If boutique hotel

The building isn’t wheelchair accessible, but public transport is nearby. We really enjoyed our stay. The modern rooms were stylish, very clean, and comfortable, with canal views from the front. There’s a cosy outdoor sitting area in the back garden that makes good use of the space, plus a small lounge with tea-making facilities and a coffee machine.

The room we booked was the only category available on the website, and it turned out to be the one basement room. It felt as if it was right beside the lobby. I would have appreciated a heads-up that it was so different from the other rooms. The hotel itself is beautiful and thoughtfully designed. The room has personality, and you can see the care in the details. The common areas are lovely, and I appreciated the complimentary drinks and snacks, along with the bottle of wine on the counter and its sweet sign inviting guests to help themselves. Check-in was probably the worst I’ve experienced at a hotel. Reception is staffed only until 3 o’clock, while check-in starts at 2:30, leaving a 30-minute window to see someone in person. That arrangement alone wasn’t a problem for me. I’ve used remote entry at plenty of Airbnb’s and like how easy it can be. But I never got any instructions, by email or WhatsApp, or the link to check in remotely. After a long travel day, it took 15 minutes to get into my room. I rang the door buzzer a couple of times before anyone answered. Street and construction noise made it hard to hear them. They let me in and told me to go to the front desk and WhatsApp the number on the sign. I did, but only got automated replies. I called, and a man answered who I think was the owner. He didn’t apologize. He said I should have received an email or WhatsApp message and that booking through a third-party site could sometimes cause issues, even though I had booked directly through the hotel website. After the call, it took him five full minutes to send the link. I think they forgot to set me up in the remote key system, but instead of taking responsibility, they blamed technology. I’d seen earlier Google reviews mentioning check-in problems and hoped they’d sorted out a better process. They seem to be trying to automate things and go touchless, which is common these days, but it wasn’t executed well in my case and took quite a bit away from the experience.

There was no kettle in the room, so we had to go to the lobby for hot water. The bathroom had no ventilation and smelled bad. At 3 a.m., the fire alarm went off as a false alarm, and everyone had to stand outside in the cold for about 30 minutes with no staff there to help. There was no one at reception overnight, and although we were told to contact them on WhatsApp, nobody replied. A bad experience overall, no more than two stars. Avoid this place.

I canceled my reservation more than two months ahead, which I thought was plenty of notice, but the hotel wouldn’t give me a refund or even partial credit. Expedia tried to help and couldn’t get anywhere either. I understand that non-refundable bookings are a thing, but most hotels show some flexibility when given that much notice. That wasn’t my experience here. The lack of communication was what stood out. I was told management would review the case and get back to me, then my calls and emails went unanswered. In the end, I got a final response saying there would be no refund. After this, I wouldn’t choose to stay here.