I stayed at the Derlon in connection with a last-minute trip to Maastricht to speak at a conference at the European Institute of Public Administration. What a wonderful hotel and city! I wish I could have stayed longer than the 36 hour trip my schedule permitted.
The conference organisers booked this hotel for me, which is very conveniently located across the square from EIPA and in the centre of the historic area full of high-end shops, restaurants and sights. Based on other comments on the tripadvisor website, I was a little concerned that the Derlon would have sacrificed comfort and courtesy to the god of style. As it turned out, I had no cause for concern. Staff were very professional and I found the reception/obby/bar to be quite welcoming. In the early winter, the red lamps and interesting gas-type fire/lava rocks structure made the space feel vibrant and warm. My room was of a good size, with a very comfortable bed and bedding. If I had had time to work, I could have done so very comfortably because the sleek built-in desk ran the length of the all opposite the bed and was wide enough for papers and a laptop without dominating the room. The room was well-stocked with amenities (slippers, bathrobe, lots of toiletries in a sleekly designed set of black boxes that spell out the hotel's name - one letter assigned to each type of product).
I loved the modern, clean lines of the room - and at the same time, I was pleased that this design ethic left room for comfort and function. (Some colleagues stayed at another hotel in Maastricht that seems to have taken design to extreme - since the rooms are not equipped either with closets, hangers or even hooks for you to hang up your clothes.)
I enjoyed the breakfast (good selection of hot and cold items). Staff coped well when I, butter-fingered due to an initial lack of caffeine, I managed to break a juice glass when I knocked it off the table. If I had any quibbles with the hotel, it would be that the lobby tables, seating, tableware and cutlery are a bit fiddly. You would not have to be as big as a bull in a china shop to feel clumsy here. The glass-topped, rectangular tables are narrow and fairly close together, so it's a bit of a squeeze to sit down and then to fit and use square plates, cutlery, coffee and juice on the narrow table. The cutlery is stylish but doesn't lie flat and the previously mentioned juice glass is tall and narrow - easy to mishandle and knock off the table. But this is a very minor and possibly idiosyncratic complaint that did not detract from my experience there. I hope to go back to see more of Maastricht and certainly will plan to stay at the Derlon again.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC