For toll-free reservations from
1 800 223 56 52
| What to expect | |
 |
Cleanliness |
 |
Value |
 |
Service |
|
Rooms |
posted May 19, 2012
Stayed here just recent for business. The location just behind the boulevard is fine (however not comparable with for example the Kurhaus), and good tram connection to the center of The Hague. Personnel is friendly. When entering the rest of the hotel it feels like you are in a youth hostel, it is really outdated. The rooms are really small, even though there is a small balcony it does not feel like a 4 star hotel room. The bathroom is OK but is ageing, some black fungi on the wall. Beds are fine. So for just sleeping it is OK. However for the price you pay I expect a lot more from a four star hotel. We did not use the swimming pool. So when staying in Scheveningen and you can get a good price, you can stay here, but don't spend a lot of money on it.
posted April 20, 2012
Bilderberg Europa Hotel's location is excellent, one street back from the beach with the Kurhaus visible from the dining room and an unimpeded view over the Oosterduinen dunes from rooms facing northeast, as mine did. Unfortunately the location and view are the only aspects I'd describe as excellent. The hotel itself is a bit schizofrenic, unsure of whether it is a business hotel or mid-range tour group accomodation. The reception and the conference wing with a range of meeting rooms and lots of (good!) coffee machines hint at the former, but the restaurant and the decoration of the rooms themselves are very kitschy. And (my pet irritation with a lot of NL 'business' hotels), internet, be it via WiFi is not included in the room price, with 24h costing an extortionate EUR 13. You can almost get a night in a hostel (including internet) for that amount. Rooms are roomy but fittings dated. I don't mind a CRT TV (I don't travel to watch telly), but there were ruts in the carpet where the bed's wheels apparently had always rolled whenever it saw some action. In the bathroom the bath had a bubble-installation, but one of the nozzles was missing it's chrome plate and some of the grouting between tiles was missing or covered in rust. "Climate control" consisted of a vintage 1960's central heating radiator and a balcony door that could be opened. Fine in spring, but not a place I'd like to be when it gets sticky in summer. Fortunately the bed itself was excellent and the sheets were spotlessly clean. One colleague had a rather more worrying experience. He did want to watch the television, but there was no remote control in his room. He reported it to reception and nothing happened - until someone barged in at 8am the next morning without knocking, declaring he was from the technical services and asking if this was the room without remote control. My colleague was glad he didn't have company or hadn't just walked out of the shower naked. The spa looked good on paper - sauna, turkish bath and swimming pool. The turkish bath was actually pretty good, but the sauna was lousy - it seemed the thermostat was set to 65C and despite an impressive kiuas obviously designed to have water poured over it, there was no bucket of water or any other way to get moisture in there, so the sauna was bone dry with no heat. The girl at reception claimed this was normal, that no one else had ever complained and was not prepared to turn up the temperature or give me something to water the stones. The pool was decent enough for a hotel cellar, 1m40 at the deep end, although most of it was very shallow. The rest area was outside the sauna/pool complex on the other side of the lifts, which was a bit odd - I found it disconcerting to pass clothed guests clad in just a towel... The restaurant was the real let-down. Breakfast was OK, but lunch was a nightmare. Apparently the "lunch manager" was absent during my visit and it showed: the catering staff had promised all visiting groups lunch at the same time. The little buffet could easily have sufficed for some 200 guests if they came spread out over an hour or two, but all at once resulted in the worst queue I've ever seen in a restaurant. To make matters worse, I have a food allergy. I'd informed the hotel and they had promised to accomodate. Unfortunately because the lunch manager wasn't there no one had told lunch staff. Even worse, they didn't know their own food - I asked and double checked whether their pasta salad was safe for me. They assured me it was. Repeated unpleasant visits to sanitary facilities made clear it wasn't. Dinner was better in that there were no queues and either someone got their act together about my allergies or (more likely I fear) I was just lucky - I could eat the food without adverse reactions. I had an excellent bisque for starters, but my main course of steak was a poor, chewy piece of meat prepared in the oven en masse rather than on a grill or in a frying pan. I like my meat rare, but colleagues who didn't got theirs prepared the same way, and staff was not willing to take them back to get them cooked through. And dessert... well, staff forgot to serve us dessert! Almost an hour after finishing our main course we pointed out we were still waiting. We were told the kitchen staff had already gone home, but apparently the desserts for the next day were already in the freezer so he got us some plates with frozen solid mousse... Dessert wasn't the only thing late and/or forgotten. Drinks orders were routinely messed up and frequently failed to arrive at all. At one point we just poured ourselves house wine after a second attempt to order some failed despite the already open bottles being in full view less than 5 meters away. Even stranger, a cuba libre arrived after two hours with the waiter offering the excuse that they were out of rum and needed to go out and buy more. It would have been believeable if we hadn't ordered it again an hour earlier and actually been served it promptly. The few experienced members of staff were doing a magnificent and very customer-oriented job under the circumstances - particular compliments due to the Egyptian-looking waiter who maintained his good humour in the face of some exceedingly annoyed guests, but they were completely overwhelmed by the number of guests and the inexperience and plain bad attitude of many of the younger employees. As a business hotel I can't recommend this place due to bad planning skills (at least as long as the "lunch manager" is away) and insulting paid internet. For a romantic getaway you could do worse if the place isn't too crowded, but you'd be surrounded by busloads of old age pensioners. And the service... when things were calm it was OK, but when stressed it started to resemble Fawlty Towers. All that was missing was a Basil Fawlty screaming at a Manuel (although at one point two cleaners did have a very heated argument outside the main entrance in Spanish...). And whatever you do, don't eat here if you have any kind of food allergy. There are enough decent restaurants all over Scheveningen for that not to be an issue.
posted March 26, 2012
This Bilderberg hotel is an excellent meeting facility and good hotel. Very good staff that want to make you feel at home. Just a few minutes from the boulevard of Scheveningen. Rooms are nice and spacious but could do with some attention to make them look **** .
posted February 21, 2012
Stayed here for one night. Parking was free as long as you parked a block away (between November and March). Else you have to pay €19 for 24-hours. Good tram connection to city center and very good location when you want to visit the Scheveningen beach, restaurants etc. Room was OK but I had a sense that somebody smoked in the room not very long ago. Old fashioned heating system makes that you have to switch off the radiator before you go to sleep or you will steam out of your bed during the night. Bed is very comfortable though. The hotel has an atmosphere like they are thinking about renovations but the right moment has not arrived yet. Paintings on the wall sometimes bladdered. Can recommend the spa facilities in the basement and the breakfast, which are both very good.
posted February 17, 2012
a friendly welcome, a clean large room with shower, extensive breakfast buffet close to the Scheveningen beach. Close to plenty of restos in the neighbourhood. Disappointing was 19 Eur for crammed parking overnight and I couldn´t believe my eyes seeing an antique TV in the room. For watching UEFA cup soccer, we rather went to a bar. Good for business, average value.
