*NOT A PLACE FOR THE IRISH ☘️ OR UNVACCINATED PEOPLE OR A PLACE TO FEEL WELCOMED OR TO GET EXCITED FOR YOUR STAY”
Speaking with Hans on the phone before arriving, I thought he was a pleasant and happy man that was going to make me feel comfortable…. Which was not what I felt when I arrived.
As Hans knew my situation before I arrived, I was told I could not get my flight from misinformation of the airline saying It was because I was not vaccinated - which was incorrect and already an upsetting start for my trip…. So once I finally arrived in Amsterdam ALONE, having only 2 hours sleep from my 2 day travel from Dublin/Amsterdam I was super excited to arrive, as you can imagine it was a long journey.
When I arrived, I was excited and my irish accent is hard to understand, which I completely understood that I had to slow down, but when I arrived, Hans opened the door and said (in what I felt in an unwelcoming tone) “I don’t understand you and you need to calm down and speak the Queens English…” I put this down to different culture and maybe I was just taking wrong but ….
Hans kept telling me to put my bag down and any time I moved or tried lifting my bag, he kept making me uncomfortable by telling me to put it down and just looking at me like I was stupid, it was so uncomfortable.
Then once we finally got the reception desk set up, which was also awkward after me receiving a very unwelcome Hans, I had to wait in silence … Hans then broke the silence with a remark about flying out from Belfast, which he continued to get political and went into the history of Ireland lol and how Belfast is not in Ireland and it is apart of the UK, and had the audacity to state “so you are not Irish” , which I replied ‘Yes, I am’ to which Hans continued to question my passport as he beloved I was English, which I informed Hans I did have an irish passport and I was irish…. It was all so uncomfortable, unexpected and unnecessary…. I really don’t know why he felt the need to get into this on my arrival…
Every-time I spoke, Hans would rudely keep interrupting and tell me, “to stop speaking so fast” but it was not requested in a kind way, it was more of a frustration and a tension that again made me super uncomfortable….
We then got to Hans “explaining the covid rules” but infact he was dictating them to me and adding in his personal opinions on people who are not vaccinated and basically saying ‘they’ are the problem and should not be allowed out, that ‘they’ are selfish - all knowing that I am not vaccinated. Hans then went to drag on the necessary procedures that I need to carry out every single day and kept making remarks like “ you will not be allowed into any cafes / bars if you don’t do this, if you don’t do that…” lecturing and explaining it in a passive aggressive manner, that was super uncomfortable and I felt a really bad energy… all at this point I was so super exhausted, mentally and physically drained I stood and said nothing….
I did tell Hans at one that he was being rude and if I could just get my room key, as I was super shaken up with this unexpected horrible welcome, and after what felt like hours of you making me wait in the hallway, Hans brought me out to the hall and proceed to show me the stairs but stood at the bottom and watched me walk up - again making me super uncomfortable.
I arrived in my room and I busted out crying - frustrated, tired, and now my excitement for Amsterdam turned the worst and in turn made me upset and feeling really, really alone, I am a young girl, travelling alone and away from my family and now my phone had died… and I’m stuck in a place that the host made me feel so small and not welcome in Amsterdam.
To my luck, my phone had died and I lifted the wrong adapter - my own fault. I came down to reception and seen a lady which I was glad about thinking she could help, but she she was super nervous and understandably couldn’t understand me so called Hans…. I am not sure if Hans thought he was being helpful, but he said he had no charger / adapter but showed me how to get to a store to buy a charger on Google maps - I literally just arrived and he was telling me to take lefts and rights to different streets, the panic set in for me and I was clearly upset and worried as even if I had a good memory, the distance to buy a charger was a good bit away … i also didn’t ask for Hans to show me this but being irish and polite, I stood in a panic behind Hans watching him tell me how far away it is for me to get a phone charger…
Hans didn’t even offer to let me use the wireless charger, which was sitting at the computer, even for 5 minutes until I got a bit of life on my phone to leave, instead he said I can’t leave my phone there unattended … no options or choices, or Not even an offer to borrow it for 10 min in my room… that would have been helpful.
The room itself was not the best, deffo not a good vibe, even to the little parts I.e the blanket on the bed was super tiny, it didn’t even reach the end of the bed. The towels looked like they’ve be rewashed that much that it had the