Here is the thing: it does not happen every day you get asked to take a tour of the latest hotel to open its doors in your hometown, so when it does happen there might be a slight tendency on my part to go overboard on the photographic front. In my defense: there was indeed much to photograph so I am sure you will pardon me in advance for the abundance of photos in this particular blog post.

The Eye Hotel is situated in a monumental building right smack in the middle of downtown Utrecht in an upcoming neighbourhood simply teeming with cute little coffee places and arty shops. As it happens I had in the past the pleasure of actually being inside the building several times as a guest of the previous occupants so I was dead curious to find out what changes had been made. And oh my, did these turn out fine!

Formerly an eye hospital the hotel, its interior designed by Morph design, is aptly themed throughout in an understated yet quirky way. As it is a monument most of the interior had to be kept intact structurally so all of the many up and down steps and intersecting little corridors I remembered where still there.

But other than that nothing reminded me of how it used to be: the light and airy yet cosy feel of the rooms and the modern design transformed the building into exactly the sort of place I would book for a weekend break. In fact, I may have mentioned the word ‘staycation’ once or twice while the front office manager Edwin led us around the hotel.

With their high windows and roomy layout all the rooms, even the smaller ones, give out a sense of space and tranquility and eye-catching details make for a very welcoming feel. Beautifully appointed bathrooms, a superb attic family room with baby cot AND changing table included, the smiling staff and rental bikes…this hotel has got the details down to a T.

The hotel serves breakfast, light snacks and drinks on the ground floor in a cosy room with a street view and guests are spoiled for choice when dinner time comes round with many restaurants within walking distance.

In a town notoriously lacking the sort of boutique hotels you will find more readily in cities like Amsterdam or Rotterdam the Eye Hotel is definitely a wonderful addition so…thumbs up!

Click here for the Eye Hotel website and here for their Facebook page

The Eye Hotel is part of Utrecht City Hotels, you may click here for info on their other hotels in Utrecht

I took the tour of the hotel together with my lovely friends at Explore Utrecht, the online magazine for Utrecht’s digital best