Bed, Bath and Beyond

We arrived in Eindhoven late in the afternoon. This reminded me more of a typical city, modern office buildings and shopping centers, but it also had its charms. We checked into the The Art Hotel. It had an eclectic, artsy style. Although it was attractive, you could soon see that the designers went with style over function.

Lobby and Bar Area

The funky walls looked great from a distance, but once you got close up you could see large gaps  with dry wall showing between the sections.

Overly embellished wall

The front desk situation was just plain silly.

Yes, the glass flowers look pretty but how are the hotel receptionists supposed to work on them? It was as if  Franck  from “Father of the Bride” designed them.

Hotel worker: But where am I going to keep all our files or store the fax machine? How will the guests sign in with no counter to lean on? Where can we put a waste paper basket? How can we work on these things?????

Franck: Don’t worry daaaarling, it will look FAAABULOUS!

The room was absolutely huge, which was perfect for this leg of the journey. There’s not a lot to do around Eindhoven, so I would be spending a lot of time in the room.

Fancy Pants Chair

The size of the bathroom was impressive in it’s own right but especially so after the facilities we had during our week in Amsterdam. If you managed to complete your shower without scalding yourself dealing with the confounding taps, you still had to navigate ice rink slick tile step to get out:

Our former facilities

New Digs

Bubble Bath, here I come!

I was psyched to try out the huge shower with the Rain head, but once again was sidelined by the taps. They looked nice but gave no indication of which was hot or cold. Once that was worked out things were going pretty well until I realized that the glassed in shower was rapidly becoming a fish tank, the water didn’t drain at all. I had no choice but to open the door and let the water whoosh out. Good thing they had lots of fluffy towels and bath robes.

Jeff went down to the lobby and got us set up in a new room while I gathered up our stuff.

On to room number two:

Interesting fact: black lampshades emit very little light!

I WILL have a bath in this tub!

It was pretty late by this time so we decided to just go down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. There was a beautiful and spotless open kitchen with two chefs in whites and hats. This turned out to be a stand out dinner- absolutely fabulous.

Bread Service with butter, olive oil, caponata and olives:

I don't even like olives, but I ate these!

French Onion Soup with Thyme and Gruyere Croutons

The fillet may have been the best I’ve ever had; tender and flavorful, and that red wine reduction sauce- spectacular! The vegetable accompaniments are so fresh and delicious that I could have just eaten the garden peas and asparagus and been happy.

Fillet of Beef along with Frites!

Jeff ordered a coffee and we decided on a dessert.

Coffee service came with truffles!

We decided on Strawberries Romanoff. I watched as the chef meticulously placed every element on to the plate.

Oh my goodness, this was yummy!

Truly one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in recent memory.

After two countries, two rooms, and two glasses of wine, it was time to retire for the evening.

Exploring Eindhoven tomorrow!