Hotel des Indes

"The Hague is home to world-class art museums, magnificent beaches, and a fairytale-like Parliament Square. This grand five-star hotel, with its distinctive yellow façade, stands as one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks. Set in an elegant quarter near Denneweg, it lies just a short stroll from the Escher Museum, the historic centre, and many of the city’s celebrated attractions. Over the decades, like many legendary hotels, it has welcomed kings, emperors, and countless other distinguished guests. It remains one of the most prestigious names in the Randstad. Check-in is seamless, the rooms are classy, and the whiskey sour at the bar is truly memorable, served with aplomb and leaving one wanting just one more."

"Paid €33 for breakfast. Included was only ommelette and fried egg, plus a very average buffet. Coffee took a long time to arrive, and overall service was very slow. Indoor temp also way too hot, but I guess that’s normal when the average age is 70. Poor value overall. Beautiful interior though."

"The dining experience did not meet my expectations. For example, the langoustine was served merely as a flat piece of meat without its shell, which was both unexpected and disappointing. It would have been helpful if the menu had provided a more detailed description. Similarly, the shrimp croquettes lacked any discernible shrimp flavour, which undermined the dish entirely. The service was inadequate, largely due to the insufficient number of staff serving the entire restaurant. This shortage created several avoidable issues. For instance, once the bread had run out, the staff only then began baking more, instead of anticipating the shortage and preparing in advance. When we requested bread, the newly baked loaves were first distributed to other tables that had not even asked for it, while we were left waiting. After ten minutes, we reminded the staff, only to be told -rather irritably- that we would have to wait longer as the bread was still in the oven. Why didn't they inform us 10 minutes ago? A proactive and transparent approach would have been far more appropriate. Another disappointing detail was the handling of cutlery. After finishing our starters -using the cutlery for the first course-, we were not provided with fresh cutlery for the next course -the starter-, and were instead expected to use the cutlery for the main course for the starter. This was awkward and certainly not the standard one would anticipate from a restaurant of this calibre, particularly at Des Indes. Finally, no effort was made to clean the table between courses. After the first course, crumbs and debris remained on the table, which created an impression of negligence. Considering this is a five-star hotel, such oversights are unacceptable and reflect poorly on the establishment’s attention to detail and service standards."