Campanile Hotel Gouda

For the price, it's a reliable, comfortable place to stay while visiting the city, and especially convenient if you're arriving by car. The rooms are clean and have the essentials, though some of the decor feels dated. We found the service and comfort good, and the staff speak English well and are very helpful.

The staff were all really friendly and spoke English and German as well as Dutch. The lounge and bar were nice, the bathroom was clean with the basics, and the beds were comfortable. For a short stay, it's a pleasant enough place, but by American standards I'd call it a motel: the room doors open to the outside. Rooms are very small and have neither a microwave nor a fridge. I wish they'd put a few more towels in the room. Parking is safe, with an entry code required at night. It's about 45 mins from schipol and not too expensive.

For a three-star hotel, it's generally okay. But nobody told us the elevator wasn't working, and we were assigned a room on the third floor. That's a serious issue for someone with mobility disabilities, or a woman traveling with a child in a stroller. To the owner: when we booked by email, nobody mentioned the elevator was out of order. We had luggage and a stroller with a child, yet were given the third-floor room and weren't offered another option. The receptionist only said the elevator wasn't working, without offering any help. Please don't stray from the truth.

The staff were fantastic and helpful, and the rooms themselves were clean and comfortable, though basic in the American motel style. We might have been happy if it weren't for the smoke. The hotel lets guests smoke on the outside walkway by the rooms, so whenever we opened the window to cool the baking hot room in summer, smoke came inside. We had to shut it again every hour or so through the night, and were exhausted by breakfast. Maybe smokers really do get up that often for a cigarette or pot, or maybe we were unlucky. We haven't stayed in a room this smoky for decades. It feels like a time warp back to the 1990s. You can choose a smoke-free, overheated room or a cooler one full of smoke. The hotel could easily put smokers on one side of the building and everyone else on the other, or just ban smoking. At a regular hotel, smokers would have to go outside anyway. If you have kids and care about their health, or care about your own, I'd advise against staying here in summer.