Hotel Vondel Garden - Digital Access

I liked the digital key for all the doors, and they also provided coffee and tea. The four-person room was spacious, with a table, TV, kettle and coffee maker. Cleaning came while we were out and took care of the bathroom. There’s central heating plus an extra heater. The location is excellent, close to an area full of bars and cafes, and it felt like good value for money. The double room was far too small, and the walls were so thin we could hear a lot of noise from the hallway.

It was an interesting self-service setup. A man welcomed us and looked after our suitcase so we could go explore before check-in. As we were leaving the next day, a friendly cleaning lady asked in the hallway if we needed anything else. The location was especially good. The downside was the thin walls, we could hear our neighbors coming back to their rooms.

The room smelled strongly of damp and drains as soon as we walked in. The mattresses were disgustingly stained underneath the topper, and the bed arrangement was awful. We’d booked a large double, but got two singles pushed together with a topper that was too small. During the night we sank into the gap as the beds shifted apart, and the topper’s edge made an uneven ledge that was too uncomfortable to sleep at the sides. There was also a draft coming through the window and down the sides of the bed. People smoked outside our ground floor room, and the smoke came inside. The rooms aren’t soundproof, either, so we could hear loud talking in the corridor at unsociable hours. At 10am, while we were still in bed and with checkout at 11am, the cleaning lady came into our room without permission. I messaged management using their chat service and got no reply, either then or in the morning. I’ve tried contacting the hotel again since, still no response. They don’t care.

For a one-night stay, Hotel Vondel Garden worked well and was convenient. It’s close to Vondelpark and you can walk to many attractions. The bathroom was quite small, and the stairs are very steep, which could be tricky with luggage.