Beautiful old prison building, looks great on the inside. Rooms are a good size, can tell from features kept from the prison that the building has a lot of history. I visited with my 5 year old daughter and she loved it. There’s a park on the grounds and another a short, 2 minute walk from the hotel. Also a small little animal park with deer, peacocks and llamas that you can see and feed as you pass. Would highly recommend as a stay for families. Loads of amenities around, there’s a large supermarket only a 10/15 minute walk away and the same amount, maybe slightly longer walk into the centre of Alkmaar, so you’re not stuck if you haven’t booked transport while visiting either, hotel is in a very ideal location. Staff were very friendly and helpful, mine and my daughters Dutch is very rusty - staff all spoke English and were really kind to my wee girl. Also had breakfast and drinks while staying - breakfast is a buffet with great options for everyone. Only slight downside was that there were small damages in the room, this wasn’t anything major, more scuffs on the wallpaper and damage to the skirting boards, however with how long we were actually in the room, it was fine! Definitely would stay here again! Can’t wait to visit Alkmaar again.

Gorgeous old prison building, the cells/rooms are obviously small but it suits the experience. Shame the blinds can’t be pulled up/opened to enjoy the views better.

Parking: we woke up to a big fine because the parking spaces in front of the hotel apparently aren’t to be used by guests. This was an unpleasant and unexpected surprise- as the fine ended up being more than the actual cost of the room. This must be something most guests do and thus known to staff, so why we weren’t notified/warned/asked where we had parked is a bit of a mystery to me. It dampened the joy of the over all experience.

The gallon hotel was really lovely with the unique refurbishment of an old prison which gave the whole family something fun to talk about. We stayed here as my brother was getting married and the family stayed here there was nothing that wasn’t impossible for the hotel staff and they weee bet accomodating when my mums suitcase didn’t arrive and switching rooms due to health reasons. Very friendly and extremely accommodating. The walk across from the hotel with all the wildlife was a big thing for my 10 year old daughter too really refreshing x hotel room was clean nice and hr bed and pillows weee Comfy highly recommend

Some is the paper was Peeling in some reads of the hotel No complimentary water option it was only tea and coffee and when you are traveling with a child it’s nice to have a little bottle of water when they wake up

the bold conversion from prison to hotel, quirky, quite cool. the green area

the loud waiter, both in the afternoon but even worse the following morning. he kept banging around candles and candleholders on the tables around me, honestly who cares who forgot to light them, who needs candles for breakfast anyway. I do not need to know he is the one doing all the work, I much less need to be informed that he will move the stack of growing dishes on the table besides me. He may have noticed I hastely got up from my table, I wasnt in a hurry but had had enough of the ongoing show, the idle talk that kept invading my peace... phoof! I avoided him every next time our paths crossed.

Very original place, inventive. Neat and cosy, clean. Peace and quiet. Close to the city centre. Surrounded by a park - a lot of green. Parking available. Bike rental available, easy to use, clear instructions. Very friendly hotel staff, always smiling and helpful. Wi-fi available.

No mobile phone signal in the room (walls too thick because of the former prison?) - wi-fi could be used freely instead, but this does not always help (e.g. I needed to make a few bank payments and had to keep walking out for the sms bank confirmation and in again...). On the other hand, the place itself is charming and with specific atmosphere, no one to blame for no signal :)

Staying in a former prison was a truly unique experience. Very modern furnishings, nice hot showers, bed was very comfortable, we liked the fact that our dog had her own separate „room“ to sleep in (we stayed in room 218). Location was perfect: in a quiet area, with a nice dog-friendly park right beside the hotel, lovely foot/bike paths all around, short (15 min.) walk into town, lots of restaurants nearby. Staff was very friendly. Did not use the gym or related facilities.

1) The breakfast - it was a catastrophe, and definitely not a 4-star offer (seemed more like a breakfast the inmates would have gotten!…) Lots of prepackaged stuff, scrambled eggs were likely from egg powder and not fresh, pancakes were rubbery, every single juice we tried tasted funny. The only thing we liked about the breakfast was the coffee. Very disappointing overall. 2) The parking - why do guests have to pay for parking on the hotel’s own private property during the week? Fridays and weekends are free, so what’s that all about?

That it was a former prison and it had been converted well through but keeping the character well.

A couple of small things. Paper cups for tea and coffee makes it feel cheap 1 towel each. No hand towels And you can’t switch the light on for the bathroom until you have got in there in the pitch black. Windows facing car park on ground floor should be frosted for privacy

My room took up two former cells and I thought it was really well designed. It had what you would want in a modern hotel whilst being sympathetic to the building’s former use as a prison. This applied to the whole hotel actually. The former cell blocks were very nicely decorated but no attempt was made to disguise their former use, which I really liked.

I didn’t like having to pay to park in the hotel’s own car park. It is a gripe I have at a lot of hotels that do this. My view is not that the hotel is providing me with a car park for my convenience and hence I should pay for it, but more that the hotel is providing me with a car park for my convenience to encourage me to stay there rather than go somewhere else where I don’t have to pay for parking.

The fact to sleep in a former prison in actual prison cells was funny. Biiig rooms, very comfortable. The restaurant was super, the excellent kitchen staff accepted to prepare our meals even though it was at 1 minute to closing time and we had some extra demands (dairy free instead of butter sauce). Bravo!

There were some logistics problems : missing plastic key cards (the hotel was fully booked), which delayed our check-in for 30 minutes

This was simply one of the most unique hotels we've stayed at, simply because of its unique history and conversion into a hotel. The feeling of a modern hotel was achieved without losing a very strong connection to what it used to be. A prison. When I first walked into the cell block where the rooms are I literally felt like I had walked into Shawshank prison. Somehow the remodeling kept that eerie feeling while simultaneously giving you the feeling you are in a very nice hotel. This is a strange and unique thing to achieve, and I couldn't have been happier to step into our converted cell(s) to find again the luxurious room was fitted without completely losing the character of what it once was. Highly recommend this hotel if you enjoy something different from all the others.

Honestly, there wasn't much not to like. The rooms were extremely comfortable, everything was clean, and in order when we arrived.