Hotel Studio Bosch Duin Strand

We were so shaken by the host's anger that we couldn't bring ourselves to eat breakfast there. We bought bread at AH and made our own instead. The place itself could be very nice, but after this experience we can't recommend it to family or friends. It was one of the saddest stays we've had in ten years. We arrived around 3:30 pm, when a few groups were checking in, and waited our turn. While helping other guests, the woman running the place asked, “English or Dutch?” then pointed at the door and said, “Outside!” We thought it was rude, though at first we wondered if she simply wasn't comfortable speaking English. When we checked in, we tried to explain how that had come across and suggested she could say, “Can you wait outside?” Instead, she got furious and shouted, “I said PLEASE! ‘Please outside!!’” We didn't think that was true, but she was clearly defensive. There didn't seem to be any point arguing, and what frightened us was how angry she became. We said that if she believed she'd said please, then fine, and tried to move on and get checked in. She stayed upset and shouted to the other guests, pointing at us as she repeated that we'd accused her of saying “Outside” when she'd said “Please.” Nobody wants to be caught up in that kind of argument on holiday. We had no wish to start a fight, and the other guests shouldn't have had to hear it. We tried to let it go, but as she led us down the corridor she growled “grrr!” like a dog. We shuddered. Then she used her position as the owner to suggest she could cancel our booking. In high season, finding another hotel at a similar price at the last minute would obviously be hard. She seemed to know it would be an effective way to get back at us and brought up cancelling at least three times before finally opening our door. It was humiliating and exhausting, and we just wanted her to leave. There are bigger problems in the world, and we don't think this experience compares with those, but we still wanted to describe what happened. We stayed at the hotel at about 3:30 pm, with several groups already checking in, so we waited in line. The woman asked if we spoke English or Dutch and told us “Outside!” while pointing to the door. We didn't like it, but initially thought perhaps her English wasn't very good. When our turn came, we mentioned that her words had upset us. She insisted she'd said “Please,” and yelled at us. We couldn't change her mind, and her anger felt frightening and unlike what you'd expect from a professional host. In her view, she was completely right and everyone else was wrong. We weren't interested in arguing, so we tried to end the conversation and check in quickly. After that, we were worried about what might happen at breakfast and couldn't eat it. We picked up bread at AH and prepared breakfast ourselves. The hotel may have a lot going for it if you can stay away from her, but we can't recommend it to people close to us. It was among the saddest experiences we've had in the past decade.