As promised my short review of the King Executive Room #1010 at the Hilton Rotterdam.
We also take a look at the Hilton Rotterdam's executive lounge during their evening food & beverage presentation and breakfast.
Premise
After a long period of gloom staying indoors, i decided we needed a laugh to cheer us up and needed to go to a comedy show.
We needed a place to stay in Rotterdam as we were coming from Amsterdam to watch journalists Marcel van Roosmalen en Gijs Groenteman perform their comedy performance at the Oude Luxor theatre in Rotterdam centre.
We had spotted The Grand Hotel Central on Booking as being next to Oude Luxor theatre so we thought that would make an easy choice if we would travel by train Rotterdam. Fortunately my more tech & gossip savy friend found out that this hotel has been infamously featured as the Netherlands worst hotel! I leave it up to the reader to make up their mind:
https://www.grandhotelcentral.nl/en/
https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/editienl/ar...erland-nou-dit
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re..._Province.html
Naturally i made the decision to flee back to the Hilton which seemed to be across the street from the theatre.
We could have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express or the Marriott but their rates where a bit to high for a short night.
As i was travelling with a buddy, i took the opportunity to book the Twin Executive Room,
I booked online as a Hilton Blue member.
It was advertised as (see below) for a price of €185,16 inc. taxes.
After booking we were offered via email to enhance our stay with paid additional features.
Thinking our executive lounge privileges would cover breakfast, we didn't chose to pay the add on for the buffet breakfast in the main restaurant.
What we booked: executive twin room
Pricing for the executive twin room
Email with enhance your stay options
Arrival at the hotel
We were planning to travel by train from Amsterdam but it started to pour a torrential rain as in proper deluge.
As we didn't fancy to haul our suitcases to/from the station we decided to drive instead.
After an easy trip we arrived at the hotel to check in.
Hilton Rotterdam,
Front entrance
We could park our car to unload,
only temporary at the hotel entrance during checkin though,
before moving it to the parking garage next door
At the front entrance is the designated place to smoke a fag to satisfy the nicotine cravings
At reception - A minor service snafu:
The receptionist, Mr. Blond,
after handing me the keys wishing me a nice stay,
i asked about the executive lounge f&b presentation times,
Him checking his display,
Oh, can i have your keys back,
I seem to have not encoded your keys for access
.......
Good thing i am not shy to ask 
At reception they also cater to some last minute needs
The elevator is operated by keycard use,
Note: these demagnetize quite easily!
Promo: Hilton Honnors member receive f&b discount at this hotel
Promo: selected cocktails at the bar €10 on Thursdays
View from the elevator hallway:
Weather cleared up to offer a view of city hall
View from the elevator hallway:
Left: our theater for tonight "Oude Luxor"
Right: the infamous Grand Hotel Central - always encouraging when there are more poor+terrible reviews then good ones
Clean and neat hallways,
But what do we spot in the distance....
This was only cleared next morning,
Room #1010 Executive King on the 10th floor
Yes you read it right,
We booked an executive twin but instead we got allocated an executive king room.
I was wondering if the receptionist who checked us in even noticed any guest preferences on his computer..... but alas.
We walked the corridor and spotted no more Hilton Blue clean seal on our door anymore.
This was during the pandemic one of the features to annouce the room had been deep cleaned and Hilton stood firm in providing the best hygiene possible.
Corridor to our room We were allocated room #1010 on the top floor
Our room,
Did not even spot any residual of the blue seal clean sticker
Upon entry you will find: - safe - iron & board
Ample space for two small wheelie bags
And a closet with hangers
Hairdryer is located in the drawer
Laundry price list
View into the room,
Yes, we were surprised in seeing a King bed while we booked a Twin bed / Lits Jumeaux
We thought of going down to ask for a room switch but we thought: ho hum how bad can it be.....
View looking towards the bathroom and hall
Airconditioning kept the room cool
It was clean so no complaints there
Outlets next to the bed
No Auping or Hästens here, so you will sleep firmly
Look towards the desk
TV has also radio channels
Power outlets at the desk
For inroom drinks:
Kettle
Nespresso capsule machine
Tea bags with sugar and creamer
Empty minibar - sensor operated
- it is dry at the top
Complimentary water
The only glassware found are these tumblers
Roomservice menu by QR code
Opening the curtains we were greeted by the Hofplein fountain
My buddy told me when Feyenoord Rotterdam soccer team wins, all fans do a lucky dip in the fountain
As you can see Hofplein is a busy traffic circle
The room is reasonable well insulated
We only heard once a car honk
Looking toward the left : Rotterdam Central railway station is just behind those buildings
Blue building is the HIX: holiday inn express
Below you see the tramstop "Weena / Hofplein"
To the left of the room entrance is the bathroom
This room had a handheld and rainforest shower
Makeup mirror and poweroutlets
Amenities are the usual crabtree & evelyn
They were the real thing,
i checked because of loyaltylobby's warning:
https://loyaltylobby.com/2021/08/29/...els-in-turkey/
https://loyaltylobby.com/2021/09/06/...els-in-turkey/
What makes a room "executive" ?
Besides the more obvious executive lounge access ......
According to the online room description:
- bathrobe + slippers
- Nespresso coffee machine
- executive "high" floor
Executive lounge
And now onwards to Hilton Rotterdam's executive lounge.
How does it compare since our last stay during the pandemic?
Well it is still located on the ground floor and has resumed normal opening times.
Hours of operation
Lounge has an area with tables for dining
Lounge has an area with more seating for relaxation
This is what is always available at the lounge outside the f&b presentation times during opening hours
Nespresso pad machine
Fruitbowl
Cereal bars
Yay: chocomel + fristi are still available
The usual Coca Cola suspects again
Executive lounge evening
Now we go on to the main event.
The food and beverage presentation from 18.00 - 20.00 evenings,
Exactly at 17.59 sharp, the food was put out and presented
We waited as to be not trampled by the mad rush of the Americans and Germans
Red wines
Whites and bubly
Heineken beers only
(Pandemic: also Belgian Beers were offered so a major downgrade, boo!)
Adult beverages
As proper Brittons we chugged away a couple of G&T to get the evening started...
The food: left row
The food: centre piece: seafood salad
Adventurous to be serving this during hot summer,
I sampled it,
it tasted fresh to me ,
But then again i also like to live dangerously by eating cold seafood in a hotel lounge during the hot summer and then going to a theater where the show takes 2 hours without intermission and we have seats in the smack middle
The food: right row
I looked hither and beyond and there was no sight of any hot food whatsoever......
It's like seeking the scarlet pimpernel!
What's life without crisps
As you can compare with my previous review made during the pandemic,
there is a change of direction in which the lounge is heading,
or the chef/management is just lazy.
Facilities
A quick look what is on offer at the hotel.
Restaurant, Bikes and Gym
The Hilton has its own restaurant "Jacq"
They also have a pre-theatre menu
https://www.restaurantjaq.nl/en/theater-menu/
We didn't eat here but we spotted several couples here and back at the theater
Directly right of reception you will find the shoeshine machine
Also the rental bikes can be found there
And then you bump into the door of the gym (Enter with keycard)
A big room,
4/5 persons could work out without bumping into each other
It has all the usuals
Also for complete workouts
Towels and hygiene wipes
Dumbells
Balance balls
Mirrors make the space larger
The gym has two toilets, no shower though
The rack
Houserules
Explaination + instructionguide
Frosted windows provide some natural light
After Marcel van Roosmalen & Gijs Groenteman dry wry cruel irony humour comedy show at the theater,
- I had my panties around my ankles from laughing and my buddy was on the verge of soiling himself -
(can recommend if you like their books and their TVshow "Media Inside"
https://www.npo3.nl/media-inside/BV_101404473)
We got back to our room and saw this nice view:
Nice to make time/hyper lapse videos of the fountain and traffic
Note: this Hilton does not offer turndown service
The morning after
We woke up next morning after a very bad sleep,
Two blokes accustomed sleeping like an X,
together in a king bed with limp pillows as thick as a paper sheet,
and having to share the duvet with somr tugging inbetween,
=
I would recommend people to take the effort to go down and change the room to a twin bed
to save their sanity and friendship
And we were ofcourse cheerfully greeted by the morning sunshine which caused some major disgruntlement broken sleep grumpyness......
Don't worry though, we are now back at our usual café and after a couple of beers we can laugh about this.
Especially reading tripadvisor about the Grand Hotel Central,
joking we should stay there the next time as they would surely have a room with twin beds........
Wakey, wakey,
.......
my buddy yelled " the light, the light, get it away from me"!
Hofplein in the sunshine at 9ish mornings
Executive lounge morning breakfast
We rushed downstairs to make it in time for breakfast in the lounge.
It wasn't busy at all,
while down the hall you could hear the buzz of the restaurant's breakfast room.
No à la carte menu or other options was offered, as it was purely the offering on the lounge's buffet,
We were ineligable to have breakfast in the main restaurant because we are only blue members and we hadn't booked a breakfast rate. Executive room gets you only breakfast in the lounge now.
Breakfast at the lounge
Tables are set
Food presentation
Hot items include:
- breakfast bacon / ontbijtspek
- scrambled eggs
- hard boiled eggs
Fruit bowl
Milk & OJ
Fruits & Veggies already cut
Yoghurt
(The above ones are the long life shelf ones, blehh!)
Meat & cheeses
Nuts & rausins
Walnuts saved the day...
Cereals
Yeah: Pindakaas (peanut butter) + Nutella soothes the nerves
Some sweets
Bakery items
The toastière
Conclusion:
The location can't be beat if travelling by train or car.
Our receptionist wasn't on the ball during checkin.
The room was clean and all was cool.
The bedding/sleep issue was something we could have avoided but chalk that one up to experience.
The difference between a normal room and an executive room seems to hover around a nominal €50 p/night, while the breakfast add on per person is €16 per night.....
You need to do the math if it works out for you.
The lounge doesn't do any hot food in the evening so that could be a dissapointment.
It is a difference if i compare it with the Hilton the Hague experience thread here on FT.
So can recommend the room but,
there are clearly visible changes of paterns in the wrong directions
at the Hilton's executive lounge offering.
No Belgian beer and no hot evening nibbles in the lounge is a bit sad!
To illustrate pricing difference in normal vs executive:
When we booked on 12th May 2022:
Timestamp: 12th May 2022 day of booking
Timestamp: 27th June 2022 date of stay
Last minute prices
Cheaper rooms were gone because we spotted the next morning several tourgroups in the lobby checking out
Hope this review will be informative for you all!