For the 92^nd birthday of my boyfriend’s grandmother the family organised a birthday dinner in the well-known restaurant De Jonckheer in the Dutch bordertown of Ossendrecht. We decided to book a room in the adjacent hotel to have a drink at the meal and not worry about getting home after.

The hotel is bigger than I expected, with a big building forming a U around the central parking, with ample space to park the vehicles of all visitors. The reception area looked very nice with a very contemporary style as it was in the new 2019 addition of the building.

After a swift check-in we were handed our keys for our room on the second floor. We had booked a Superior room which was located in the older wing of the hotel, which looked a bit more dated.

The room itself was clean and basic for a 4 star hotel. The beds where very comfortable and even the tiny pillows provided with a good sleep. There was a table with 2 relaxing chairs in the corner. Opposite the beds was a big desk with a big wall-mounted TV above it and the tea and coffee facilities on a tray on it (only powdered coffee, so Sam wasn’t impressed). Despite having a desk there was no desk chair, considering they aim at business people working in the harbour during weekdays this seemed to be an odd decision. 

When we first entered the room we found five broken lights, making the room quite dark. Luckily after reporting it to reception the clerk immediately went up to replace the bulbs herself, a very fast and efficient solution. However it does mean housekeeping should be more mindful for small details like this and have already reported this.

The bathroom was also a bit of a sad affair, giving off hospital vibes. There was a sink but no real place to put your toiletries. The shower had a nice cabin, but the shower head wasn’t the best, a true rain shower would have lifted the bathroom experience a lot.

Also the use of generic all-in-one products was disappointing for a 4-star hotel. Providing separate shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion dispensers would enormously uplift the experience without breaking the bank, just like we experienced at Pullman Stuttgart for example.

In the evening we had a very nice dinner with a fixed menu, if you are staying there as an individual guest you can book a similar menu. This was by far the highlight of the stay, and probably the main reason weekend guests stay over. Food was very tasty and served in generous Dutch sized portions.

The breakfast menu in the morning wasn’t served in the restaurant area but in a separate area at the other side of the hotel. Which seems like a bit of an inefficient use of space to me. Let’s just hope they use the area as overflow seating in the evenings as well. The area was very nicely decorated and provided for a very pleasant environment to have breakfast.

The buffet was large and diverse. There was a live cooking station with made to order eggs. You had different stations providing all sorts of different items you would expect at a breakfast. They have proper crispy French style bread as well, unlike our last Dutch hotel experience at Kapellerput. I was also positively surprised by the big offer of different teas.

In the end we had a very nice stay at de Jonckheer. There were some areas the hotel could improve in to provide a true 4-star quality. However we do have to take into account we didn’t book the newest and most up to date room but rather a cheaper room in the older wing. Next time we will probably book a newer room to compare, let’s hope they offer an even better experience. We were positively impressed by the friendly and efficient staff, they clearly are an asset to the hotel.