Hampshire Waterland Golf Hotel Review
November 2016The Hampshire Waterland Golf Hotel (also known as Burg Golf) is a four-star hotel located in Purmerend Netherlands. The hotel is a half hour bus ride from Amsterdam Centraal Station on good 'ol trusty bus number 307. Some of the stops along the way include Splitsing, Mastbos, Frescobaldistraat, and Zuivelpad. Then it is only a five minute walk to the hotel from bus stop Bunderstraat. Bus 307 is serviced by EBS company, who were giving out free cappuccinos one day accompanied by live violin music of all things right at the bus stop on Platform L at Centraal Station!
A single ride between hotel and Amsterdam Centraal Station costs a whopping Euro 7.50. That is when you buy the ticket from the driver.
However if you use a GVB public transportation re-loadable chip card, it's only half that price!
The hotel is just a tad in the run down category, but only in certain aspects.
For instance, some of the walls and furniture in the hotel are fairly scuffed up. However that's offset by a number of positives, such as the restaurant Magnolia's, the bar area, and the golf pro shop. Also the lobby area is quite handsome.
The grounds of the hotel are really nice too. Lots of greenery and nature. Coupled with some very nice houses in the neighborhood and lots of canals criss-crossing all over the place, this is a pretty area.
There is 'coffee service' available in the room upon request. Iron and ironing board are also available, which were borrowed on the first day and remained in the room the entire stay.
The room has a wardrobe cabinet and a table with two chairs.
SIZE
Room 219 is on the second floor by US standards. The Europeans would call it the first floor. However you slice it, there are only two floors to this rather large hotel/golf club complex.
The room is refreshingly big compared to Amsterdam's tiny standards. The newish carpeting is nice. Big windows with a view of the golf grounds - awesome. Sun is in the windows' view all day in November. The windows can be opened. The rooms on the ground floor allow you to open the window, which is actually a sliding door, and go onto the grassy area. So it's like having your own garden, although there is no privacy at all.
BED
The room had three single beds. There are lots of extra pillows and blankets. The bed is pretty firm by Amsterdam's deplorable firmness standards. This has to rank as one of the better beds in town because it's fairly darn firm, but not perfect. The bedding though makes up for any imperfections regarding the bed. Very nice thick pillows, linens, and comforter. No skimping in quality here.
BATHROOM
The bathroom is also quite sizey and nice. It has a full bathtub and a strong shower with plenty of hot water. There are also plenty of towels.
HEATING
Heating cannot be regulated. Heating is pumped in through two air vents on the floor by the window. The temperature was maintained at a comfortable level during the nine nights in November 2016. However for 2 nights in November 2017, it was chilly, even with maximum setting on the thermostat located high on the wall.
LIGHTING
The room's main ceiling light did not work, nor did the lights on the head board. One of the wall outlets also was out of order. There was a decent floor lamp and reading lamp combo in the room, although the switches didn't work so it required pulling the electrical out of the socket to turn it off. The lamp on the desk worked fine.
DESK
A large desk area had a television on a convenient swiveling base. The desk had a lower cabinet area for storage.
TELEVISION
The TV was flat screen and about 32 inches wide. There were about 30 channels, with English language news channels of BBC and CNN.
RESTAURANT
The hotel includes Magnolia's restaurant which opens early for breakfast and closes around 11pm. The food is good but pricey. A tasty beef burger and fries meal cost EUR 15, although the portion could have been a bit bigger for that price. They also offer room service.
