Fletcher Hotel De Witte Brug

The honey seller was asked why the circus job was better than you. He replied, in his sweet, honeyed words, that the circus was better than him.

I picked this hotel because it was around 30/40 minutes from Rotterdam Ahoy, which worked for that purpose. But two hot nights with mosquitoes left me uncomfortable for the whole trip. Fans or air-con in the room might have meant I could keep the patio doors shut; I opened them to cool things down, and the bugs came in. My two colleagues had no trouble with the heat or insects, since their rooms were in a cooler part of the building. The place looks a little tired. My room, A12, had a frustrating layout and wasn't cleaned well: splatted bugs on the walls, dust along the skirting boards and under the bed. The picture also left me with questions about the hotel's hygiene. The staff were helpful, though. They lent me a phone charger and a big tin of bug spray 😬

The room and bathroom smelled fresh when we arrived, and the bed was really comfortable. We only had two pillows for two people, so it would be nice to have extras in the cupboard. The room itself was perfect, though the decor is extremely dated, especially the orange sofa. Breakfast was frustrating. It was packed when I went down around 8:30, so I came back at 9:26 when only two tables were occupied. The staff hadn't had time to clean or restock: there was no more cheese, scrambled eggs or ham, and basically just two slices of cold cuts. No chocolate drinks and only one croissant, either. I noticed there was only one waiter, so it seemed impossible for her to keep up with everything. She was very friendly and polite.

The bed was nice, and the breakfast buffet had everything, though it looked a bit carelessly put together. But after several years of mini breaks at many Fletcher hotels, where we'd always been satisfied despite differences in quality, this stay was disappointing. The room was badly lit. The bathroom mirror was almost impossible to use in such dim light, and the TV was positioned so it was uncomfortable to watch. There was a table and three comfortable chairs, but no light for reading or writing. Staff weren't openly unfriendly, just indifferent and uninterested. These things can all be fixed. Good luck.