The Velvet Lodge

"This hotel is now known as the Velvet Lodge. It is a boutique hotel with 15 rooms in the building that was formerly The Hague's Masonic lodge. The hotel is a short walk from the railway station and from the city's central core. The owner is a man named Oscar. He is a large, friendly, talkative man. He is probably the only member of the staff that you will meet. Given half a chance, he will tell you all about the city and the hotel, complete with photos of how your room was used by the Masons. We were given a complimentary room upgrade, because we were staying for week. Our room was quite large, with high ceilings and large windows looking out onto the street. The bathroom included a bathtub and a separate shower. All of the plumbing worked fine. We had enough space to store our gear and enough outlets to recharge our devices. In the week we visited, the Netherlands was experiencing a heat dome, with temperatures around 85F (29C) each day. The air conditioning struggled to keep up. While the temperature in the room was tolerable, it was warmer than we would have liked. Breakfast is served at tables in the lobby. Your table is laden with fruit, sliced meat and cheese, breads and rolls, orange juice, and granola. Oscar will cook an egg to your specifications, along with serving tea or coffee as you like. On some days he also offered waffles and pancakes."

"A beautiful hotel in Central Hague - quick walk from Central Station. The rooms are extremely ample, very attractive and spotless. The problem is no staff on site most of the time. We only saw the owner at check in and we had to call the hotel to get him to come over to check us in. You are given a fob to get in the heavy main doors and it only worked on occasion - we got locked out x 5 times. The part time employee is amazing but it seems he is carrying a big load. They have a nice little lounge but was only open one evening we were there. It was so weird knowing there is no staff overnight ! "

"Clean, stylish, thoughtfully laid-out and decorated/restored. Friendly staff. Great location, close to the central train station and loads of restaurants and bars. I wouldn't hesitate staying here again."