Ólafur Torfa
Google
I Booked the Playroom at the Social Hub Rotterdam for me and my girlfriend to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. The photos I post with this review are the official photos published on the Social Hub website so I was expecting that room. As soon as I entered, I was crushed with great disappointment.
The whole place looked very unclean, the counter had ring stains after glasses and the carpet was dirty. Only one roll of toilet paper and no hand soap in the bathroom, the sink was clogged and the shower water leaked out of the bathroom onto the carpet making it very wet in front of the bed. The minibar door was broken, it gave off a constant peeping sound because it didn’t properly close, so we weren't able to use it.
The place was totally empty compared to the nice cozy warm photos on the website (which I included with this review). All the plants were missing, lot of the decorations and artwork was missing too like the colorful water gun frame, glass skull and the vintage record player, there were no glasses on the shelfs, cocktail shakers, or any candy bowls. We brought the alcohol and sweets ourselves of course, but there was nothing to put it in. It was totally EMPTY.
Big selling point for us was the cozy lighting presented on the website and the neon Play sign above the bed, but it was broken and 2 out of the 3 light bulbs above where the record player was supposed to be, were missing. We only had the harsh ceiling lights available, so enjoying dimmed lights was not possible. I reported the lights to the lobby immediately after check in, staff told me it had been broken for a long time but they would call a repair man. Nobody came and when we checked out the next we were told that somebody would come to fix it, later.
This whole place looked like it had been ransacked, abandoned long time ago and forgotten. I've never experienced a hotel room as cold, empty and void of character ever before. I stayed at a regular room at Social Hub in Den Haag a year ago and that was a very positive experience, so I picked the Playroom of Rotterdam this time for us to have the most special night ever, after months of planning and looking at bunch of rooms online. Instead it was the most mood killing vibe imaginable. I can't believe I paid full price for the room I saw in the photos, only to have the worst type of ‘expectations vs. reality’ moment ever at a hotel. I’m usually pretty chilled out about things so I don’t mind a thing or two being out of place but that experience blew my mind, not in a positive way.
Whoever manages the Social Hub of Rotterdam seriously needs to step it up, and remove those nice photos until that wasteland of a room is restored. I highly recommend AGAINST the Playroom for any couples planning on romantic getaways, you’ll have just as much fun at a filthy abandoned warehouse.
Apart from the Playroom itself, I stayed for two weeks at a regular room during this period. Broken kitchen light, empty shower soap (wasn’t refilled on cleaning day), shower drain clogged, gym shut down for days because of renovation, elevator broken most of my stay, restaurant tables inside and outside never cleaned, the trash from the night before still there in the morning, restaurant out of sandwiches (the only food on the menu, rest is just snacks) and I didn’t receive the 20% discount as advertised for extended stay. No staff member ever heard about the custom made Van Moof ebikes also advertised in both website and confirmation e-mail for extended stay, the staff told me they would pass it on to management. I checked out 5 months ago but the custom ebike is still being offered for extended stay on the website, which is a false advertisement. The list goes on and on. I’ve travelled a lot all over the world but never before felt as scammed and ripped off as I did with the Social Hub in Rotterdam.
