Although the hotel does not look nice (it looks like a prison) the rooms are very nice, the reastaurant is good and it serves a good breakfast.

I drove into Groningen, and the advantage of the location of the Hampshire is that it is kind of on the border between the urban center and the suburbs. Trust me, if you aren't comfortable with Euro-style traffic, you may not want to drive downtown Groningen; what with the narrowness and the bicycles and the roundabouts and all.

The Hampshire is easy to find once you know the trick, and that trick is to pay attention for its easy-to-miss driveway. Myself, I missed it twice and ended up asking for directions at a Buddhist temple just up the road (which is how I learned there is a very interesting Buddhist temple just up the road)

Once you're at the Hampshire, park the car and take the public transport or walk. There is a bus stop maybe half a km away, and the streets look fairly straightforward if you walk or take a bike downtown.

The other nice thing about the location is it is quick to get out of town and into the beautiful (even at the time of year I was there) countryside. I recommend a day trip to the coastal town of Pieterburen to visit the seal hospital there. Really interesting, and of course cute.

My room in the Hampshire was fairly large compared to what I'm used to in the Netherlands, with a decent bathroom.

Breakfast was very good, a nice choice of meats, cheese, cereal, fruit and breads that I found really energizing for a day of exploring Groningen.

I can't say its the best hotel in the city, but maybe because I've only had the pleasure of visiting Groningen once and this is the only one I've stayed in. Certainly I would expect more of the pricier inns in the city, but there is nothing lacking here.

The Hampshire is reasonably priced, well located (esp. for those traveling by car), and provides all of the requirements of a hotel in this class (tv, wireless, quiet location)

Two elevators, a large atrium and ample parking (and a wonderfully multilingual staff) seal the deal, and I fully recommend this hotel.

The hotel was of an acceptable standard for the price paid, but could have been better.

It is about 3km walk from the centre of Groningen, so within walking distance, or there is a bus. It is fairly close to a busy motorway, but there was no traffic noise in my room. The hotel was almost empty, and quiet, while I was there. I would be concerned about noise inside the hotel if it was busy, as all floors were open plan, with nothing to stop noise from any part of the hotel being heard in every room in the hotel.

The room was fairly small. I had single occupancy of a twin room. There was no space to store luggage that wasn't in the way of wardrobes, beds, walking around the room, etc., other than on the bed that I was not using. This would have been very inconvenient if there had been two people in the room.

Room servicing was poor:

1. I stayed 10 nights. The bedding was never changed.
2. The bed was not made properly several times.
3. A previous guest's rubbish was still in the room when I arrived.
4. The wooden floor was dusty, as were some other surfaces.
5. Splashes of soap on the bathroom floor were not cleaned up.

Cleaning of the public areas of the hotel appeared to be infrequent. The carpet on the staircase clearly needed vacuuming when I arrived. After 2 or 3 days of my stay, a discarded sweet wrapper appeared on the staircase. It stayed there for about a week.

Breakfast was quite good. The staff usually waited about 10 minutes after the official end of breakfast before starting to clear away the buffet. They walked round to each table to warn you first, so you could get more food if you wanted it. Dinner was also quite good, but a little expensive.

I stayed in a suite for two nights. The room was large, with an excellent view of the nearby lake. But the furniture was much too basic: a couple of comfortable chairs should have been provided to take advantage of the space. The TV offered only the basic selection of cable channels, so film or sports channels. A bulb had blown in the bedside reading light and wasn't replaced, despite my requesting this from reception. There were tea and coffee making facilities in the room, but the tea wasn't replaced so it ran out after the first morning.

The swimming pool is reasonably large and was quiet when we used it. This to me this was a major plus point as I enjoy exercise in my free time. I don't know why a hotel of this size can't also have a small gym area though.

The food in the restaurant was of a surprisingly high quality. But they definitely need more serving staff. No criticism is intended of the restaurant staff: they were efficient and pleasant, but they just had too much to do. Since the chef is clearly above average, I'd have liked to see a much more adventurous menu. Room service is not offered. For a hotel that claims to be four star I find that surprising.

Bearing in mind that a paid 110 Euro per night for a suite I thought this offered good value for money: especially as the internet access was free. But I'd have willingly paid a little more for the extra services and details which were missing.