Netherlands: Hotel Review: Golden Tulip Bel Air Hotel - The Hague

This 4 star hotel belongs to a famous 3-4 start hotels chain group of europe with the name of Golden Tulip Hotels. I got this hotel booked from their London Hotel Branch with a per day cost of 110 Euros including Breakfast. I stayed in this hotel for a good period of 15 days in december 2005. I was given a very warm welcome when I reached there in the early morning hours. The staff of the hotel will look always fresh and warm. I was asked if I would like to change my room from a non-smoking zone to smoking zone, which I refused. 


The hotel has 10 floors with around 35 rooms on each floor. Only the first floor is smoking zone. So if you want to smoke in the hotel you will have to book your room on floor one. there is a big restaurant on the right of reception on the ground floor which can accomodate around 100-120 persons. 


The breakfast was included in my stay and it used to be a grand breakfast in all senses. You have a minibar in each room. Room was perfectly above my expectations in all respects be it cleanliness or anything. I got the room facing the main road so used to observe a lot of traffic during the day. I used to observe lot of people jogging and walking during the day as temperature would be low during this period (around 1 degrees to 6 degrees) anytime during the day would be good for exercise. 


Cycling is one of the very common obsession of people of any age here. The hotel is situated in the heart of Den Haag City adjacent to the famous National Science Museum (Museon) on one side and some international organization buildings like OPCW, World Trade Centre on the other side. The hotel is just 5 minutes away from the main Beach Scheveningen. You will have to go to beach from here by Tram (no. 1). The beach is just opposite to the world famous ''The Holland Casino'' and Queen's Old Palace (which is now converted to a hotel). 


The harbor of the Hague is on the walking distance from Hotel golden Tulip.  And you will find a number of good restaurants (Thai, Malyasian, Chinese etc.) and people are fond of eating out. Dinner and Lunch timings are early here. Dinners would be around 6-8pm. Wine or Beer with Dinner is very common here. Every Friday a live band show will be there in my hotel restaurant. The hotel has around 324 guestrooms, 8 suites and 8 apartments. A good indoor heated swimming pool, 24 hours bar, cosy rooms with heaters working round the clock, wireless and wired internet available in all the rooms 24 hours a day. I used to pay 17 euros per day for unlimited usage of internet and it was truly broadband connection. TV, taxi, morning alarm, 


I utilised all the facilities and found them up to the mark. The staff was active round the clock, services and assistance is very good. Due to Christmas month the hotel was decorated and the people from all around the world could be seen in the hotel for vacations. On weekends, you will find restaurants full upto large extent for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Den Haag - Netherlands - The Hague

’’Den Haag’’ in Dutch or ’’The Hague’’ in English is the official capital of Netherlands in English or Nederland in Dutch, but the working capital is Amsterdam.

Den Haag is the traditional completely Dutch city that gets time to sleep in the nights. Amsterdam on the other hand never sleeps, more active in the nights.

i was in Den Haag for 15 days on a business tour. dec.1 2005 to dec.15 2005. Went by Air France from Delhi to France and then by KLM from France to ’’Schiphol’’ - Amsterdam International Airport.

Schiphol to Den Haag by train - took just about half an hour. beautiful scenic view on the way- farms, cattle, European colonies, big buildings carrying big industrial/business names of international fame.

The train stop is just below the airport, take your luggage in trolley by lift and drop trolley when you catch train. frequency is every 15-20 minutes you get a train to Den Haag. Good cozy fast trains. Don’t forget to get your money converted to euros as no other currency is accepted here. Only at airports you can pay in dollars as well as in euros. 100 dollars will fetch you around 79-81 euros depending on the current price of euro and the conversion rate charged by the bank. Different banks will have different rates. Train fare from schiphol airport to centraal station in den haag is about 8.5 euros (a return ticket will be around 17 euros). If you take from automatic machines you pay less but if you buy from the counter you pay 1 euro extra.

Reached centraal station (or central station) around noon, took a big taxi (cheverlet) to reach to my hotel (taxi fare around 22-25 euros). My hotel was in the centre of den haag near museon (on the right) and world trade centre (on the left). a beautiful 10 storey hotel - one day charges 120 euros including a fantastic breakfast. 

Transport facilities - trams and buses for within Den Haag, trains for other cities. I liked trams over buses as they were more economical and convenient. you can take a weekly ticket, weekend ticket, day ticket. I used to take 15 strips for 6.5 euros. Everything is in zones as far as trams are concerned. Whole of The Hague is divided in zones. So if you cross two zones, you will have to punch 3 tickets of that 15 tickets strip. Or you can buy the ticket in the tram itself from the driver but that will be slightly costlier.

People take early lunch here (1-1.30) and early dinner (6-7.30 or max 8). people are fond of going to Chinese, Thai, Malaysian restaurants. People are good, friendly, warm and decent. I was well greeted at my hotel - was asked if I prefer a smoking or non-smoking room. Room having wireless internet facility which I used everyday. Breakfast was excellent. Everybody uses city map here. You carry map with you all the time and ask for direction from anybody. They stop and try to tell the best possible direction. 

In December all trees (too tall) are naked. No flowers, no leaves, no tulips. (Tulips and momentos are famous here besides international fame ’’Holland Casino’’ in Rotterdam, and night life in Amsterdam). Amsterdam is just as free as conservative Den Haag is. 

I could find very good discipline on roads. population is less, so due to less traffic so many roads are single lane or max 3 lane and still no traffic jams. People respect government and their rules, and government respects people. Since all vehicles run in high speed and in their lanes, there were no accidents in 15 days except one minor accident where a car driver smashed another. People don’t mix driving with drinking here. Girls smoke and drink openly. Seperate lanes are there for cycles as cycling is an old tradition in ducth and you will find lot of kids, young and old riding on cycle. 

Amsterdam has pole dance, exotic shows, sex museum, live sex shows, legal red light area where no cameras are allowed and if by mistake you take one, its film will be exposed. netherland is below sea level. Tulips come during April till September in the year. rest of the time it is very cold.

You find lot of windmills below and huge farms when you are landing at Amsterdam airport - Schiphol. Moroccans is a big problem here in europe, this community is settled since last 3 -4 generations. Boys of current generation do not go to schools whrereas girls study. So there is a mismatch in the community. Boys develop into rioters, thieves and non-social elements. You will not find any dust in the country. last week of December and first two weeks of January welcomes snowfall here.

Two bad incidents - on the very first day while in the market I bought a distilled water bottle (cost was bar coded), seller was an Asian - the cost of the bottle was 72 cents and he charged one euro by saying that outside its cost is 2 euros. He gave no bill. rest everywhere whatever you buy you get bill.
 
A huge black (African/ Negro) beggar around 6’’ plus all of a sudden came by my side in Amsterdam and demanded 1 euro in a very scaring voice.

Don’t forget to take cap, gloves, and extra caring clothes if you happen to go during November - December -January - February in Den Haag. you will have problems of food if you are pure vegetarian but still you can do with various breads and cheeses, fruits, juices etc. But if you are non-vegetarian you will get very good and tasty food. (a dinner will cost you around 15-20 euros including a glass of wine or beer). If you greet strangers you receive greetings in return. People are helpful. Take care of your pockets if you want to go to red light area in Amsterdam as it is over-crowded at peak hours. In holland casino entry is not very easy. You must have some local person with you and your identity proof and ofcourse money!!

Average expenditure per day Euro 120 for hotel room with breakfast
Lunch - 15 euros
Dinner - 15 euros

If you have a heavy breakfast in the morning (or late morning) you can skip lunch and have an early dinner.