Some hotels aim at making their guests feel comfortable, Guldenberg is not one of them. As a solo business traveller I have rarely been more amazed-in a negative way- by the service and standards of a hotel. Where to start.. the pubic hairs on the bathroom walls, the television that is put up so high above the bed (in fact, right to the ceiling) that it's impossible to watch without developing neckpain, the salad nicoise that contained none of the expected ingredients (exept tuna) but existed of star anise and a few bits of raw courgette. Dining solo is unpleasant and uncomfortable- to the point where it gets laughable- as you're placed in the middle of the restaurant, the waitresses continue to drag tables and chairs around, commenting on the dirty state of the restaurant. A succession of unpleasant and substandard experiences, is probably the best way to summarize my stay at the Guldenberg.

I stayed at the Conferentiehotel Guldenberg in Helvoirt for 2 nights in late July. On check in we were told that it was their normal practice to actually take the payment for the room up front so we paid this by card. They didn't just take an imprint of the card which is more normal, we paid there and then.

On checking out 2 days later we were presented with the total bill which had the room charge plus a few other items e.g. drinks on it. I questioned this and said that we had already paid the room charge when we checked in. Oh no, we were told, this was ok, we would only be charged for the extras. I asked them to specifically check that we weren't being charged twice for the room, they went away and checked their computer system and said no, this couldn't possibly happen.

However, on returning home I found that I had been charged twice, once for the room only and again for the room plus the drinks etc. On phoning the hotel to complain, apologies were not exactly forthcoming, at one point when I asked what the delay was in organising a refund they said they 'were rather busy at the moment'. When the refund was eventually made, the exchange rate had changed so that we were actually worse off, less sterling had been refunded than taken. Although this aspect wasn't exactly their fault, any goodwill on their part was completely absent and I on complaining I was effectively told it was my tough luck that I had lost out, despite the cause clearly being their fault. I found them to be completely clinical and uninterested in the whole thing with 0/10 for customer relations.

On asking whether they would have even noticed that I had been charged twice if I hadn't mentioned it, a wall of silence descended.

So unless you want to be charged twice - stay away.