We stayed for one night arrangement with dinner and breakfast in a thema suite with 3 young children and enjoyed the stay very much. It is more a stately mansion than a castle. Spacious with high ceilings in the lobby, lounge/bar area and restaurant that are all well appointed. Our room was in a newer wing and spacious with nice bathroom. Dinner was 5 courses and very good including friendly but professional service. Breakfast buffet was also fine.

Can understand that for people needing assistance, maybe this is not a great place as there is a staircase outside and no staff ready to assist. Also, the reception was not busy when we were there but I question if the limited staff can handle busier periods.

All in all, we enjoyed it very much and a good base to visit Aachen and Maastricht. It may not have all the luxurious details and finishing touches but then again it does not charge the top rates either.

My husband and I stayed here in October 2006 while he was attending a conference. The hotel was very beautiful and romantic. Our room was nice and on the ground floor, we had a small patio we could use. Unfortunately, the weather was quiet warm, and the room did not have air conditioning, and being on the ground floor we did not feel comfortable leaving the windows open.

The staff seemed nice, but were not very helpful when I asked for things to do in the area. When I asked how to get into Aachen, I was told to just get on the bus. Which is fine if you are familiar with the area, and speak the language, but not when you don't have a clue.

The restaurant was nice, but the meal was just ok. I ordered the vegetarian meal which came with a mushroom "pie." I expected more than just a plate with mushrooms piled on top of green beans, when so much more could have been done with the meal. The salad and soup that come with the meal were excellent, which made the "pie" only more disappointing. The deserts were wonderful.

There did not appear to be an exercise room.

The hotel Kasteel Bloemendal (Kasteel = castle) is not a real castle but more a large mansion. There is a gate and after you pass this you will see the hotel in front of you, to your right there are parking lots. It has a beautiful hall with the reception. Service is however poor, when we walked in we had to wait for about 10 minutes because two employees were discussing over a bottle of wine. After that we were greeted with “he, hallo”, not the type of communication you expect in such surroundings.

We had booked a suite and this was very nice. It had two rooms, a living room and a bedroom. Because it is an old building there were high ceilings, about 4-5 meters. The room is furnished with all kinds of antiques. Unfortunately, so was the small TV, very old, it was not even possible to switches channels with the remote! The bedroom is very romantic, with a lovely bed with all kinds of draperies. The bathroom had separate bad and shower, although the latter was very small, I felt cramped inside.

We had diner in the restaurant, stunning place with fresh flowers everywhere. The 4-course diner was though disappointing, rather well but dull and boring. In such a setting you think that the brigade will do every effort to earn a Michelin star, not cooking average diners with no real taste ‘explosions’.

With the booking, upon arrival and other moments we notified the staff that we were there for a special occasion. They did nothing with this information, that was also a real displeasure. All those lost chances in what could be a magnificent hotel.