I've been to this property before a couple of years again as a staycation trip.  I was curious to try this property out in the current adjusted service level and at the same time making it easier for a visiting relative to visit the attractions around the city.  From rate wise, it was just slightly cheaper compared to normal times.

This property used to be the main office of the Dutch Post Office and in my opinion, a good job has been done to convert it into a hotel.  

Location

The property is very conveniently located in the good part of The Hague, just behind the stables of the Royal Palace.  Next to it is the Panorama Mesdag - which is a must visit for first time visitors to the city.  

From public transportation point of view, you will need to take a tram if coming from either of the train station serving the city.  The best tram would be line 1 which stops about 5 mins walk from the hotel.  Other than this, most of the attractions, shopping and food outlets is within walking distances.  If there is not too much large luggage, it most probably could be walkable from the Central train station, I would estimate around 20-30 mins via the city centre. 

Check In

I already did an online check-in, I did notice during the online check-in, I was upgraded to a Junior Suite, but sadly I had to turn that down because I wanted a room with Twin Beds, so with a heavy heart I "downgraded" myself - as I had really wanted to also check out the Junior Suite.

Since this property uses Digital key, I did bypass the front desk and went directly to the lift to go to my room.  (I did have some difficulty using the app when in the elevator-needed to access your floor, but luckily after a few mins an associate came over to help, and I never had any other issues for the rest of my stay).  

Just FYI, the front desk was free at that time of my arrival, around 4pm.

Room

The room was situated on the Executive floor with a city view.  My first impression of the room was good especially from design point.  From size point, it was ok for a couple of nights (or 1 night in my case).  The room was bright due to the large ceiling to floor windows with a view of the city centre.  There was a working desk which was a nice welcome.  There was also coffee/tea making facilities in the room - which was nice especially in current times.

Wifi speed and signal was good.  The TV was large and had the usual list of local and international selections (although it was a bit slow in loading every time you switched it on).  The climate control in the room was good - it did keep the room temperature stable and was luckily not too loud even on high fan mode.  

Bed quality was good - again not too hard or soft, and for me it was a good night sleep.  Noise level from both inside and outside sources were good (although do check that the window is closed properly - as I found out later in the night that the previous guest/housekeeping did not close it properly, so it actually was slightly open and traffice noise was coming into the room.  After closing it properly, it was sufficient to isolate the traffic noise).  

The bathroom was of a good size, there was a bathtub and next to it a walk-in shower.  The walk-in shower was actually to my surprise on the smaller side, I would say that it was quite  squeeze to shower or maybe even claustrofobic to some level.  Other than that, the shower water pressure and temperature control was good - and there was minimal leakage of the shower floor to the outside.

All in all, the room was functional providing a good night sleep.

Executive Lounge

The executive lounge is normally located on the highest floor, but in current situation, there is a small change in operation, from Friday-Saturday night, this is at the normal location, but from Sunday night, this is shifted to the hotel bar/lounge area - which is located next to the restaurant on the ground floor.  Since I was staying on a Sunday night, this was the make-shift lounge at the bar.  In my opinion, this was executed very well - with nearly no difference in offerings from the normal lounge.  

The snack/food offerings were mainly small plates cold meat and vegetable cuts.  There were 2 types (sort of) hot dishes (although still plated in small plates and not buffet style).   I doubt that you can make a normal meal out from it, unless you have a small appetite.  

As for the beverages options, I found it very good - a good choice of non-alcoholic and alcoholic offerings.  There was 1 red, 1 white and 1 procescco on offer.  There was also the usual stronger offerings for mixes/cocktails.  

There will be someone checking the eligibility of the guests to the "lounge area" and they will know you by face - saw a couple of normal bar visitors taking food from there and they were informed about it.  You are free to sit anywhere (like a normal bar guest) which was nice as you could enjoy the outside terrace, weather permitting.

Also a big kudos to the bar staff who were very accommodating - noticed a guests wanted to be close to the electrical outlet while being outside at the terrace, and they were accommodating to setting up tables and making sure that the guest did manage to work and charge at the same time.  I'm sure if the staff were lazy, they would have just made up an excuse to not be bothered.

All in all, I was happy that the management of the hotel did not use current situation to cut cost using the government rules as an excuse.  

Breakfast

I was not sure if you needed to make a pre-reservation for the breakfast, but I just went for breakfast (albeit at a non-peak time) and was not told anything about reservation, etc.

They have expanded the breakfast area to an overflow area just outside the normal restaurant area. (in the sort of foyer area for the meeting rooms of the hotel).  

The breakfast selection was very close to normal, all cold items were packed individually in plastic containers, for bread/pastries selection, there would be an associate there take your selection and give it to you in a bread basket and for the hot items, there was a small tick-card where you give your order to any associates and it will be delivered to your table.  [For the hot selection, I would certainly for the egg benedict with salmon - it was delicious served on a crispy bagel]

All in all, besides the large usage of plastic packagings in current situation (lots of hotels are doing it this way sadly), I found the service level and offerings for breakfast to be very normal.  

Overall

All in all, a big thumbs up to this property for keeping as much as possible the service level expected compared to other full service Hiltons which uses the current government rules to cut costs as much as possible (looking at you Hilton Rotterdam).  I will certainly recommend this property as service level is very close to the normal times.

This is my 2nd stay in < 1 year at this property but under current stay, the lockdown imposed by the government was much more stricter compared to my previous stay.

- all restaurants incld hotels are closed and only take-away permitted

- even open air sitting outside (café/terrace) was still not allowed

The review here will concentrate on how the hotel adapted to the situation and the HHonors benefit received.

Check In

As like the last time, I did contact the hotel a couple of days to ask about the service in current situation and like the last time, received quite promptly a response.  The day before my check-in, I saw that I was already pro-actively upgraded to a Family Suite (the last stay I had no upgrade).  Since with current situation lots of forms needed t be filled, I believe the digital check-in option was disabled - I did not bother to do any online check-in, but also since I wanted to try early check-in (which the silly app still does not allow), I passed through the front-desk.  The last time I just did the online check-in so I bypassed the front desk

Received as expected a number of forms to fill - on your own health status, declarations and including the breakfast form (delivered to the room at your selected time).  I also received my 2 bottles of complimentary water (given a choice of still/sparkling) and given in a reusable glass bottle (thumbs up for this green alternative).

Check-in was in my opinion very warm and I felt very welcome by the friendly front-desk associate - Valentina.  

Room

The family suite room was situated on the 5th floor.  For this property, the room was certainly much more spacious compared to the usual rooms at the property.  However compared to what is more defined as a suite, this was more of a junior suite.  The room was however well divided to separate the different spaces.

There was a nice kitchenette - which was quite well equipped for simple food preparataion, e.g. reheating and a small washing basin.  There was 2 fridges - the usual hotel mini bar type and another cabinet size fridge.  There was a microwave (which is quite unique for European hotels) located at the top cabinet and also some cutlery and plates.  The coffee machine (Nespresso) and tea making facilites also on in this area.  Within this kitchenette area was the wardrobe.

Next to the kitchenette was a wall divider to a sort of small open workspace which was quite spacious and had sufficient working area.  Only too bad it does not have a good view (not facing the window) which for me is my preference, but not for others.

The bed and small living area was in the same area.  It was spacious enough.  The sofa set looked fine on the first look, but after sitting on it, it clearly was time for replacement as there was basically no support anymore.   The view from the room was partially towards the roof of the Panorama Mesdag and partially to the skyline of the city.  The bed was comfortable -just right hardness/softness for my liking.  Noise level from outside and inside was low - so I did not have any issues due to noise.  Climate control in the room was also good - the temperature maintained well during the whole stay.

The bathroom area was covered by frosted glass which is the same theme as my previous stay, however I found this to be still sufficient even if you are staying with friends or if there's concern of being too revealing.  The real estate area was indeed big with double wash-basin and a bathtub.  The walk in shower and toilet was in separate sub-rooms within the bathroom area.  The shower water pressure and temperature control was good.  Tip:  For those that uses the hand shower and find it turning sideways when showering, try twisting the connection between the shower head and the flexible pipe.  

There were bathrobes and slippers provided in the room standard even during current times.  I was not sure on housekeeping service, but for the first time I did notice was a card which you can hang it at your door to request for different items - but also instructions on where to used sheets, etc - so I am not sure if they do offer optional (full) housekeeping, or they do only offer the option to send in you used sheets/towels and they will provde you with new sheets/towels which you have to make the bed yourself. 

Other amenities in the room - internet speed was fast and reliable. The TV channel selections were the usual - mix of local and international.  These days I do actually hope that hotels will start give an option for guests to at least stream their devices to the TV for streaming services.  

Executive Lounge

Due to current rules, the hotel seemed to have cut down on this - I had the impression that there was some recent change to how this was offered between my stay to previously.  During my stay, for eligible guests, a voucher was provided.  This voucher entitled each eligible guest (so not room) to 

- 2 choices of hot snacks

- 2 choices of drinks

However, I was also told outside of the evening hors d'oevres hour, there were also snacks (fruits, nuts, chips and hot drinks) available.  To my surprised even if you are eligible, you had to use your voucher for these too outside of the evening offerings.  For me, this was quite strange - as it means you have to choose to use your voucher for either one, which is strange as under normal circumstances you can just go into the lounge for these.   I guess most probably due to the change that there's some ironing out that is needed.  In my opinion, the best would just be to go back to the old way - ask the guest for their room number and that's it - no need to waste paper with vouchers and add confusion to what can/can't be used for the voucher.

As for the hot snacks - during my stay there was no choice - just 1 option, frittered prawns, and one in each small bowl that you had to take and consume in your room.  The same for the drinks - so it was close to impossible to take 2 glasses of wine or glasses to your room in one go.  In my opinion, the hotel makes it really difficult them both sides- themselves and the guest with this process.  Comparing this to the DT Amsterdam Central (which I stayed a couple of days later) - the alternative offered was much better - via room service you could order 1 (good quality) small bite and 1 drink (any) and sent to the room.

Breakfast

During check-in you were provided a form to fill in your options for breakfast.  The options were still quite varied and one good thing they did they their infamous Bagel-Salmon-poached egg dish to select from.  This list needs to be delivered back to the front desk before 10pm and it will be delivered to the room the next morning.  

In general all was ok - except that the execution of it was ok, I had seen better at Doubletree's and also Hampton Inn's.  Some improvement items

- it was delivered close to 20-25 mins earlier than my requested time (luckily I was already awake) but felt this way too early from indicated time.

- some items indicated that I wanted 2 portions (mainly the warm dishes) were only delivered as 1 portion.

Also it was lucky that I had the microwave in the room as items were on the cold side so it was good to warm it up again in the microwave.  

Overall

All in all, I was in general happy with the stay and the alternatives offered - breakfast and offerings for elite members.  Of course also happy with the upgrade to the Suite - which I am sure under normal times would have never happened since this property would normally be filled with business travellers.

Received a nice small Forget-me-Not pot as a nice contribution of the hotel towards Earth Month.

Another round of review for this property - I don't think in all my years I've returned to the same property so often within a year's time.  Will keep this review short - but again seems that this property is listening to feedback from their guests ( = mine) - from what I noticed just after slightly a month staying here and giving them the feedback.  

This time, I did a 2-night stay since the rates were still very attractive for this property and this time I lucked out with both in-house benefits and mother nature (= weather), as finally some late spring weather arrived in the country.

Check In

Check-in was again need to be done by person at the front desk - again due to the current situation.  This time it did take a bit longer since I was being checked-in by a trainee - which I was totally fined with - everyone needs to start somewhere at one point.  They did apologize for the slightly longer situation.  Again checking in around lunch time, I was helped immediately.  What I noticed this time was that next to the check-in desk, was a smaller desk dedicated for all the different F&B arrangement/information - this will most probably be gone after 5th June when restaurants/cafés are allowed to be open again.

Again - I was upgraded to a Family Suite room - to be selfish, I am enjoying these restricted borders these days as I have been getting very good upgrades at most Hilton's and have to fight with the rest of the world.  Also received two bottles of water - given a choice for it to be delivered or bring it along with me.  At the same time I was given all the different forms for lounge access, take-away menu and breakfast form.

Room

This time I was allocated a room on the 4th floor.  The view of this room faced this time the innercourt of the hotel.  For me the room this time, although the same category I did find it to be in a better layout compared to the last family suite I had.  All in all everything I needed from a room

- good sleep

- functional to do work and in this case have breakfast in the room

- to relax

Breakfast

Breakfast was the same format as the last time - in room.  The last time I did provide some feedback that some orders were mixed up/incorrect and this time I saw that they improved the form to avoid such confusion, which indeed this time was well executed and breakfast did arrive close to the requested time (not 20 mins earlier like the last time).  

Also - most probably it was noted in my profile, but the last time before leaving, i just inform about them forgetting items in the breakfast - this stay, someone from the front desk did call up to the room about an hour after breafkast was delivered to ask if everything was fine.

I was again glad I had the microwave in the room to warm up items where needed.  I only hope that the hotel does properly recycle the amount of plastics used as I can imagine it does add up in current times (and will most probably continue even when breakfast is back at the main restaurant like back in August last year).

Executive Lounge (alternative)

The lounge was still closed, so the alternative location at the Atrium of the hotel was still in effect.  Again, was glad that they took my last feedback into account - you are given a voucher during check-in and the main change is that you just need to show the voucher (and not like the last time give it to the associate) - which means situation is very much like the usual lounge access.  Consumption of the items are still to be in your own room - however since now the open terrace is open until 8pm, and if it's not too full with (paying) visitors/guests, you are allowed to enjoy your drinks/food there - which of course can only happen when the terrace is open.   This really did elevate the experienced compared to the last visit when it was cumbersome to go back to your room.  

Furthermore, the offerings in both drinks and snacks (especially during happy hour) was much further improved - more variations/options.  

Also noticed this time - since it's allowed - the number of eligible guests for the lounge is still quite limited, so does give you the exclusive feeling and what originally a lounge should be instead of having it overfilled.  (sorry again a selfish remark - but am really enjoying these much more calmer times).

Service

I would say this is where the hotel really shined this time.  Everyone was really friendly and helpful.  One of the most outstanding was since I had a 2 night stay, I did ask for housekeeping service - and during the service, I guessed they noticed that one of the lights above the headboard was not work  (I was not going to bring it up), but upon returning to the room I found that they got someone to fix it.  Very good and proactive - which you don't see much at other properties unless you report it.

Overall

All in all - a big kudos to the property.  It does seem that in the weekends the property does get quite full - I suspect with lots of staycationers.  The front desk does get slightly overwhelmed with guests during check-in/out hours during the weekends.  

One small minor note - this time around, did see that there was a couple that were checking in (you know those type - young who seems to feel like " do you know who I am type" and " I don't need to follow the rules" type checking in without wearing a face mask - and sadly I did not see anyone say anything to them.  Did give the look at a few times but guess they were too ignorant to notice them.  I find this totally disrespectful, OTOH the staff should have said something too (not sure if that was mentioned when they checked-in).