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Reviews of Stayokay Heemskerk - Hostel

2 out of 5
Stayokay Heemskerk - Hostel
Tolweg 9, Heemskerk

Reviews

7.8

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 57 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 74 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 22 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 15 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 9 out of 177 reviews" "

7.4/10

Cleanliness

7.8/10

Staff & service

5.6/10

Amenities

7.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

6.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

6/10 Okay

Lee

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness
We anticipated staying in the castle, not the guest house....pay attention to the "fine print"! Tiny room wasn't worth the cost paid. Wouldn't stay there again for that price.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Anne- Stayokay Heemskerk on Apr 7, 2024
Thank you for your review and apologies for your disappointing stay. Our hostel consists of two buildings, a castle and an Orangery. We strive to provide our guests with a room in the castle as we understand it's a special experience, though unfortunately, this isn't always possible. If you return in the future, you may consider booking a family room, all of which are located in the castle. You can also always send us a message to indicate your preference for the castle and we will do our best :). Kind regards, Anne - Stayokay Heemskerk

2/10 Terrible

Ib

Disliked: Staff & service
Clerk has very bad manner
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

4/10 Poor

Tharani

Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This was a very disappointing stay. The room was bare and I had to make my own bed. The room was super cold at night. There was barely any toilet paper. Lack of power outlets to charge my phone except one beside the sink near the front door. It was run by a young student who operated the front desk. Not at all what I was expecting.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022
Response from Stayokay Heemskerk on Mar 22, 2022
Dear Tharani, we are sorry to read that your stay was not what you expected. Our hostel is an old castle, but we do try to give our guests a nice experience and offer them the best service. We will use your feedback to improve our accommodation, thank you.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Cute little castle hostel. You pick up linens at the front desk. It has everything you need to sleep for the night and hang out in the common rooms. Beautiful walking trails around the property. Good simple breakfast free with your stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021

8/10 Good

Amanda

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Hostel in a castle
This was a great little family getaway to say the kids slept in a castle. Not all rooms are in the castle itself but luckily they were able to move our reservation back into the main building. There is a lot of road constraints which made it difficult to find. But not noticable once on property. Remember. Castle. Lots of stairs. Pack light
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2019

8/10 Good

Dan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
It was super hot and our upstairs rooms was HOT! There is no A/C and no screens on the windows. Mosquitos are a problem.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2019

8/10 Good

Rasmus

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019

8/10 Good

Eric

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The historical part of the building is absolutely gorgeous.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Jeffrey

Liked: Staff & service
Cool place to stay, but costly for what is essentially a hostel. Good wifi and excellent dinner. My kids evn learned some new curse words from all the grafitti in the rooms. Good times,
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Since the only amenity is the castle itself, staying in a tiny cell adjacent to the castle and not being able to use the bar or restaurant after 8pm was disappointing.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Nikhil

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Live in a castle!! Wow
Wonderful experience!! Wanna experience living in a castle, then this is the place to stay!! The rooms were clean and have all basic facilities of a hostel. The breakfast was basic.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

C

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018

8/10 Good

John

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Castle near Castricum
The castle is a wonderful building superbly converted to a youth hostel. The bar was open until midnight. The draught Trappist beer was excellent. Friendly staff. Great value. Convenient road connections.

8/10 Good

eric

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Doors close at midnight. Otherwise perfect.
The hotel/hostel is beautiful and the breakfast was great. There was a lot of big families staying at the hotel, so dont expect a party vibe from the hostel. The train line between amsterdam and heemskerk wasn't fully functional and required a detour via bus, which added 30 minutes to the 1 hour trip and almost caused me to get locked out of the hostel at midnight. Otherwise though it was wonderful.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2017

10/10 Excellent

Johanna

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2017

10/10 Excellent

Hendrika

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic building and garden, great for exploring North Holland by car, bike or train/bus. When you book keep in mind it's a HOSTEL and not a HOTEL! If your good with that it's a great place to stay.

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This might have been my favorite place, fun atmosphere located in a picturesque setting make this an amazing addition to any adventure. The grounds were beautiful and the staff was incredibly friendly... we enjoyed our time in the castle.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2017

8/10 Good

Gareth

Liked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fairy Tale
Staying here was amazing and extremely relaxing. The restoration of this castle is awesome. Then keeping it as a youth hostel is super rad. The gardens are breath taking. This truly was a really cool place to take a couple down days and truly enjoy the beauty of the land. Thanks for having us. Bucket List!
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

DIOI

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Romantic!
Delicious breakfast buffet!! confortable, clean and quiet.

10/10 Excellent

Xueping

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great experience
I love the experience of staying in the castle. The view was great.

8/10 Good

Ronnie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Amazing site
The staff were wonderful and the restaurant was excellent value. It was a great opportunity to meet people as we haven't had hostel accommodation for a while. The room is small.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Castle close to town
Staying in a castle is an adventure not to be missed.Very clean and comfortable rooms and staff was friendly and helpful.

10/10 Excellent

Stephany, Lebanon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing Castle in a beautiful area
The castle is absolutely amazing, it's an experience in itself! The staff are super friendly and helpful, the rooms and toilets are very clean. An open buffet breakfast is served every morning from 8 till 10, the food is varied and good. The hostel is located in a very nice area if you have time to explore; it is also only 1 hr away from Amsterdam by train.

8/10 Good

vidka, jordan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel with excellent view
Hotel is nice and clean People are very friendly and helpful Location is difficult with public transport Needs car

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful castle and garden, wonderful breakfast
The castle is beautiful with a spectacular garden, and the room we stayed is very spacious. Breakfast is realy good, with boiled egg, different bread, meat, coffee, juice, etc. We were not very lucky that we got in at the same time with two German schools field trip, at night there were scary shouts, and the girls next door kept on laughing and talking... shower and toilet were separate, but the shower was smell really bad. First time staying in a castle, great experience. Staffs are efficient and nice.

10/10 Excellent

Konstantin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A remarkably unique hostel
There's no way you can stay in a genuine centuries-old castle without spending a fortune unless you come here. It's a phenomenal find. To climb up a stairway designed for sword fighting, to wander grounds and gardens that are being tended in ancient fashion, it's just a one-of-a-kind experience. Yes, it's a hostel, and you'll be sleeping in bunk beds possibly with three hundred teenage bicyclists (though they do have family rooms) and yes the rooms can feel a little spartan albeit very clean. But it's an easy trade for the incredible setting and sense of history. Breakfast is excellent as well.

10/10 Excellent

Mohamad, GB

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful Hotel
Excellent friendly staff

2/10 Terrible

Ann H, Washington, DC

Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Misery with a capital M
We, me plus my family of four, stayed here for one night. We were all excited about staying here. When we checked in I was slightly taken aback when the woman told me to "get my set of sheets over in the armoire". Strike one (though maybe I should have known this since it is some sort of hostel?) The bathroom was comparable to a gym locker room bathroom. Definitely wear shoes. I inquired at the desk to ask about towels. They can be rented for 2E each. What?? Strike 2. Finally, we get settled into our bunk beds (at least I knew to expect bunk beds) and turn out the lights around 11pm. Soon we start to hear people congregate, smoke and be joyous until, oh I don't know 2am? 3am? Strike 3. Window open gives us fresh air, noise and smoke. Closed windows gives us noise and a warm room. The next morning, the THIRD time we go to the desk to return our rented towels (you get 1E back for each towel) we finally get someone. Isn't this when everyone is leaving?? While the front desk people were always very nice, they were never there. Bell ringing or not. So for $200 a night was this a bargain? No. Would I stay here again? No way. Keep in mind we have traveled all over Europe and parts of the US and I have never had this kind of experience. Except for the farm stay I did in Slovenia - but that was sleeping over a pig pen... So my tolerance is pretty high but this was ridiculous.

8/10 Good

JUANPABLO, Amberg, Germany

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Great castle
Nice place, wonderful views and running grounds.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveler

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very horrible hotel ever I booked.
Room and hotel not same as shown in pictures. I don't recommend to anyone

8/10 Good

Tina, Fort Worth, Texas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It's a Castle!
There isn't much negative to say, you get to stay in a castle! That is just neat. My only wish was that there was something at the castle to do. It would be neat if even one room was like it was years ago. My son went outside but it was cold and raining, there wasn't much to do for teens inside the castle. Breakfast was okay, and typical Europe continental breakfast.

6/10 Okay

Karen, Oakland, Ca

Liked: Staff & service
Nice experience but ask about summer camps!
We are a family of five that stayed in a 6 person room with a private bath. We did enjoy the castle ambience but we were never told of summer camps that happen. We felt overwhelmed with bus loads of children and felt uncomfortable at times. Breakfast was good and plentiful. We were not able to go outside to the back grounds in the early evening because there weren't volunteers able to be out there. It was fun being there but we would have chosen differently had we known about the camps

10/10 Excellent

Brendan, Melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Really fun place to stay
Beautiful building and grounds. Tasty all you can eat breakfast included

8/10 Good

Lis, Michigan, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stepping into history - amazing!
Being able to spend the night in a castle from the 1200s was a dream come true for several of us. The castle and grounds are amazing! The staff was very helpful. The room itself was quite simple but that didn't matter. We slept in a castle!

4/10 Poor

Kimberly, Chicago

Disliked: Room comfort
You don't always stay in the castle
Expected to stay in the castle but we were actually in the building next to the castle

10/10 Excellent

Muhammad Golam, Stockholm

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
wow stay at stayokay hostel
it was nice stay there

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Disliked: Room comfort
Fun
Family trip to stay in a castle was cool. Beds are a little hard, but overall a neat experience. Nice bar and open common areas for everyone enjoy. Excellent gardens all around for a easy walk.

10/10 Excellent

carl

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

10/10 Excellent

Brad, Alberta

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Castle Life
This was a great option for us as a family! It was exciting to stay in a "castle"!

10/10 Excellent

luke

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Family of 5, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
once in a lifetime stay in a castle
A fun and fanciful place to stay. Very well maintained grounds/gardens are so beautiful to walk around. The hotel has outdoor equipment (balls etc) to play with. We stayed up in the turret in a very large room with our family (3 teens), so we had lots of space. Very clean, 2 showers, 2 sinks, helped a lot. The bunk beds were the only negative, in terms of comfort, but the price sure is right! Wonderful breakfast with a lot of choice, nice dining room. Staff very helpful and friendly. Dates back to the 14th century. definitely a must see if you're in the area. Short drive to a train that takes you into Amsterdam in 1/2 hour.

10/10 Excellent

Nicki, Cleveland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice getaway
Great place and grounds for families. We'd go back! Good breakfast, comfortable enough bunk beds, nice walking path. Unsure about transportation, we had a car and it took 30 minutes into Amsterdam

10/10 Excellent

maayan, Israel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
sleeping in a castle
the castle is beautiful and the garden is great. the place shold be a boutique hotel Instead of an hostel/

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness

6/10 Okay

E & T, York WA Australia

Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Disappointed
Sorry to say but we were disappointed thought it had great promise , looks great even in the real however when we got there apparently the Castle was not accommodating guests we had to stay over in the little building to the right which was a out building from the Castle, Kids were really looking forward to the stay but what we got was a very basic room (which would have been okay if in the Castle) Breakfast I think they forgot us 8:00am - 9:30am arrived at 8:30am Castle was locked go figure, we eventually got in at 9:00am no greeting had no idea where we should go but eventually found a table with a few things placed on it BREAKFAST reception eventually was YOUR THE ONLY ONES HAVING BREAKFAST :( I wonder why?? Anyway the location was good we were able to get the Fast Ferry to Amsterdam not far from the Castle abit late but slight recovery ;) If you get the room in the Castle you'll probably like it.

8/10 Good

Aaron, Taiwan

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Good breakfast,
Good breakfast,

8/10 Good

andrew, canada

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful castle.
Awesom castle, about 30 min from the beach. Friendly staff. Not a party hostel, quiet atmosphere.