It seems very difficult to find a good hotel at all in Heerlen. We opted for the Amrath Grand Hotel, thinking it would be our best bet (we had a business meeting there). Sadly we were extremely disappointed. It was so bad, we found it funny… Like a large-scale, concrete, Dutch Faulty Towers!

The reception is breathtaking in its eccentric 'design'. I wish I had taken some personal photos as I can't quite describe it. It's not charming or pleasant eccentric, but rather distasteful and cheap. Here's a number of items within the same room I can think of to help you imagine.... brown sliding doors (electric), low grey and gigantic armchairs, a number of small oriental carpets, a black candelabra, dried brown flowers, an oversized grey/beige stone fireplace full of old chocolate wrappers, square 80's cream armchairs, glass cabinets with a selection of Dutch souvenirs & a pair of police hand cuffs (!!), a black bar table and a large dining room table in the middle of the room, a corner with teas bags permanently laid out on the table (but no actual tea-making facility).... Completely random and very badly used space.

The receptionists and hospitality team are ultra-friendly with permanent smiles glued on - to the point where I felt they were actually on some kind of medication. I had various 'issues' during my stay and they kept saying 'no problem', promising it would be sorted out. Sadly nothing were and I'm not sure they even understood (or cared) I was unhappy. The general manager got involved in the end but I did not feel any more confidence in him than the receptionists. He made a bit of a 'show' coming out to introduce himself as the General Manager and promised me great service (a young, Dutch Basil!). Clearly he forgot to tell his team and nothing improved. I really can not stand such shows of 'power-display' (especially when making no difference whatsoever) but did feel it was perfectly in line with the hotels general feel and lack of service.

Going upstairs, the hotel rooms are even worst than front of house. They really are lost in time (not sure when - a combo of 60's, 70's and 80's). Again, lots of drab and cheap materials. The kind of place that feels a bit musky and dirty although it's perfectly clean. I actually think they had re-filled the mini-bottles of shampoo in the bathroom. If not, they were sticky from something else... Yuk! There were no 'proper' large duvet but instead two smaller quilts on the bed - I had to use both to cover myself at night. The window was facing the main road and had to be left open to get some air in the room (no air con), making it very noisy and unpleasant to sleep in. I won't bore you with more details - just don't go here! The food is just as bad.

The Amrath Hotel say on their own website they have "stylish and comfortable overnight accommodation, delicious food and beverages, efficient meetings, a range of events and parties in a wide choice of function rooms". THIS IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE TRUTH - staying at The Amrath is not an experience worth having in my opinion.

We enjoyed our 1-night stay. The hotel entrance and lobby are warm and inviting. The service was friendly. The rooms were nothing special but they were comfortable and clean. I came to this hotel as part of a tour group and we had piano music during dinner. The pianist was excellent, as was the dinner. The breakfast was a typcial European buffet style. We arrived early enough to take a walk before dinner. I especially liked that the hotel was only a 5-minute walk into the center of Heerlen and there was a friendly shopping area that had the feeling of a village rather than a city. This was a comfortable hotel for our 1-night stay.

I used a gift voucher to book a special package at this hotel.

It included a one night stay, a 4 courses meal and free entry tickets for the "Gaia Park" zoo in Heerlen.
It was my original intention to get a weekend away with my wife. However we decided at the last moment to take our two kids with us.
The hotel then gave us a very good deal on a similar package for the children and organised for us two adjoining double rooms with an interconnecting door. The children just loved having their own room ;-)

Check-in was easy and although we were so early (10AM) that the rooms were not ready yet, they already gave is our entrance tickets for the Park.
This gave us the possibility to visit the park at our leisure and to check in late in the evening.

Our rooms were at the top floor (6th) and were very well furnished and clean. I really cannot share any negative comments on the room that the other reviewers had. Perhaps the rooms have been recently refurbished ?

The bed was a little bit too soft for me, but then again that is almost always the case in hotels ....

The dinner that was part of the package was certainly ok. The children adored the fact that they were not given any menus to choose from but could just state what they wanted to eat. They got exactly what they asked for (tomato soup, chicken, chips and ice cream ;-D

A negative point was the fact that the windows were not as sound-thight as they could've been. The hotel is situated right next to a busy motorway and I could hear the cars racing by all evening. I was the only one suffering from this however: everyone else slept soundly and had no complaints whatsoever.

The breakfast was excellent. It was buffet style and you could get evreything needed for a healthy and/or greasy cold/hot breakfast.

I cannot really comment on the neighbourhood of the hotel.We only used the hotel as a base, and used the car to go to Gaia Park and Monde Verde park. We never even walked around the block.

All in all, it was a nice short stay, an attractive package for a good price.

I stayed at this hotel for a week on a business trip in June of 2007. The entrance, lobby and restaurant were pleasing but the rooms were sub par. The hotel touts itself as providing luxurious 4 star accomodations. This is far from the truth. Maybe in the 80's this was a 4 star hotel but not today. The rooms were dingy and outdated.

The worst part of my stay was receiving my bill. This hotel double-charged my credit card and refused to rectify the situation.

It has taken me three months and numerous emails to the Best Western Corporate Office in order to get this fixed.

My advice….Don’t stay at this hotel unless you have to. Better yet….stay in Maastricht