Hotel âme

What a surprising concept and incredibly cool and nice hotel in a nice neighborhood in Rotterdam: spacious rooms, light, radiating peace, super delicious breakfast, wonderful beds and very friendly staff. Absolutely recommended if you are looking for a cool and especially very affordable stay in Rotterdam.

It is difficult to rate this hotel fairly. On the plus side: Everything about this hotel has style. The building is of the most exquisite architecture and the finishing of the rooms and the public space is near perfection - when looked from an architectural angle. On top, I found each and every member of the staff to be most friendly, helpful and competent! 5 Starts should be the result. On the down side: This is a very old building - and while the renovations have tried to reduce the noise level, it has not succeeded sufficiently. Not only did I find the windows far too thin (noise from a construction site directly next to the hotel), I could hear every word anybody said on a corridor, listen to the kitchen's preparation in the mornings - and while this may be impossible to avoid, it leads me to rate the hotel down. On top come some details which need attention: The lights in the bathroom are far too dim - no way to use contacts lenses - if not for my partner holding the smartphone with lamp function. Practically no space for our stuff around the bathroom sink. The breakfast included referred to one specific plate. When I chose something else the next morning (which was cheaper) - I had to pay extra for this nonetheless. A pricing policy which does not convince me. And last but not least, I found the mattress far too hard. It is hard to give three starts for such a beautiful place with such nice people. But as a place to get a good night sleep, this is just not a very good choice.

Pros Very spacious well decorated modern room and bathroom. Facing the back of the hotel thus very quiet. Pleasant staff when present. Public parking available nearby. Good location in the museum district of Rotterdam. Cons There are two major drawbacks to this hotel. The first is the steep (dangerously so ) staircase that is the only access to the bedrooms , no elevator in a place that badly needs one. The second is the hours of the staff : 8AM to 5PM , if they are not around you are not getting the needed help getting luggage up and down the staircase let alone checking in and out. One should also note the absence of a lounge and of a parking space in front of the hotel.

We are a couple in our early 50es who accidentally saw a mention of this hotel in a magazine and thought," well, why not? Looks lovely and it seems as if there are some decent restaurants and museums in Rotterdam, let's go for a long weekend." We invited our daughter and her friend to tag along -- they are in their early 20es. We arrived in the late morning (easy train ride from Schiphol airport, and a short stroll from the central station). We immediately liked the look of the cafe, and the woman behind the counter gave us a warm welcome. Rooms were not ready yet, but we asked for advice on where to get lunch and went out. We had booked two rooms -- one large and one small. Being the paying part we thought that we'd get the large room and the young couple could get the small, but after half an hour we switched rooms. The large room overlooked the street, and being an old building, the windows were not sound proof, and it was simply too loud for us. Daughter and friend did not mind in the slightest, they were just happy to get the large and very beautiful room. The small (Cozy) room was, well, very, very small. Only room for a double bed and a small place to hang around 3 shirts. The view was nothing, the window was over the bed and overlooked the roof of the next building. We could not help but laugh, but at least it was quiet, and it did not spoil the positive ambience of the place. Shampoo, conditioner and body gel were all nice and smelled wonderful. Missed a body lotion though, but again; that is a small thing and we could have brought our own. The bed is divine (coco mats). We went down in the cafe every day to have breakfast (not included) -- so tasty and very well presented. Amazing coffee in beautiful cups -- if I were not in the middle of moving house I would have bought some for home. I will rate this 4,5 -- the cosy room really was very small and it would have been nice to be able to make a cup of coffee or tea in the room. I am aware that I was supposed to order this in the hotel cafe, but it closes at 5 in the afternoon -- but I am giving it a 5 as 4 seems too little. I would not hesitate to go back and stay again, but will ask for a large room facing the back of the building next time. Rotterdam has so much to offer, we thought that 3 nights would be enough but we missed so many things. For the very reasonable rates, this place is a steal.