Hotel berhampiran Thiemepark, Nijmegen

Although recently supposed to has been renovated the hotel doesn't give a fresh impression. The sink of the shower was clogged. On the 2nd day it got cleaned after I asked about it. A colleague claimed about the same issue in her bathroom. The curtains on the windows don't block the sunlight. That caused me waking up much earlier on a sunny day. One has to keep the double windows closed to be isolated well the traffic noise (my room was in the 5th floor). The rooms have air conditioning. The breakfast was very basic.

Bij binnenkomst werden we hartelijk verwelkomt door een aardige receptioniste. De gehele sfeer van t hotel is warm en sfeervol, ook savonds heerlijk gegeten, en ontbijt was ook goed. Kamer heel mooi en goed bed, heerlijk geslapen. Hier komen we zeker nog een keer terug, aanrader !!!

Beautiful hotel and we got an awesome view from the kind staff members

Just a short (thankfully downhill) walk from the railway station (extensive rail and bus services give easy access to almost anywhere in the Netherlands) the hotel is an even shorter walk from the north bank of the Nederrijn with its shady walks and numerous restaurants. Very handy as there is no restaurant at any IHG Express. As I arrived mid-morning the room was not ready but the staff (more about them later) were happy to store my case until I returned that afternoon (and again after checkout before leaving on an afternoon train). The room itself was a good size with a large comfortable bed, a functional desk and chair and a comfortable chair. Air conditioning kept the temperature stable and the lighting was good - not the ”fashionable” near darkness of some. Bathroom was good with a spacious shower. Everything was spotlessly clean. Coffee and tea available. Breakfast is the only meal offered and is a fairly basic standard european offering. Meats, eggs and cheeses were adequate, yoghurt good, fresh fruit salad very good indeed. Coffee was machine provided and good with a variety of offerings. No hot options (standard with the Express brand) and I did not try any of the other cold choices. Although fairly centrally located with easy access to shops and all the usual facilities and infrastructure the room was quiet and peaceful. An Albert Heijn mini-supermarket opposite attracted small groups in the evening but was not a bother - indeed very useful for an occasional small purchase. All standard and as expected for the brand so why mark it excellent? I will come back to the staff who were unfailingly excellent - helpful, cheery and friendly (though never less than professional) and recognised me by the end of day 1. A credit to the hotel and its management. This is now my first choice when next in the vicinity

The transport strike, on the 28th, meant I needed to stay in Holland a day longer than I'd planned to and I couldn't extend my stay at the hotel in Elst (see separate review), I'd been staying in. I had to be out of one hotel by 11am and couldn't check in here until 3pm, but the Haarhuis (Her House, in English) has storage facilities and that gave me the ability to walk around Arnhem centrum (centre) and visit the Airborne At The Bridge exhibition (see separate review), without having to drag my luggage around with me. In an effort to keep my costs down, I'd booked a single room (without breakfast, as there's plenty of shops and fast food places around Arnhem Centraal), but the receptionist did some checking and gave me a free upgrade to a double room, instead. The room itself was very light and spacious, but lacked air conditioning - which was slightly made up for by having opening windows and, being north facing, the room was shaded from the Sun for the most part.. Some have commented on the noise level in the rooms at the front, but it wasn't all that noticeable to me (perhaps, because the strike meant a there were very few buses, no Trolleybuses and few trains were running), despite having the secondary glazing open the entire time I was staying. It came with all the normal amenities, such as a wardrobe, flat screen TV and coffee machine (why no tea, though?). The bed was single beds, pushed together, but had a (thin, but very firm) double mattress on top and I slept extremely well. The bathroom, whilst small, was very well laid out - though, being a slightly bigger framed man, I did find getting in and out of the shower to be a bit of a struggle, as the door only opened half way. The water was hot and very plentiful and the soap/shampoo provided did mean I didn't have to go rooting around in my case to find my own. In conclusion, staying wasn't planned, but it's a lovely hotel, with very friendly and helpful staff, and I'm glad I booked.

Hotel is perfect gelegen naast het Centraal Station en aan de rand van het winkelcentrum. In de lobby kun je werken en een kop gratis thee of koffie meenemen. Het personeel is jong en informeel. De kamers zijn niet groot, maar wel een goed bed en badkamer. Helaas troffen we de doodzonde aan voor iedere hotelkamer: een fles glijmiddel van vorige gasten onder het bed. Alhoewel de kamer niet vies was, is dit natuurlijk wel een aandachtspunt.

Tsja, wat kun je ervan zeggen? Van exclusiviteit is absoluut geen sprake meer. Gaten in de lakens met het en der oud bloed, smerige gordijnen en elke vorm van sfeer is wegbezuinigd in je hotelkamer. Zelfs een bekertje op de badkamer om je mond te spoelen na het tandenpoetsen was er niet. Het eten was belachelijk duur en de kwaliteit om te huilen. Tip voor de kok: overweeg een carrière switch. Het schaaltje met “warme groenten” leek op groenten die je uit het putje van de afvoer peutert, opgeleukt met een onduidelijk nat van curry en kokos. Sashimi van zalm? Sashimi van sashimi had beter gestaan - drie flinter dunne plakjes waar mijn moeder ook nog ziek van geworden is. Dit hotel is tevens een tijdelijk opvangcentrum voor asielzoekers. Hier hebben wij geen problemen van ondervonden, maar communiceer dit met je gasten. Iets met transparantie? Dit ben je als miljoenenconcern verplicht, namelijk. Fijn dat je asielzoekers een warm bed kan bieden, maar een kleine heads-up was fijn geweest. Niet iedereen is hier namelijk van gediend. Neem een voorbeeld aan je collega’s in Brabant, van der Valk. Het receptie personeel heeft de lipjes getuit en een vervelende hautaine air. Werk aan je softskills dames, dat staat beter.