Stroom
by frozensausageI've been lucky enough to stay in most of the Malmaison hotels in the UK (through work, not pleasure, I hasten to add), and Stroom has everything that the Malmaison has and more.
To anyone unfamiliar with the Malmaison chain, Stroom is a boutique design hotel which is located to the south of the city centre and a quick tram ride on the number 8 to Pieter De Hoogstraat.
The hotel is housed in a former power station, and is very different to usual hotels - the rooms are studios, and upon checking in, the keys are given to you in a film canister which also contains some great information.
The receptionist who showed us to our studio was really friendly, and like most Dutchies spoke perfect English (compared to two Mancunians anyway!) - she tried to sell us a discount card for €20, although there was a brilliant guide to the city called "Simply The Best - You Budget Guide to Rotterdam" published by an Rotterdam based oragnisation called Use-It (www.use-it.nl) which has produced a fantastic guide to Rotterdam, and my best tip for visiting the city is to procure this little gem, as Rotterdam is a city hard to do your homework about before you go, and this information should be more widely available in the UK and beyond.
Getting back to the studio, it contained the most comfortabled bed in which I have ever slept, possibly due to the coco-mat mattress or maybe the soft lush pillows.
The bath was huge, so two fitted in no problem - there was even some really nice Lush-style toiletries to use.
Stroom was fantastic largely to do with the staff, who were all young, funky, and friendly.
They couldn't do enough for us - my only critique is that the hotel's website is 99% in Dutch, and is more geared up to the domestic market than the international one, which is a great shame, as I would actively reccomend this hotel to anyone - but then again, we were in Rotterdam, not Leeds, and it was great to experience this place - a few words of Dutch, even if just to say "please" and "thank you" ("Alstublieft" & "Vielen Dank") go a long way.
There is lots of cool pieces of art on display in the hotel, and the decor is extremely well done, with the bar/restaurant having a wall of mirrors, the upstairs lounge having big comfortable Fat Boy beanbags and cable TV, and the rooms themselves modern, stylish and comfortable.
The cocktails are great, and while having a beer in the bar, order a portion of Bitterballen for about €4 - you won't be disappointed.
Although the location of the hotel isn't smack bang in the middle of the city centre, there is a nice bar opposite, which served nice beer and had a good food menu.
