Stayed here with a friend for a few days whilst in the city.
Pros-
Location is decent- literally seconds away from the train station which gets you to most tourist spots within 20- 25 minutes. Very easy to get here from Schipol airport by public transport too. Not much going on in the area adjacent to the hotel- there is a small cafe that seems to not open regularly (didn't visit it myself but noticed it shut on our last day). A taxi to Schipol is between 25-35 euros so well priced in my opinion.
Staff were very polite and friendly and seemed eager to help where they could. Aarzoo in particular and Bimoo (?) at the bar were wonderful. My companion was sick throughout our stay and I must compliment the various help she received including letting us take hot water up after breakfast for her to keep sipping, granting us a late checkout so she could get some extra sleep etc.- thank you, much appreciated and very welcome.
Cleanliness of rooms, bar and hotel overall was perfect. Just what I'd expect of a 4 star hotel. Pristine and literally every day people would be walking in from the rain but we never saw any dirt anywhere- very impressed.
Cons-
We had booked a room with 2 single beds- we entered to find 2 singles pushed together to form one larger bed. Maintenance came up to separate the beds- sorted very quickly but clearly not as per our reservation. Once separated, we had hardly any room to actually move about the room (I kept hitting my knee against the wardrobe when I had to get up). The mattresses are absolutely awful- I've literally never stayed in any hotel with such poor mattresses. The second you sat on the bed the mattresses would sink- not 4 star quality by any means at all and completely unexpected. No pillows as such- rather square shaped cushions which meant awkward sleep- no reason why actual pillows weren't provided.
Water bottles provided in the room were not replenished daily- when queried we were told that you only get these when you check in. I've never been to any hotel where this has been the norm- certainly not a 4 star. No big deal, bought water bottles after the first night but would have been good to know this when checking in.
Bought a 3 day travel pass for public transport at reception on day 1- turned out (as we learned on the second day) that this was only a 1 day pass. Had to purchase another ticket, took the existing one back to the hotel- refunded after what seemed like an age and with zero apology. Not acceptable- this isn't about the star of hotel, rather about standard courtesy. No offer of refunding us for the additional ticket we'd had to purchase.
Coffee machine in room was a nice feature (standard and was expected). However, on our arrival there were no mugs. This seemed extremely odd. We had to call reception to get mugs and had to explain we needed these to use the coffee machine- had nobody actually inspected the room before we arrived? Certainly seemed not.
Space in the room was okay- definitely a tight squeeze for two people and with no space except the beds to open up luggage (we had a suitcase each). We had to ask for one of the chairs plus a small side table from the room to be taken out as there just wasn't enough space and the maintenance man who came to do this said 'yes I see' when we explained why we had asked for this as we just couldn't move about plus fit out cases in. Not as advertised and we peeked in other rooms on our floor when they were being turned over, to find that they were much bigger (this was despite us being told at check in that ours was 'one of the bigger rooms' when we asked if we could change rooms). Instead of overloading rooms with 2 chairs, a pointless side table, a lamp that doesn't work etc.- how about cutting back on some of these things to allow for more space? I'm sure guests would appreciate function over aesthetics (though of course a balance of both is ideal).
Breakfast- visually appealing however really lacking what I'd expect of a 4 star hotel. Namely no beans, no hash browns, omelette bar open on select days (on our last day there was no omelette bar, no reason given and instead we had to choose from scrambled eggs which were pre-made and absolutely awful or fried eggs). Good variety of fruit, lots of different varieties of bread but if you're expecting a standard cooked breakfast- it's hit and miss. Not up to the standard that I'd expect.
Welcome drinks vouchers given to us as we checked out- these explicitly stated welcome drinks but we weren't given them upon check in. What's the deal with this- are they standard or not? A nice touch nevertheless but perhaps just clarify when they should be given out.
Check in- our experience was fine for the most part, very welcoming. However, we were given no information about what time breakfast was, where it was, what floor the gym was on, what time check out was etc. I'd ask that this perhaps be used as constructive criticism for other guests- we're both used to getting such information at check in and found it a bit odd to not have this.
Overall I'd not recommend this hotel based purely on the fact that you can get much cheaper accommodation (that may not be 4 star but will offer everything that this hotel does). In addition, for the amount we paid I would have expected comfortable beds to ensure decent sleep and a full cooked breakfast. An apology when things go wrong would also be good (particularly in the case of the travel passes we'd purchased). Save your money and book a hotel at a chain like Accor- you'll know exactly what to expect and won't feel misled or ripped off. Such a shame as I would have liked to return to this hotel for just the location alone for my future visits to the City. Alas, the search for an alternative continues.
