Best Western Plus Hotel Plaza Almere, Almere

We stayed here for a trip to Floriade. First: got a quadruple room for 3 people, spacious and quiet. In spite of over 33 C the temperature in the room was good. Literally next to Floriade bus stop and train station. But sadly this was it with the positive review. Worst of all: Restaurant for breakfast. Not a SINGLE table was cleaned. Every day was a search for a table - not a free table but one that had been cleaned. Sprinkles, coffee stains, leftovers - never removed or touched. Also, one of our party had milk allergy. As required pr EU law any place serving food in the EU must either mark each dish with allergens or provide a list with all the food listed and the allergens (gluten, milk, lactose etc). No list found. Asked the serving staff, they had no idea what I was asking about. Didn´t matter much what I asked, because nobody spoke english anyway (or german - sadly I do not speak dutch). So only 2 of us could risk eating because of this. We went to complain at the front desk second day. "Sorry Sir, we will look into it". Nope. Same thing every day, until last day (saturday morning) when somebody actually did clean some tables. And finally some signs regarding food turned up - 2 signs stating "Halal - no pork". Hmmm....Makes you wonder doesn´t it? Otherwise I can say the same as some of the other reviewers. Nobody ever checking breakfast guests. Quality of food OK; but especially cheese was dry and probably been out to long. I went to complain on checkout, and told the checkout manager about the whole thing. She seemed sad to hear it, but now that I read other reviews from back in April and June I realize they probably do not care. 4 months, reviewed and still - nobody does anything. I also want to comment on the elevator system. As we were on the 2nd floor we wanted to take the stairs. But no - doors were locked. Not possible. Ok, we go with the elevators. This was quite a system. You press "going down" and immediately a lift signals "down arrow". Every 5 seconds "ding-dong" from somewhere until this lift arrow suddenly goes out - and so does the call button. Press again, wait, "ding-dong" multiple times. Finally lift arrives. But then the same lift signalling down now suddenly goes up...6 elevators, and it could take up to 10 minutes to actually get in one. I would say - stay away if you do not have business in Almere or are going to Floriade. Because of the location it can be tolerated, but otherwise - find somewhere else.

The hotel has a lot of positives; excellent location for visiting Floriade, transport links, good rooms and helpful staff. But! The breakfast was very poor, limited availability and low quality of food. No one checked to see if we had paid for breakfast, I suspect many may not have, and no one was preventing people filling carrier bags with food which probably accounted for the lack of availability. I received a refund for the cost of the breakfast. I cannot recommend staying at this hotel.

Booked this hotel for the Floriade exhibition. Room is standard but breakfast is below everything seen so far : choice rather limited, waiters don't fill up empty plates, the first morning the pancakes arrived when we left (after 30 minutes !), only 1 type of jam which isn't filled up when empty, you have to ask for bowls for your yoghurt, pastries (if any are presented, had none the second day) arrive late, cheese dried out at the edges, orange juice the 2nd day was very very watery and you couldn't drink it, after complaining at the reception on day 2. Housekeeping done only late in the afternoon = 4 pm ar the earliest ! Not acceptable that your room isn't done at a time you come back and want to take some rest before dinner. First time we had such a bad experience with BW.

While we were willing to sacrifice our standards somewhat for the convenience of staying near the Almere train station, we weren't prepared for what we were giving up. The spare room decor met expectations, in a pared-down Scandinavian Modern style, but the HVAC system didn't work well, and the drapes didn't block out the light from outside. The bed was fairly uncomfortable. The hotel staff were untrained and unmotivated (when you could find them at all). We reserved a double room that was provided only one towel. Getting a second was an ordeal (both nights) that required multiple requests/trips to the front desk. When we came down on the first morning to the breakfast room, all the tables were dirty. We had to clean one ourselves. Some tables were piled with used plates, napkins, and silverware, since numerous other guests had to do the same. The cheese and cold cuts provided weren't bad, but it was obvious they had been out for quite some time. (The edges having dried out.) The lobby pantry had a self-serve cash register that wasn't programmed for the items they were selling. Upon checking out, the desk clerk didn't ask how our stay was. He was obviously tired of the answers his guests gave him.

The location is very central. The rooms are spacious, shower, no bath. The hotel has a pool. The staff is friendly. The area around the hotel is under reconstruction, with roads closed and detours. Not all toiletries were refilled when we checked in. The wifi-code on the info system in the room was wrong (had to call reception for the right code, "yes we know, that still has to be changed"). Breakfast selection is not bad, average. A little more eye for detail would have given this sky scraper hotel in Almere city a 4 out of 5 score.

Almere is conveniently located 20 minutes on the train from Amsterdam centre. The hotel is 2 minutes walk from the train station in Almere and is a more affordable option than staying in central Amsterdam. Almere has plenty of good shops, bars and restaurants too! I would definitely stay here again - clean, new hotel with friendly staff.

Traveler00249278570, Front Office Manager at Best Western Plus Plaza Almere, responded to this review
Dear, We are very happy with you as a guest and we would like to thank you for staying with us and that you took the time to write us this review. We are very pleased to see that you had a lovely stay. Will you stay with us soon again? Kind regards Carolina G Front Office Manager

Booked this based on many reviews and was a bit worried given that it's not a main city centre hotel but it's excellent. The room size is maybe a little small but perfectly adequate, modern, nice furniture etc, great big shower and bathroom, really lovely, safe, hangers, fridge, good TV all the usual stuff. Really quiet despite proximity to the station and literally is 20 minute by speedy, frequent train service to Amsterdam Central. Station is steps away from the hotel. Again, frequent service back from Amsterdam late into the night. Didn't eat in the hotel restaurant. We had breakfast at a nearby cafe which was great and set us up for the day. I would definitely recommend it for anyone visiting Amsterdam.

Traveler00249278570, Front Office Manager at Best Western Plus Plaza Almere, responded to this review
Dear Clash, WAUW! Thank you so much for this really nice review. You made our day! We are very pleased to hear that you had such a lovely stay with us and enjoyed your weekend in Almere and Amsterdam. We hope you will stay with us soon again! Kind regards, Carolina G Front Office Manager

This is 4* hotel and it deserves all the praise! Everything was ok, stuff, cleanliness, comfort, the bathroom, everything. Hotel is across train station but you don't hear the noise. Insulation is excellent. The price is lower than the same hotel in Amsterdam. You need Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket because you will use NS train to Amsterdam. You arrive in Amsterdam Central Station in 21 minutes. This is additional expense but the price for hotel + transport ticket is much lower than hotel in Amsterdam of the same category and quality. We have been 3 times yet in Amsterdam. And you can use those transport cards to visit places arround Amsterdam such as Zaandam (Chocolate town), Haarlem, Zandvoort at the sea, all by NS train.

Traveler00249278570, Front Office Manager at Best Western Plus Plaza Almere, responded to this review
Dear mr. Alen, You make us very happy with this review! We are very happy you had such a lovely stay with us and enjoyed our beautiful hotel. We would like to thank you on behalf of our intire team for taking the time to write us this review and we hope to see you soon again. Kind regards, Carolina G Front Office Manager Best Western Plus Plaza Almere

Excellent rooms. Easy to get to Amsterdam and back on the train literally next door. Lots of food options very close by that are even open late. Halal food too. Loved our stay. Definitely recommend it

Traveler00249278570, Front Office Manager at Best Western Plus Plaza Almere, responded to this review
Dear mr. Kiran, Thank you for providing us with your comments on your recent stay with us. We take our guest comments very seriously and always strive to provide comfortable and friendly accommodation. Once again, thank you for your feedback and we hope to welcome you back soon. Kind regards, Carolina Gomez Pranger Front Office Manager Best Western Plus Plaza Almere

Excellent location right next to the train and bus stations and in the central of Almere. The Room is very spacious with a view, very modern and clean with all the basic things that you need for your stay.

Traveler00249278570, Front Office Manager at Best Western Plus Plaza Almere, responded to this review
Dear, Thank you very much for your review. We are very pleased to see that you enjoyed your stay. It is really good to hear that you had a good experience with the rooms. We hope that we can welcome you soon again in the hotel. Kind regards, Carolina Gomez Pranger Front Office Manager Best Western Plus Plaza Almere