Campanile 's-Hertogenbosch

Our group of 18 stayed over a long weekend, and the staff were incredibly helpful. The rooms are basic, but good value, and the showers and bathrooms were excellent. It’s a bit outside town, though getting there by bus is easy.

The room was fairly priced, but summer heat was a problem. There was no AC or indoor ventilation, and the windows only opened partway, so the heat would stay trapped inside. The hotel also has no elevator. I saw some elderly guests struggling up the stairs to reach their rooms, even though there were ground-floor rooms. It seemed inconvenient for them to have to go up and down, especially to the second floor.

The clean sheets and nearby car park were about the only positives for me. The rooms looked as though they’d last been renovated around 40 years ago, and the place gave me the impression of an American highway motel. There’s nothing nearby, though arriving by car means you can leave easily. My expectations had been much higher.

I arrived to find my room dirty, and things got much worse on the second night when my key card stopped working. I was alone in the parking lot at night, with nobody at reception. After searching around, I found a note with a number to call about key problems. I had just enough phone battery to call, and a technician arrived about 15 minutes later. His card failed too, and he couldn’t get the door open even with universal keys. The manager couldn’t be reached. After more than an hour outside in the cold, they opened another room so I could sleep until hotel staff arrived between 8 and 8:30. All my belongings were still locked in the first room, which caused a lot of trouble. Without my night contacts, I could barely see properly the next day, and it affected my whole workday. Then, in the morning, someone came into my room without warning while I was in the bathroom. Never again, Campanile Hotel!