For us giving a hotel 5 stars is not about how fancy or "white glove" it is. Rather, we value the comfort, feel, affordability and authenticity of the experience. Hotel de Magneet offers all of these plus the location is kick-ass.
We arrived off the street and asked for two rooms. The hotel was full. However, they were able to shuffle rooms for us and we ended up in the two bedroom apartment (penthouse suite).
This is not a fancy joint but it is comfortable. Our suite was in a typical Dutch home loft with sloped skylit ceilings and a bit of a maze to find the second bedroom and a full kitchen....oh and the stairs.....only in The Netherlands.
We ended up with a private balcony with a view of a canal and the grotekerk. The hotel is outside the high street and main square area but Hoorn is so small it doesn't make any difference. The harbor is only a few blocks away and parking here is a snap.
We suspect what happened to us is not part of their daily routine but their effort to accommodate us was.
We would definitely stay here again.
PS The Apple Pie was wonderful. read more