Van der Valk Hotel Goes

In the space of 1,5 year we stayed here 4 times and honestly, it's gone seriously downhill. The staff are stillas efficient and friendly as before. The issues we raised about the bathroom: nothing done about it; There are even no bags for sanitary pads any more! The breakfast is still good, but it seems with less choice. And now there is building work on nearby, it's noisy. I don't know how quickly we''ll return.

I’ve stayed at this hotel with my 8 year old Son for many years, I travel every two weeks from England and typically stay for weekend to spend time with my Son. Over the years I have built up some good relationships with some of the staff at the hotel who really have been courteous and friendly to both my Son and I. Unfortunately for my Son and I things changed drastically when we stayed the weekend of 24th November 2022. To give my review some context, In all the years I’ve stayed there, eating breakfasts, lunches and evening meals I have NEVER sent food back or complained about the quality of the food. Saturday 24th November I placed a room service order, it was an Angus Burger for my Son and Steak for me, which I requested to be cooked medium/rare. Both these meals had been enjoyed many times before on previous visits so it was an easy choice. Unfortunately when I tried my steak, it was cooked rare and the taste was awful. I would be the type of person that doesn’t complain or send food back but this time I had to because it was so bad compared to all the other steak I have eaten in this hotel. Needless to say I sent the steak back. Due to the time it took to collect the steak and for someone to call me back I declined the offer of a new steak because my Son had finished his meal (which he enjoyed) and he wanted to sleep. I was told the chef had tried my steak and could not understand why I had sent it back but he would cook me another if required. On Sunday 25th November I checked out as normal with Roy (who is a great asset to the hotel) to be told that I have to pay for the steak I did not eat. I explained the situation to Roy who was very understanding but said he cannot deduct the steak from my bill due to the extensive notes in front of him. I asked to speak to the hotel manager and Roy returned with her. Unfortunately I have to refer to this Hotel Manager as “her” because when I asked for her name she would not tell me. I was expecting the Hotel Manager to greet me with a smile and to ask me what my issue is to see if she could resolve it. My expectation were way to high because I was greeted with an angry face telling me ‘four people tried that steak and it was good’ followed by ‘I can’t run my hotel with people sending food back when they want to”. To which I replied “I think your customer service is absolutely disgusting” Things went from bad to worse, I tried to record the situation on my mobile phone but as I selected my camera another staff member tried grabbing my phone to prevent this, telling me the hotel has a ‘no camera policy’ inside the building. I paid for my stay minus the steak and have heard nothing from the Hotel since. I feel completely shocked that I’ve been treated this way after so many years of being a loyal customer and I will miss some of the staff that I’ve grown fond of but I CANOT recommend this hotel based on my experiences and will be sharing my story on social media to warn other travellers w