Grand Hotel Karel V

World class, old school hotel with large rooms, a wellness area with small pool, jacuzzi and sauna. We didn’t eat at their restaurant, but it’s supposed to be quite good and other travelers enjoyed the breakfast, but we’re not big breakfast eaters to we didn’t eat there. |The staff is incredibly helpful and the location is beautiful. A little outside the city center, but a close 5-10 minute walk.|If you enjoy a comfortable hotel with great beds, pillows and old world charm, this is the place.

I checked in, for a five night stay, rather bedraggled from the rain. Check in seemed rather aloof. My immediate feeling was not a warm one. Once my room was available I got a call (nice touch). The room, in a more modern part of the hotel had little of the character of the main building, a common issue with old buildings that have been expanded. The room was light and well equipped. The TV remote might have worked better with some new batteries and there was an odd faint smell in the room - almost like straw - that I never figured out.|Room cleaning was generally good although a little perfunctory over the weekend. I did eat on the last night in the Brasserie (I had tried other nights but it was full) and the food and the service were very good and the final bill, for one, of E100 not terrible given the quality. |With an early departure the next day I checked out late on the last night. This was not as easy as it should have been, with a need to redo the process (they’d missed the hotel tax) and in the end two charges to my credit card and a refund.|There is a feeling in the hotel of being an upscale hotel for corporates, you know the place your boss stays while you stay at some US branded chain ‘hotel’. For a vacation traveller it can feel a little stiff. Perhaps the biggest dilemma is whether to go with a more reasonable rate and have a view of the car park or splurge on one of the rooms in the main building. |The location is good and if you arrive from the station it’s not a long walk. I did overhear that they have a good deal on taxis to the airport (now E69, going to E79) so if you’re coming from Schiphol you might want to talk to the hotel about that before arrival. Unless you like Utrecht Centraal at 05:50 in the morning.|I did debate whether this was a four or five circle review. In the end I give it the higher rating as the rate I paid, booked directly with the hotel, was pretty good and did represent good value.

We had the pleasure of staying at this hotel for our wedding in Utrecht. The service that we received was exceptional. The team is beyond helpful and kind, they were willing to go above and beyond to make the experience smooth for us and all of our guests. We strongly recommend this hotel for anybody that wants the convenience of walkability into the lovely city while still feeling like there is peace and quiet in their gorgeous gardens. A true sanctuary from the stresses of the outside world. -Making an edit: while the staff we interacted with as a hotel guest is amazing, our experience with the event staff has been mediocre at best. Definitely room to grow there.

Fantastic hotel with great facilities. Perfect for our stay, where we walked around Utrecht every day, and therefore really enjoyed the spa and wellness areas to relax after a day out! The breakfast is marvelous and staff friendly. The rooms are luxurious and very quiet. The gardens and historic setting add great atmosphere. We really enjoyed our stay.

The hotel is deluxe and attractive but is spread between multiple building, making it something of a nuisance getting from room to restaurants and finding your way back. Restaurants are generally good (and expensive). We found the bistro food superior to the fine dining venue. Some dishes in the Michelin room were very good (the amuses and starters) with follow-ups less so. Our room was well appointed. Oddly, a wall clock had hands that moved erratically without regard the actual time.

This hotel is historic and lovely. Located on a small river along a wooded walking path. We were only there for one night so we really didn’t get the full experience ie breakfast tour etc. The grounds are beautiful and I bet it would be wonderful to stay there for a few days to fully experience it. A wedding or holiday there would be fabulous. Also a very short walk to town. The service was also extremely professional. So why the 4 stars? For $300 we were not staying in the main hotel but what seems to be an annex which was only accessible by walking outside even in the rain. They clearly were not full but chose to put the Americans in a ground floor room with a view on the parking lot. When someone backed their car up towards my room door I thought they were backing straight into the room. Therefore our blinds were shut the whole time. Why not give us a nicer room in a better location? It would have been costless for them. Anyway would I stay there again? I think it’s a definite maybe. Should you stay there? A definite maybe.

Slow service, but nice, polite and friendly. Wonderful location with excellent rooms and atmosphere. Highly recommend it, but beware of slow and rigid dining services though the food is good . In the end you may find it charming (once you get over your jetlag) 😁

This is our second stay at Karel V. We stayed here in November last year also and loved it so much we came back. The rooms are large and spacious and kept very clean with all the amenities you would expect. All the staff are kind and friendly and very helpful. The bar is warm and cosy with a wide selection of drinks. The bar staff are attentive and friendly. We ate lunch at the bistro with the chef cooking in view and had a very tasty 2 course menu. |The best experience by far and the reason we returned was the Karel V restaurant with its well deserved Michelin star. We ate at many restaurants during our stay all based on the Michelin guide but Karel V surpassed all of them. Eric and Mr Daniel took wonderful care of us, seating us at our favourite table and starting with a glass of Bolly. Followed with a fabulous Gevrey Chambertin after that we just let Eric surprise us with his own wine choices. At the end of the meal Mr Daniel gave my husband his special tequila to try which was also fabulous. The food was exquisite and each dish was a tasty surprise with the flavours holding their own not drowning in sauces as some tasting menus can be. The bespoke “chip”dish was fantastic!! We thanked the chefs at the end of the meal and we were in awe of the amazing talent shown by such a young team. |The overall cost is slightly more than the other one star restaurant in Utrect but the difference in the quality, food, wine and service is well worth the small difference in the cost. Thanks again for a wonderful evening and we will most definitely be seeing you again! Katie and Jon

A beautiful historical hotel located just a stones throw from the centre of Utrecht. Staff are excellent and very friendly and the service at the hotel was exceptional. The hotel lobby is grand and you get the feeling of luxury straightaway. I had a room in the new wing of the hotel and it was very spacious and well appointed. The bed was super comfortable and bathroom had lots of nice supplies. It's very peaceful and quiet here and the city center is just meters away. There are bars and restaurants in the hotel serving drinks and meals. The food was good and service was also good. Parking is available on premise and it's nice to walk around the grounds of this hotel. A gem of a hotel in town and one I would definitely stay in again.

This is a classic "must-stay" location for business and leisure travel gurus in the know. I have been staying here since 2014 regularly and it gets better all the time. Food preparation and presentation is superb, the staff customer experience is an example to competitors, and the studied period decor and sense of history and culture makes this place special.

The short version: The staff added irrelevant charges to my bill, totaling about 242 Euros, which they eventually removed. It didn't feel like an honest error. Review your bill carefully, or better yet, go someplace else. The Long version: The new ("Roman") wing where I stayed is clean and comfortable, but not particularly charming--comparable to a Hyatt in the US. Room service was excellent, coming more than once a day to tidy up, and the grounds are pleasant (I'm not fond of a fountain surrounded by statues, but otherwise it's tasteful). The location is pretty good for visiting the old city of Utrecht. I was in town for a conference, and reserved a room for 3 nights. Booking was online through a management service, HMC Reservations, and all written correspondence with the hotel (many emails by the time all the hassle was over) took place through them. The trouble started when I asked to cancel the third night. Plans change when you travel, and I would be going out of town that evening. I was told there would be a fee for doing so, as it was close to the time of my stay. No problem, I said, but what was the charge? After a couple of somewhat coy emails, I was told I would be charged 175 Euros, the same as the cost of the room for a night. That is unreasonable--a first negative impression--but it was late, as they said. I decided to keep the room for the 3rd day so I could check out late, instead of cancelling. My reservation for the 3rd night was reinstated. Upon arriving at the hotel, I felt like a persona non grata. The staff was unfailingly polite in the testy mode of being over-polite. Then the front desk clerk asked whether I was staying for 2 nights. It's a long story, I said; I had wanted to cancel the third night, but when I was told it would cost the same as keeping the room, I decided to keep it. That is what he would have done, said the clerk pleasantly enough. It struck me as odd that he asked whether I would be staying for 2 nights when he obviously knew I had reserved the room for 3. He wasn't surprised, as he would surely have been had I asked to add a night at that date. Was he hoping I'd say yes to 2 even though I reserved 3? If you reserve for 3 nights, does the clerk ask you if you are only staying for 2? The room I got turned out to be on the ground floor directly between the car park gate and the parking lot. This was a noisy spot, and I needed quiet for work. Did they put me there because it was the only room ready? I returned to the desk and asked if there was a quieter room I could have instead. This was no problem, they said, and I got another room in that building. Why did they put me in the parking lot room to start? Keep that room for last. The stay itself was fine. The room was clean, and there was nothing notable about it. There is no business center, so the front desk printed a document for me pleasantly, their one decent act. There was no charge. Then early in the evening of my third day, I checked out. The clerk asked with an arch smile if I understood that there would be a charge for my last day, which could not be cancelled. Yes of course, I said, as agreed. She printed out the bill and put it in an envelope and I went to catch a train. When I opened the envelope I found the hotel had charged me for 3 nights, as agreed, plus a cancellation fee of 175Euros, plus 3 breakfasts for 22.50 each. I hadn't cancelled anything, and I didn't have any hotel breakfasts, which were optional. So this seemed gratuitous at best. It felt frankly like a mean jab. I wrote my contact at HMC, an ever formal correspondent, and asked for a correction to the bill. She reported that the hotel "had to admit" that I was right, and would correct the bill. I asked for the corrected bill, and received a receipt, but it was the same as the old one. I called MasterCard to see if the hotel had made the correction, and found that they had. I then got another receipt that was again in error, its numbers not adding up. I asked a third time, and did get the corrected receipt, though the taxes listed at the bottom reflect some other figure. I gave up. Overall this reservation and payment were an unpleasant hassle and involved too many email exchanges. If I cancel, I expect a reasonable charge. If I cannot cancel, then the hotel should be fine with my keeping the room each day for which I pay, instead of trying to get me to leave early. I do not enjoy spurious charges being added to my bill. Bills should be handled professionally, and their numbers should add up. Finally, if you send the wrong receipt 3 or 4 times, or treat your guests poorly, you need to say you're sorry. There was no apology from anyone for any of the hotel's rude and unprofessional acts. Ugh. This was an aggravating waste of time. I was sorry I went here.