Boutique Hotel La Belle Vue

The stairs are worth thinking about before booking: there are loads of them. They should be manageable if you’re reasonably fit, and this is common in central Amsterdam outside the historically wealthy areas, but it could still be a challenge. The location is ideal if you’ll mostly be out exploring. Our room matched the listing, and it was clean, with daily cleaning. The bathroom was ordinary, nothing particularly good or bad. The rooms are converted from former houses, and given the restrictions on listed Amsterdam properties, I thought the renovation was well done.

I’m a budget traveller and usually take bad reviews with a grain of salt, but after two nights of a three-night stay, I’m just waiting to leave. The location is good, though there are better options on the same street. The room is tiny and badly laid out. There’s nowhere to put a suitcase except in the way, and I kept bumping into things. I had a double room, but I can’t see two people being comfortable in it. It’s grubby and dusty everywhere. The kettle even had food in the bottom. There’s no coffee, creamer or sugar, just a big box of Twinings tea and one tiny mug with no spoon. You can only plug in the kettle if you move it to the bedside table. The sink is too small to fill a water bottle or the kettle, so you have to use the shower head. The shower has no screen or curtain, leaving the floor soaked, and the water pressure is awful. It’s just bad. Don’t bother.

We left immediately because of the hygiene problems and the way staff treated us. Shortly after checking in, we saw a bedbug crawling on the wall and reported it at the front desk. The staff laughed at us, brushed off our concerns and refused to help. There was no apology, replacement room or compensation. Their response felt shockingly unprofessional, and we felt unsupported and unsafe. The room also looked far worse than the online photos: worn, poorly maintained and not very clean. The gap between the advertised pictures and the actual condition was unacceptable. I strongly advise people to avoid this hotel. No one should have to deal with this kind of negligence or dismissive behaviour.

The fourth floor smelled the least like human faeces, and at least we didn’t have bed bugs. The stairs weren’t as bad as people say, but with vertigo or a physical disability I wouldn’t stay here. The location was decent. We were woken by the fire alarm every morning between 5 and 8. A leaking pipe dripped onto my bag, there was mould in the bathroom, and the bathroom sink leaked too. Its motion-sensor light kept going out while you were in the shower. They said we’d already been given a free room upgrade. I hate to imagine the room we were meant to get. I wouldn’t stay here again.