the claims, but claimed that ESL staff are working with the “high standard” hotel to assess how the issue occurred.

VegasSlotsOnline News reached out to both S1mple and hotel management for further comment on the situation.