Inntel Hotels Art Eindhoven, Netherlands

During a weekend in September 2016 my fiancé and I have for our first time flown with Ryanair, our destination was Eindhoven for two nights, a fascinating city we hadn't visited before.

The flight was delayed, but pleasant and to our surprise my fiancé had lots of legroom and our first flight experience was overall pleasant.

We took the bus from Eindhoven Airport to the bus/train terminal in the city, once there we could walk to our memorable hotel.

The Inntel Hotels Art Eindhoven was our second Inntel Hotels after our stay at the Mainport in Rotterdam in April 2015, which is a Design Hotel Member.

Another reason why this particular hotel has caught our eyes was that the Inntel Hotels Art had been in a previous life the Philips light bulb factory, which was also responsible for quality control.

The Inntel Hotels Art was around ten minutes’ walk from the bus station in the heart of the city.

The hotel is located on a square with the Art Deco Philips Light Tower as anchor. The square was beautifully decorated with flowers and plants. The lobby, restaurant, bar and some of the rooms were located in the "new" building, which hadn't been part of the original factory. It was well integrated with the rest of the surroundings.

The restaurant and bar were to the right, the reception and internet stations for guests to the left. The welcome desk and the stations were shaped like flowers. Very high shelves provided more privacy for check in and surfing the web. The flower theme continued throughout the lobby.

Check in was friendly and efficient.

We had booked a loft with breakfast included, which was located in the original factory building, dating back to 1909. 

The two buildings are inter-connected with a small second lobby, which housed an art exhibition about wallpaper inspired by Hieronymus Bosch, M.C. Asher, Vincent van Gogh and Billie Holiday. There was a vending machine too for drinks and snacks.

Both buildings had very high ceilings, exposed concrete walls and industrial lightning. It was great to see the original features had been kept at the factory.

On every elevator landing a sofa was placed. Some were lavish, while others were understated.

Each room number was integrated in a former heritage advertising poster of Philips products incl. light bulbs.

Previous to our stay we were in contact with the hotel via e-mail to request a higher floor loft and balcony if possible.

The reply had been friendly, but nothing had been promised. In the end all our wishes were fulfilled. Our loft was on the fifth floor and had a balcony overlooking the hotels inner courtyard.

The loft's ceilings were 4 m high and the design of the floors continued inside our room.

A door to the left in the hallway led to the bathroom.

The loft was open plan and had no wardrobe in the sense, but a coat hanger stand and large credenza with an open storage space replaced it. The coat hangers were so high up, I had problems reaching them, so it's made for taller persons.

The writing desk was large and was formerly a real work bench, so it had an industrial feel to it, which added to the fascinating design and fell of our airy loft.

Artwork was a Dutch Lady with a light bulb, which reminded us about our location in the heart of Eindhoven and the connection with Philips felt one-of-a-kind to us. 

The color scheme was red, green, brown and gold.

The floor was tiled.

The large king sized bed was comfortable and inviting.

There was a mini bar, stocked with the usual items and local beverages and snacks. There were for example Stroop Waffles, Pringles, M&M's, a large bottle of Tynant water, small bottles of San Pellegrino or Acqua Panna, sparkling Lipton ice tea, Hero Orange Juice, Heineken Beer and two bottles of wine.

 

Prices ranged from 2.50 Euro to 6.50 Euro / ca. 2.90 USD to 7.45 USD for the snacks, 3.50 Euro to 4.95 Euro / ca. 4 USD to 5.70 USD for the non-alcoholic beverages, 4.50 Euro for the beer (ca. 5.15 USD) and 7.50 Euro (ca. 8.60 USD) for a bottle of wine.

There was a credenza and flat screen TV, offering around thirty channels, most of them were Dutch, a few German, BBC1 and 2, CNN and a classical music channel, showing opera and concerts.

All the appliances like the TV, hair dryer and light bulbs were Philips branded too.

A few steps up in our loft led to the balcony. There was no railing for the steps. The balcony was furnished with two chairs and views over the reception building, the city and the back of the Philips Light Tower.

The bathroom was large and came furnished in black porcelain tiles, concrete, granite and a glass sink shaped like a flower.

The bathtub shower combination was comfortable to use. The temperature was stable and the pressure was good.

There was also a toilet and the amenities were Inntel Hotels' own branded Green Tea with sexy people on the packaging.

We used the restaurant once for dinner and had breakfast every morning.

There was a wide choice of cold items available including cold cuts, smoked salmon, cereals, bread rolls, fruits, vegetables and much more. There was also an egg and pancake station, where hot items were made to order.

The dinner was of good standard and upscale. We ordered one large bottle of Acqua Panna, one glass of sweet wine, one vitello tonnato, four Mediterranean rolls, one Arts Burger with fries, egg, and truffle mayo, one Atlantic cod with endive, potato mash and red wine sauce, one strawberry and mandarin sorbet and one chocolate pie.

The bill was 81 Euro / ca. 92.45 USD.

Staff was friendly and attentive.

As a side note the hotel houses also has a spa, plus their complimentary WI-FI was fast and reliable at all times.

We had a wonderful stay at this fascinating hotel and would recommend the Inntel Hotels Art, when visiting Eindhoven.

©2017

Mainport by Inntel Hotels Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The Mainport Hotel in Rotterdam by Inntel Hotels is the only 5 Star luxury design hotel in the city. Since it was my better half's birthday we wanted something special again in April 2016 and after long consideration booked the Mainport Hotel, our second Design Hotel Member after Das Stue in Berlin in which we stayed in April 2015.

We were in contact with the hotel before our stay to organize some treats for my fiancé’s celebration and to tell them our preferences.

We also received a special offer for breakfast via email, which we took up. The original cost would have been 28 Euro (ca. 31.15 USD) per person, but it was reduced to 20 Euro (ca. 22.25 USD) per person.

At first we weren't sure if we would like the location entirely since it wasn't in the city centre per se, but in the Inner Harbour of Rotterdam. It proved to be ideal for us to explore the city by tram and underground.

The hotel is located by the water and "hugs" it.

Our journey started in Dublin. The flight to Amsterdam Schiphol was pleasant and eventless with Aer Lingus. We then took the train to Rotterdam Main Train Station, which is a magnificent building, and bought there a three day OP Card to have unlimited access to the public transport system in Rotterdam. It cost 16.50 Euro / ca. 18.35 USD per person. The Metro Station Leuvehaven is directly across the road from the hotel.

The Mainport Hotel is easy to identify. It has a chakra as its logo. It was specifically created for the hotel. Feran Thomassen was responsible for the interior, MAS Architects for the exterior.

The ground floor has a large open space with high floor to ceiling windows and dark floors, maps of sea routes and the world and stylish seating areas. The reception and the concierge were based there too. Guests could browse the oversized Design Hotel Catalogue in the lobby as well for even more travel inspirations ahead.

Another nice touch were the show cases for spa products, watches, Mainport branded articles and jams made locally by underprivileged persons to allow them a better life, for sale at the hotel.

Check in was done quickly and my fiancé’s birthday the next day was also mentioned.

Our preference for a higher floor was definitely considered. We were given a room on the highest floor, which was inspired by the Far East. It was just right for us, since we love to travel to this region. Each floor is dedicated to a different continent/region of our beautiful planet.

The Spa Heaven was on the same floor.

Our room and the floor were decorated with tapestry in red, black, yellow and orange. The prints depicted dragons, Chinese doors, Indonesian puppets, pots and kois.

The carpet included the chakra.

Our Superior Room with Harbor View was large with a small hallway and wooden floors. The toilet was in its own room just by the entrance to the left.  The only minor gripe would be that the toilet room didn't have a sink or disinfectant, so you had to walk with your unclean hands to the main bathroom around the corner.

The bespoke Doux Luxury and Comfort Bed was large and as the name implied comfortable. It allowed for a good night's rest due to the support the mattress provided.

The floor to ceiling windows offered stunning views over the harbor and the city which felt awesome and made the room look bigger and brigther with a stunning outdoor backdrop on offer.

The svivable flat screen TV offered regional and international channels and stood  on a credenza straight after the bed. It could be easily enjoyed from there or the modern seating area with coffee table, where the design continued. The chair might look uncomfortable, but it was the whole opposite and we enjoyed sitting there.

There were also a notebook, where guests could leave impressions for other guests behind, and a city map.

The minibar contained some interesting items like Healthy Juice (4.50 Euro / ca. 5 USD), a ladies kit (3.95 Euro / ca. 4.40 USD), the love kit (3.50 Euro / ca. 3.90 USD) or the 50 Shades of Grey kit (29.95 Euro / ca. 33.20 USD).

An Illy Coffee Machine and capsules were provided. Surprisingly only the first two capsules were free, otherwise 2.50 Euro (ca. 2.80 USD) were charged.

24 hour in room dining was available. We used it once during our two nights stay. We ordered a large bottle of Acqua Panna, Dutch Bitterballen (bitterballs) with mustard, Yakitori with Wakame salad and soy sauce, 2 Tuna Salad Sandwiches with gherkin, paprika and red onion and a New York cheesecake. The portions were very generous.

It was our first time we had bitterballen, which we liked and would eat again.

The meal was delicious and of memorable/good quality.

It cost 45 Euro (ca. 50 USD) which we judeged to be good value.

The writing desk was beautifully decorated with nautical and Indonesian/Japanese maps with Tokyo also mentioned and a lamp shade, shaped like a lighthouse lantern. We found it inspirational and had already liked the map inlay at the Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London in which we stayed earlier in February 2016.

There was also a Spa Heaven brochure. Treatments start from 45 Euro (Hamam, ca. 50 USD); massages and facials from
65 Euro (ca. 72.25 USD).

On my fiancé’s birthday the treats arrived as requested, including cupcakes, chocolates, jellies, strawberries, Turkish nougat and blueberries. The personalized birthday card was a nice touch.

The bathroom was located near the writing desk, giving the actual living space an interesting shape.

It was fully decked out in marble/stone and had a separate jacuzzi bathtub with nozzles and shower, sink and Malin and Goetz amenities, which we love, plus there was a good sized in-mirror TV with a remote and international channels.

The shower was large and had no door. It reminded us of some of the showers we had in other hotel rooms in Asia, it was superbly designed and no water splashed out of the shower either. The water pressure was strong and accurate.

On Level -1 were the Cocktail Bar On The Rocks and Restaurant Down Under, where breakfast was served. The dining room was cosy, but there was always a space available for us during breakfast. It overlooked the harbor and the ships docking in front of the hotel.

There was an extra room for the buffet and people flow was managed well.

Breakfast offered a wide selection of tea or coffee as self-service. At first we had some difficulty figuring out how to get hot water. We asked one of the waitresses, who seemed to have heard the question not for the first time. Actually it was very simple. There is a button in front of the tap you have to press...good to know and thinking about it today which lets us smile.

There was an egg station, where all fresh egg dishes, pancakes, waffles and French Toast were made to order.

Other selections included cold cuts, smoked fish, pasta, rice, sausages, bacon, cheese, cereals, fresh fruits, yogurt and much more, all of high quality as one would expect at such a beautiful hotel.

The omelette and French Toast come highly recommended.

After our two nights/ three days it was already time to check out for our flight to Hamburg, Germany where the Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten was waiting for us for our next two nights/ three days ahead.

We loved how different the hotel looked like compared to others, that it is travel inspired and that it had the same high standard as Das Stue in terms of service, design and location. Staff was attentive, efficient and friendly. For all those reasons we would stay again at this memorable hotel in our future, when in Rotterdam.

©2016