This is the first time we have been REALLY disappointed with a hotel, that had received great reviews on Tripadvisor.

My husband and I had booked six nights at this hotel. We booked a Business Room with breakfast, the price was 122 euro pr. night. It is not a cheap hotel, so we thought things would be great.

We received one of the newly furnished rooms mentioned in other reviews. The room was very nice, no question about that. However the strangest thing was that instead of no balcony or small closed balconies, there was one large balcony on the entire floor, so you could go from one room to the other. We did not think about this as a big security problem, just that it was a bit uncomfortable.

The second evening we were there, we went out for dinner in the evening. We were gone for 3 hours. When we returned at 8 pm, somebody had broken into our room from the large balcony side. They had even cut the extra security lock on the door, so that had not helped much. They had gone through all our things. Our clothes from the suitcase were on the floor and they had even looked through our toilet bags in the bathroom. A present I had bought to my dad the day before, was also opened and thrown on the floor. The worst thing though, they had taken the entire room security box with them !!! The safety box was in the hotel room wardrobe, and we had all our valuables in it.

The man in charge of the security was very nice. He told us that it could take a while for the Police to come. He took us down to the lobby and offered us something to eat or drink. We only accepted some water while we were waiting. My husband also got to borrow the internet. Our Ipod Touch was in the Safety Box, so he had to shut down his home and work email accounts.

The Police were called and they were very friendly. They said that it was not rare that something like this happened at this Hotel. And that they had talked to the Hotel Management about the Security. The door to the parking lot (lakeside), could not be locked probably while we were there. The police mentioned to the Hotel Staff, that something should be done about this. A person could walk directly through that door and to the big balcony to all the rooms. They had also tried to break into the room next to us, but it had been empty.
The Police told us that it was not that difficult to get the entire safety box out of the wall. It was not a very strong wall and not secured that well, it just looked like it.

We told the reception that we wanted to check out the next day. We would have liked to check out immediately, but after waiting for the Police to arrive and them to write a rapport, it was around midnight . We were given a suite on the top floor, where you could not enter the balcony from the outside.
We told the man in charge of security, that we thought it would be unfair to charge us for this last night, after what had happened. We had no problem paying for the first night, since everything was fine, but we thought the Hotel could show some good customer service, and not charging us for that second night.
He called the manager and came back and told us that the Manager said they had offered us enough since they had asked us if we wanted to have something to eat ( which we did not accept, only water), they had borrowed us the internet ( so my husband could shut down his accounts) and they had upgraded us to a suite ( to be honest we did not care what room we got, it was midnight and we left the hotel at 8 am the next morning).

The next morning when we checked out, the door to the parking lot was still open, I told that to the receptionist, but she did not seem to care that much.

We have been in so many countries around the world, this is the first time we have experience something like that, so we were both very upset and angry. We did not even feel like continuing our holiday another place, but drove directly home..

We sent an email to The Manager of “Van der Valk Vught”, about our bad experience and that it would be a good idea to invest in some better security, so other visitors won’t get their holiday ruined.
That is was worrying, how easy an entire safety box could be removed from the room. Apparently is was not secured very well to the wall and the wall is not strong enough. Maybe they should remove these safety boxes from the rooms, and not give people a false feeling of security. After all when you use the hotel room safety box, it is the visitor's own insurance (if you have one) that have to replace the valuables, not the Hotel.

We never received a reply from The Manager!!

We are very disappointed, that a big chain like “Van der Valk” have so bad costumer service, and we will never stay at a “Van der Valk” hotel again.

We have stayed here many times and generally enjoyed the place. This time we had two refurbished rooms which were excellent with air-conditioning! Restaurant very busy with good quality food. Staff is generally amateurish in the restaurant but trying hard. The bar only opens quite late so that could be improved. Carparking is very good with optional fenced off area for security. Can strongly recommend this place!

Hotel is in the branbant countryside a 10 minute busride to the nearest 2 towns vught, and den bosch. bus stop just outside door. 15 walk to the nearest town. lovely countryside, good service cozy and a lot of conveniences. breakfast is good , dinning is good, and service is good. Rooms are larger than most european hotel rooms. grounds and parking are great . Lovely area . would recommend

I stayed in this hotel earlier this year when in Den Bosch for a conference. If I had realized how far out of the center it was I would have chosen a different hotel--it's more designed for arriving by car and touring the nearby countryside rather than arriving by train and visiting the city--but as it turned out I enjoyed walking the 20 minutes north into town and back each day (the weather was good and it's a fairly green area). The hotel is laid out in a very confusing way--to get to my room I had to go up and down two different flights of stairs as the room was on the first floor in a separate adjoining building to the lobby/breakfast part while the connecting corridor was on the second floor. Though not a big deal once I'd figured it out. The wifi didn't extend as far as my room so I had to carry my laptop to a sitting area in the main building to check my email. Beyond that there wasn't much to gripe about. The room decoration/furnishings were perhaps a little worn but not in a way I minded, maybe because that was offset by the spaciousness and brightness (though I've read some reviews on other sites that others had greater complaints about their rooms). The bathroom was also large and well-appointed (again I've read some poor reviews but mine had no problems), and I liked the sliding door with which you could either close the bathroom or add a further sound barrier against the hallway. In all I felt the room was worth the price. The hallway decor however was noticeably more worn down and could use some renovation. A shame they don't maintain the entire building better--it's an odd mix of good and not-so-good qualities.

The breakfast buffet was delicious, a better than average selection; I also ate one evening in the hotel restaurant which was excellent. In all, I wouldn't mind staying again, though next time I would probably try out something more central. And if it wasn't as good return here.