Note: I am already being nagged by some of you out there about posting a trip report of our recent marathon jaunt through Portugal, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Life being what it is, I haven't been able to do that yet, so I will be posting a few reviews first, while I work on the larger reports.
Our last stay after our two Rick Steves tours this year was in Leiden, in the Netherlands. We had visited here five years ago, and it may well be Stan’s favorite place in Europe, so we returned for 4 nights. We stayed at the City Hotel Nieuw Minerva, Boommarkt 23, the same hotel we were in in 2018.
This is a smaller hotel, in a historic building, which means no a/c and no elevator. But the rooms are big, the location (right on the Rhine!) is unbeatable, and the hotel staff are great. We booked a comfort double this time, up a level from our 2018 stay. It was €160 per night, plus €7 for tourist tax, breakfast included. We had the “Rose Room,” and it was a dandy.
The room was huge. It was lavishly decorated (roses, roses all the way) and included a king size bed (two twin mattresses, in a king frame;) a sofa (daybed dressed up as a sofa;) large wardrobe with plenty of shelves and hangers; a desk; two (I think) other tables; two night stands; a loveseat; and there was still plenty of room to walk around and store our belongings. The room spanned the width of that part of the hotel, with three huge windows overlooking the Rhine. There were two sets of curtains: sheers and blackout curtains, which we appreciated at bedtime. The en suite bath had a tub and shower, and was also roomy.
Everything was very clean, and very comfortable. We were on the first floor up, up a rather narrow and steep flight of stairs. The stairs had banisters on both sides, so I always felt safe on them.
The breakfast was not the best, but it was good, especially after the better breads showed up on the buffet on day 2. There were two kinds of bread, I think two kinds of cheese, ham, salami, boiled and scrambled eggs, and fruit. We were glad to see the selection of fruit: bananas, tangerines, oranges, and apples. There were also yogurts, cereals, a few pastries, juices, and hot beverages from a machine. It reads better than I remembered it; I think we had been spoiled by the homemade yogurt and better cheeses in hotels earlier on our trip.
There is also a bar in the hotel, just off the comfortable lounge area. Oh, and a small “leave one, take one” book section, and even a guest computer available in the lounge.
The location is very good: about a 15 minute walk from the train station; lots of nearby bars, cafés, and restaurants; a short walk to the Saturday market; and plenty of shopping. There’s a brewpub just east of the hotel, where we had a nice light dinner one night (great beer!), and a wine bar just across the canal; yes, there’s a bridge over the canal just east of the hotel.
There was not as much street noise as we had feared; I think I only closed the windows one night when the local students seemed to be hosting several bands very near our hotel.
Location, amenities, staff, a great room – we definitely enjoyed this place, and would not hesitate to stay here again.