Beach Hotel De Vigilante

Makkum is a lovely, picturesque village, and the Dutch food was good. The location is nice and the service excellent. Rooms were OK, and breakfast was OK too, though it cost extra.

The restaurant kitchen closes at 9 p.m., even though the restaurant is advertised as open until 11 p.m. and takes table reservations until then. After 9, you can only order drinks. Breakfast was another surprise: the booking information says it's included, but reception asks for an extra 21 euros per person. The rooms are very small and dated, with old, streaked shower rooms and no refrigerator or bottled water. There's moss all over the balcony. The hotel's four-star rating doesn't fit; I'd give it two or three stars at most. The photo they advertise shows a sea and beach view, but to the left the actual view includes construction sites and excavators on the beach. Soundproofing is nonexistent. You hear every step the maids take when cleaning starts at 7 a.m., so sleeping in on a day off isn't possible. And if you do sleep late and want your room cleaned after noon, you can't, because the maids stop working then.

We ended up in a small, very dated room with small single beds after the superior room with a view we'd booked hadn't been cleaned. The replacement room wasn't cleaned properly either. The staff did what they could to help, and the restaurant was good. When we asked the next day for a refund of the 30-40 price difference, we were offered 10 euros.

The lack of parking was a headache. There are no reserved spaces for hotel guests, so on a warm sunny day, or when the hotel is full and people are at the beach, finding a spot is difficult. The rooms also weren't cleaned and the towels weren't changed because we weren't given the form at check-in asking whether we wanted those services. We couldn't book directly with the hotel because it only accepts Dutch and Belgian bank accounts. Booking.com had trouble getting clear answers from the hotel about breakfast and our toddler. Breakfast costs €21 per person per day, and was the most disappointing hotel breakfast we've ever had: no variety, just cold sweaty meats and cheese, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, bacon, and a few pastries. There wasn't much for vegetarians or vegans, or for someone with a limited diet, such as being pregnant and unable to eat raw or cold meats. We waited more than half an hour at the on-site restaurant for anyone to bring a menu or take our drinks order. In the end we gave up and went next door to eat. The rooms are dated, need renovation, and badly need a deep clean. The beds are old and uncomfortable, and the filthy, stained mattresses made a dog bed seem preferable. The so-called luxury sea-facing rooms only had slightly newer headboards and somewhat fresher paint and wallpaper. Land-facing rooms were worse, with beds that were barely mattresses and no toppers. None of the rooms have a safe or mini refrigerator, which I'd expect at a four-star hotel. From the start, our experience at this so-called four-star hotel was a disaster. There are plenty of other problems, but this is already long enough. There's nothing four-star about it. At these prices, you'd be better off booking a bungalow or camping. Avoid it at all costs.