The Golden Tulip Resort, aka Inntel Resort Zutphen, is a little way from the centrum (city center), 2.2km. Be prepared to bike(!), drive (and park), walk, or bus (#80) into town. Get the breakfast package – It’s good, and the only other establishments close by are a gas station/speedy-mart and a small snack-restaurant.
Minuses:
The rooms are small by American standards. We stacked the small “coffee” table on top of a beside stand just to gain 2 square feet of floor space. We should have asked to have one of the two chairs removed as well. There wasn’t enough space to store a 2nd rollerboard. The first went on a luggage shelf mounted above the room door. The bathroom was small too. If you have a wide butt or are tall, you’ll have to sit sideways on the toilet. The bathtub was full size, however, and the shower worked well.
I have seen a lot of other Golden Tulip reviews that have dinged their 4* rating due to the room, and I agree, somewhat. Everything except for the rooms is 4*. The service and amenities are 4*. However the rooms are small; their bathrooms are small; their layout is poor; and you walk down a dingy corridor to reach them. They hand you a door key (no 2nd key) in the age of electronic door locks. And there are no door deadbolts. It’s obvious that the priorities are the restaurant and sports/bowling facility, above the rooms.
Although shampoo, shower gel, and lotion were doled out liberally, the bar soap was rationed like it was a precious metal. However, the front desk person graciously was able to provide me one from her emergency stock.
No A/C. If it gets hot, prepare to bake. During my stay the temperature reached 37C (98F). There were nights where the room was >85F, making it a tough sleep. The hotel doled out tiny 12” fans (on request) and the one I had rattled so much, I had to resort to ear plugs. I was told by many locals that A/C isn’t necessary for the 2-3 days it ‘sometimes’ gets hot, but the June 2010 hot spell lasted for almost a week.
To be fair, a colleague who was staying at the Eden in town… didn’t have A/C either; had a room as small as mine; and had to pay for parking 8am – 6pm. However, the Eden location is fantastic.
Pluses:
Although the room was small, it was very quiet. We never heard a sound from the other guest rooms, even with our window open. There was a neighborhood party going on Saturday night that lasted until 11pm, but if anything it was amusing, and a temptation to check out the local action.
The entire staff was extremely cheerful, friendly, and provided the highest service. When we asked for soap we got soap. When we asked for a fan, we got a fan. When we asked for ice, we got ice. They were very knowledgeable, spoke very good English, and provided lots of good information/advice. Ask for Rueben in the sports bar. Ask him about the local Lions soccer team and his cutie of a daughter.
All the food was very good and no more expensive than any centrum restaurants. Not only was the food tasty, but the presentation was excellent as well. Our favorite was the Goat Cheese salad in the sports bar and the salmon in the dining room, although we were nicely surprised by other selections as well.
M-F, the breakfast buffet includes oranges and a juicer for fresh squeezed orange juice and “fruitti” yoghurt – our favorites. The juice tumblers are small – I recommend using the coffee cups for juice as well. The cook sometimes spiced up the scramble eggs, which was a nice surprise.
The Wifi was very good (fast) and free. Two computers are made available in the lobby for guest use as well. The front desk will print a few pages for you for free on their b/w laser printer.
Parking is free. Near the centrum, it’s two+- euros/hour.
Other:
Booking a room was a bit confusing. While the Inntel website and other travel sites (eg Travelocity and Expedia) showed no vacancy, Booking.com showed a couple rooms left. I booked through Booking.com and followed up with an email directly to the hotel, and they could not confirm my visit. So I arrived with some trepidation, but I did receive my room. Strangely, Booking.com did not charge my credit card for my stay (like Travelocity or Expedia would), and the Golden Tulip did.
Besides the hotel, the Inntel is the local racquet club, with four indoor tennis courts, two squash courts, and 2 regular tennis courts and 2 clay courts (!) outside. If you want to play on clay courts, here’s a great opportunity! Guests receive a discount.
The Inntel also has an indoor pool and a bowling alley with 10 lanes. The bowling alley was frequented by many young locals throughout the week.
The Fort Bronsbergen Restaurant ($$$), 1.5km away, on the other side of N314 is a must visit for a nice dinner out.
You can save a few euros, service charge, by ordering your food in the restaurant or sports bar and carrying back your own food on a provided tray.
The Wassalon Zutphen (36 Groenmarkt), sandwiched between the Bell Tower and the Camelot Café was the only place we could find to have our laundry done. There’s no coin Laundromat in Zutphen, and the Inntel charges standard, too high fees, for laundry. It’s too bad there’s not a small coin washer/dryer for guests.
Neither the Inntel nor the other two places where my colleagues stayed provided guest accessible ice machines. The restaurant and sports bar rationed ice like it was gold. On request, one or two cubes were parceled out for our drinks and melt within minutes. Ironically the only place that iced a drink properly was McDonalds, on the other side of the tracks from the train station. McDonalds is also air conditioned if you’re looking for a hot spell refuge.
If you drive to the centrum, park at the Albert Heijn supermarket parking lot (Polsbroek 77). If you stay just a few minutes, it may cost as little as a few tens of cents. You can park all day for about 2 Euros. Remember to take your ticket with you to pay (at the lot machine) before leaving the lot, where the machine will take your validated ticket. AH is the place to load up on drinks and snacks, although the gas station/speedy-mart down the street is good in a pinch as well.
Carry a few coins to pay the parking machines. They don’t take American magnetic striped credit cards (only euro chip cards).
Buy a pay-as-you-go unlocked phone or sim for your unlocked cell phone from the T-Mobile store in the centrum (Nieuwstad 14). The rate is very good back to the USA and within Europe, as compared to the Netherlands cell provider KPN.
If you have a car, be sure to visit the Palais Het Loo, as well as other local castles.
Having lunch or dinner in the centrum square is a very nice highlight ($$$).
Thursday morning market is a very nice highlight. It closes at 1pm, so go early, and stay for lunch. I heard about but not go to the Saturday market.
Renting a bike is a fantastic option for getting around town. The place is flat. There are bike paths *everywhere*. Bike rentals seemed to range from 7-10 Euros per day. A one way taxi ride from the Centrum to the Inntel ran 9.5 Euros. The Inntel has 30+ upright bikes in different sizes, and they are all in very good condition. They include a traditional “Dutch” wheel lock and pump.
The post office (postkantoor) ATMs (across from the green phone booth) take Visa (and Plus debit) cards.
A gps is indispensible. Like any other old European city, the streets are a maze of twisty little passages and summer brings about a flurry of roadwork that forces you to detour. Don’t worry about the ‘latest’ maps. I had 4 year old maps for my Garmin and it performed well, although some streets were converted to 1-way and some roundabouts were converted to intersections.
All in all, we had a very nice stay at the Golden Tulip, and would recommend and return again.
We called USA land lines via Skype for $2.99/month.
Inntel: please add A/C and improve the room and corridor decoration and layout.