City Hotel Nieuw Minerva Leiden

I was visiting a friend who lives across the canal so this hotel was ideal. Plus its situated at a lovely dividing point in the canals with restaurants nearby. Include breakfast in their comfortable dining area. The staff were very helpful since I was on the 3rd floor. My mistake asking for 2nd floor, forgetting the "ground floor" is our first floor in the U.S. The staff delivered my two pieces of luggage to my room upon arriving and I had them bring them down upon my check out. Important when you are old!

I’ll start with the positives the hotel wise excellently located, the beds were surprisingly comfy and the ground floor reception is nicely decorated. Unfortunately the negatives far outweigh the positive. We booked a luxury double room, on arrival we were given room 19. Essentially this is a forgotten attic room. The decor is dull dated & worn. Twin beds not even a headboard just two grotty scatter cushions. The bathroom sink was cracked and there was an over bath shower that was cramped and poor water pressure. After I complained they moved us to room 2 for the remainder of the stay. This is a first floor front room. This is the blue striped room from the photos it looked quirky, in reality it’s grotty, dated and poorly executed. Huge bed, big enough for 3 adults, with 2 pillows. No sound insulation between the room above when the guests in the room above moved the whole room shook. There are three large single glazed overlooking the canal unfortunately this meant we could hear noise from the street & bars etc. There is an over bath shower the fitting is broken so cannot be adjusted & the shower head kept falling down. The sink plug was blocked with dirt. We paid for the breakfast and regretted doing so- it’s basic & the fruit juice tasted watered down! We wish we’d gone out for it. The staff were surley. I had to arrange with the housekeeper to move rooms, it was too difficult for the receptionist. I appreciate this is a very old building but there was no excuse for the condition. I would recommend you stay elsewhere.

The hotel is beside one of the main canals & is just a short walk to the main area. The reception & bar area is lovely. We had a nice room at the front of the hotel, very spacious. The only let down was the breakfast & in particular the eggs, both the scrambled & boiled were near enough cold. The scrambled also was literally down to the scrapings & wasn't refilled. All in all though we had a great stay.