Novotel Breda

We booked a Superior room, and it matched the photos: clean, spacious and very comfortable. The reception team were warm and professional, and made us feel welcome right away. That stood out compared with other hotels. I’d highly recommend it for either a short or a longer stay.

The pool was very pleasant, and the rooms were clean. I was in room 215 and Lotte at reception gave me a wonderful welcome. Many thanks to the whole team at Novotel Breda, especially Lotte, who was so welcoming and caring, and explained everything clearly.

The food was awful, and the service was worse. We waited an hour for two of the four meals we ordered. One of the meals that arrived was cold, so we sent it back. When we asked about the delay, staff said they were busy. There were only eight people in the restaurant, and they admitted they were preparing food for the football teams’ next day instead of handling customer orders. Had they told us at the start, we could have gone elsewhere. After we challenged them, they chased up the other two meals and the returned one. Another 20 minutes later, the two missing meals arrived, along with the original cold meal, which had clearly only been microwaved. The salad made that obvious. All told, it took an hour and 20 minutes, and the prawns in the surf and turf were burned solid, like a brick, and inedible. The hotel was hosting three football teams for what was apparently an annual event. Their behaviour was disgraceful: yelling, shouting and slamming doors at 4:30am. They ignored the night shift manager’s requests to stop for 40 minutes. Either the kitchen was understaffed or the staff had terrible priorities and organisation. They couldn’t provide good food or service. An awful, awful place.

I’ve stayed here quite a few times and will come again. The hotel is clean and comfortable, with staff who are always polite and helpful. Breakfast has plenty to choose from. It’s also a great location for getting to and from the Hoek ferry terminal in under an hour.