Hotel Mariënhage in Eindhoven

In July 2021, I met up with the Flavourez crew for the first time. Flavourez is a new Dutch and Flemish gay lifestyle platform. Founder Luuk hosted a birthday party / crew meet-up in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. So I booked a room at Hotel Mariënhage in the centre of town.

I chose Hotel Mariënhage quite randomly. I was charmed by its presentation on Booking and on the hotel website. “Hotel Mariënhage is a boutique hotel located in the Domusdela complex, right in the heart of the dynamic design city of Eindhoven. It is an oasis of a hotel, located in the monumental building of the Order of St. Augustine, where the former Mariënhage (Maryhague) monastery once stood.”

“It is a luxury complex, offering all facilities under one roof. The Domusdela complex is also home to Brasserie Rita, a restaurant, the Augustinian church, and unique spaces for meetings and events.”

“When you arrive at the hotel, you will immediately be amazed by the light art installations created by the renowned Dutch design duo, Studio Drift. Here you will also find the oldest wall in the city of Eindhoven. Be amazed and let yourself be charmed – from the entrance to your hotel room. The courtyard, the Garden of Eden, the fitness facilities, and wellness area (opening mid 2021) are open all day to help you relax.”

I’ll immediately add the wellness area and gym weren’t open. Not open yét I suppose as I wasn’t told of its presence at check-in nor are they advertised on Booking.

Check-in and first impressions

Before I visited the DAF Museum, I went to drop my overnight bag at the hotel. Even if it was only 10.30 AM, my room was already available. That was nice as it allowed me to take photos of ‘Blue Virgin‘ room I booked and I could freshen up.

Mariënhage has themed rooms. Apart from ‘Blue Virgin’ there are ‘Epic Eden‘, ‘Heavenly White‘, ‘Modern Monk‘ and ‘Monastary Mystery‘.

I expected more of a some architectural revival design instead of the contemporary white.

The room

The room is predominantly blue. Blue walls, a large painting or sticker of Eve and the snake, a really large bed. The two steps aren’t drunk-proof. Tea and coffee-making facilities. Plenty of power sockets. Nu USB outputs. Automated windows and blinds, airconditioning. Many lights options.

There’s a large bathroom with one sink and a double shower. Yes. The hotel promotes taking a shower with two. There are two rain shower heads, two shower faucets. I should have flirted more at the party and take someone ‘home’.

The big pole in the middle can use some repainting. But the room is clean, practical and inviting. I really should have take someone ‘up’. There was room for three, maybe four in bed.

But I didn’t.

The bed was comfortable and the room was quiet enough. The blinds work really well and you can make the room really dark. A little light switches on when you het out of bed so you din’t fall of the steps.

I slept well. I slept until 8 AM. For me, that’s late!

Breakfast

Breakfast is served at Brasserie Rita. It’s a buffet with all you expect from this level of hotel.

Bakery items such as bread, croissants, little muffins. An original item was Swedish knäckebröd.
Continental breakfast items such as cheeses, cold cuts, salmon, tomatoes, cucumber, hard-boiled eggs, jams, honey and preserves, Dutch hagelslag or chocolate sprinkles.
English and American breakfast items such as scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes.
The ‘healthy options’ such as yoghurt, cream cheese, cereals and muesli, fruit salad.
Juices and smoothies.
The coffee, tea and warm milk machine. I didn’t find chocolate powder.

A nice and decent breakfast offering indeed.

COVID-19

Wel. Uhm. Okay. So. Well. Mmm. In July 2021 the Netherlands were quite lenient in its coronavirus countermeasures. No face masks inside hotels, bars and restaurants anymore. Nor in shops and museums.

That felt odd and not covid secure or corona proof at all. But I’l sure the hotel just followed the rules. It was just disconcerting, to be honest.

I did enjoy my solo stay at Hotel Mariënhage. The staff were very welcoming and the facilities are good.