I was invited by friends to join their family outing to a weekend of Preston Palace. Originally, my…read morereview was going to be much more negative, yet surprisingly I had a good time here.
I'll start out with the negatives that I experienced over the weekend.
- Poorly lit rooms
The rooms were incredibly poorly lit, which meant that even during daytime you'd have to turn on all the lights inside to be able to see your own face in the mirror. This was a hilarious contrast to the bathroom, where if you turned the light on it felt like you were in the presence of the Almighty one himself, causing you to be completely blind when moving back into the hotel room.
- Outdated decor
For a place like Preston Palace, where I imagine with the amount of visitors and the costs they have, they have a pretty good amount of money coming in. They should definitely look into updating their decor as it feels like you've entered an 80s Mafia boss' holiday residence.
- Food was either delivered frozen and warmed up, or when fresh 9/10 times overcooked
At Preston Palace you pay one set amount per night, which allows you to eat and drink whatever you feel like, when you feel like it. I don't have major complaints about the drinks, they offered standard things you'd expect in a hotel and that's absolutely fine.
The food however, was almost always overcooked, had no flavour to it and I could see the contents of boxes of ready to heat up frozen sate and hamburgers be thrown in the deep frier.
- Dirty room
The room we stayed in was a 4 person room which contained a double bed and a bunk bed. I resided in the top bunk bed, and my sheets were covered in some sort of black flakes which I hope wasn't the sweaty crunchies from the previous person that slept here. Actually, I can't blame the cleaning services because you really cannot see ANYTHING without calling in Batman and shining his Bat signal into the room.
Positive
- A throwback to your typical Dutch style of parties
Lots of Spanish music and 90s Euro dance. It's not particularly my favourite style of music, but every once in a while it's nice to be back in the typical Dutch party vibe.
- Good atmosphere, friendly people
Overall, staff was friendly and there was a very open atmosphere. People were happy to have a chat regardless of if they knew you, the dance floors quickly turned into a scene of hugging and appreciating each others ability to stay upright after having so many drinks.
- Clean and well maintained facilities
For such a big place, there were enough toilets close to all the entertainment areas. They were nicely maintained and I think that deserves a shout out to the cleaning staff.
Overall, it's fun for a family weekend or a night out with a group of friends. It's very Dutch, but that also brings Nederlandse gezelligheid. :) I'm not sure if I would go again, and I wouldn't nessecarily recommend it. But it is what it is!
