A brilliant contemporary conversion of a prison, opened in 2011.
Reception staff were excellent, helpful and efficient. We stayed 2 nights as we went to the Floriade in nearby Venlo. Staff assisted in advising the best way to get there, as I was considering getting a train. They suggested using our car, as a new road system had been built and it was very straight forward. They were spot on.
Deluxe Cell 2 is a good size with a large, comfortable double bed. It has separate duvets, which we liked. Good storage, a safe, coffee maker, decent size TV and two easy chairs add to the comforts.
TV had a few English speaking channels which was a pleasant surprise.
The 'corridor-shaped' bathroom has a super shower, a large shallow sink and a toilet, in that order, if you get the picture.
The room is on the ground floor and has large picture windows on two sides. These look onto two outside, public spaces - a corridor between
the room and restaurant, and the terrace. White blinds are provided for
privacy. These appear to allow you to look out but block anyone looking in. Curtains also offer a good blackout.
We found this hotel on Tripadvisor, so I am aware of some reviews,
particularly regarding the restaurant.
Our only gripe was in that direction. It may have been a misunderstanding due to broken English, but the waitress gave us the impression only 4,5, or 6 couse menus were available. Although she had what I thought were the menus in her arms, she did not give them to us, but proceeded to tell us the content of the 4 course menu.
She was happy to alter some of those courses due to dislikes.
As it turned out, apart from those courses, 3 appetisers were included as well as a good portion of bread. Courses could be considered small, but we were struggling with dessert by the end.
While waiting for our first course, a person I believed to be the restaurant manager brought something to the table. I then queried whether there was an a la carte menu. There was, and she produced the full list of menus. I explained what had happened and she offered to cancel our original order if we wanted ALC. We declined.
Here is the gripe, and thereby the loss of one star. By this time we had been in the restaurant for at least 45 minutes, without anything to eat. We couldn't bear waiting any longer.
Bread isn't delivered until the first course, so we couldn't even nibble on that. Our first appetiser arrived about an hour from when we first sat down. Service was painfully slow. From first entering, to finishing desserts, took 2 hours 20 minutes and, again, that's including an hour
when we didn't eat anything. We declined coffee!
Having said all that, the food was very good.
Breakfast too was excellent with a good selection, which also included freshly cooked dishes if you wanted them. Special mention to Yvonne V.B. who was serving at breakfast on our first morning. She was bright and cheerful and most helpful.
We'd certainly try this 'prison' again if in the region, and just hope dinner service was a blip.
Room Tip: Our bathroom had a plain glass door, so privacy maybe an issue for some. In fact the door was a bit...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.